We live in a single-use world where items are quickly discarded never to be used again. This has clearly become a problem as the amount of waste has piled up. Plastic waste is especially a big issue since it doesn’t break down easily and ends up in our oceans and other places. One major aim of the green movement is to minimize the waste by reusing items. By ending our dependence on single-use plastics, we can significantly the amount of trash released into the landfills. Here are some solutions for reusing items that would normally be thrown away:
Storage
Coffee tins, plastic jugs, glass jars, and other items that once held food can easily be repurposed, decorated, and used for storage. Tissue boxes are great for storing plastic bags.
Food Preservation
Why buy plastic bags when you can clean and reuse cereal bags, bread bags, and other plastic-based items used for food storage?
Seed Starters
Turn an old egg carton into a seed starter for early spring. You can also use egg cartons to organize nails, screws, beads, and other small pieces.
Kindling
If you enjoy camping or having bonfires, you can use old newspaper, paper bags, dryer lint, and other dry burnable items to help get the fire started. Just make sure there’s no plastic lining or wax on it.
Art Projects
Almost anything can be used for art projects, but especially broken items such as broken tiles, cups, plates, etc. Get those creative juices flowing and think of clever methods for turning a broken item into a work of art.
Upcycling
Anything can be turned into anything with enough imagination. My goal is to one day have my own upcycling business and keep items out of the landfill. Once my workshop is up and ready, I can finally get started. There are countless ways to reuse items initially destined for the trash. Here are some more resources for other creative repurpose projects!