So today's thought: reusing. I mean this in the sense of repurposing an item more than to just use it again for the same use. In some ways reusing can be better than recycling because you do it yourself, without a bunch of hassle involved. I'm always looking online for more uses for things. If you have any that you do, feel free to comment, I need ideas!
Here are some of the ones I do already:
1. Save plastic grocery bags and crochet with them. (This is one of my favorites because I'm always looking for more types of fibers to crochet with besides yarn.)
2. Soda cans for solar panels, as I mentioned in an earlier post.
3. Egg cartons for sprouting seedlings. (Saw this in a garden book, brilliant idea.)
4. I save used fabric softener sheets to use for stuffing amigurumis (crocheted animals).
5. I save pine cones and sawdust to make fire starters. (These make great gifts and if you use different additives to the sawdust for color changes, the kids love it.) Look for the instructions on a following post.
6. I have also saved the cardboard tube from toilet paper, and dryer lint to make another form of fire starter, but haven't tried these yet.
7. Leftover party napkins, wrapping paper, and magazines are great for decoupage.
8. Napkins, newspaper, paper scraps and even dryer lint can all be used to make paper. These same items can be used in paper mache recipes.
9. When replacing your shower curtain, don't throw out the old one, it works great as a tarp when cutting hair or painting or lots of other things.
10. I have never thrown a toothbrush away after it outlived its first life (as a toothbrush), Then it just moves into my cleaning supplies until it isn't any good for the little chores anymore!
Well that's ten things I can think of , now what can you think of?
Oh and by the way, if anyone has good uses for cds and for vegetable cans, I'm still looking for those.
Diy Network has several shows that reuse old items. My favorite one is B. Original, that show comes up with some really imaginative reuse projects!
While I am on the reuse kick let me share one more thing with you: buildings! I found this a few days ago, and its so adorable and looks so simple I may be trying it out! My first thought, by the way when I saw this, was Hobbits! This is an Earthbag building (what better way to reuse/recycle than dirt and used bags?) I found this one at Mother Earth News. Here is another good link at Green Home Building. And while this next one is not an Earthbag building, it is made of natural materials, and a Hobbit would love it (chuckle) and so would I really : Woodland Home.
I was recently surfing and came across this: http://www.maximalisme.be/the_chelter_of_the_dump.htm I wanted to show it to everyone, but didn't want to post. So anyway some people take reusing to a whole new level, and that's great! BTW site not in english but check out the pics.
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