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Writer's picturePamela Ferguson

Reuse and Recycle for Savings


Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The 3-R’s can help the earth and your bottom line. In the blog Reduce and Save on 5/21/21, we talked about reducing to save money and help the environment. We’re continuing on with the last two R’s, Reuse and Recycle.


Reuse

The reuse in this formula means that instead of just using something once and discarding it, you think of other ways to use it. For example, if you forgot your reusable grocery bags, you’ll have plastic grocery bags from the store. Some uses include picking up after your pet, lunch “box” for work, or as a trash can liner in a small bin (bathroom).


Alternatives to Plastic Wrap

In some of my previous blogs, I recommended that you wash and reuse your resealable bags and cut or reuse your dryer sheets. Both of these things are not only good for the environment and your family, but help in reducing overall costs. What is your alternative to plastic wrap or aluminum foil? Do you have one? We personally use silicone stretch lids. Do an easy internet search for silicone bowl covers to discover many reusable options.


Wine Drinker?

After finishing your bottle of wine, what do you do with the cork? Wine corks have become very popular to use for crafts, decorations, and home projects. Lots of fun options that you can do with the girls for a night out or with your family. Crafts have become so popular that you can even buy corks at the craft stores even if you’re not a wine drinker. Check out some fun options here. https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g2538/repurposed-wine-corks/


In the Kitchen and Bathroom

What do you do with old condiment bottles? Toss them? Recycle them? My tip is to use your ketchup bottle for pancake batter for an easy way to disburse it. Cardboard egg cartons are perfect for growing seeds. However, if you have a black thumb (like me), they work as packing materials or you can always donate them to a local farmer. Skip the bags of ice for your day at the beach and use jugs and plastic water bottles as giant ice packs for your cooler. Then when they melt, you can use them for drinking, cooking, or washing. What can you do with old vitamin or prescription bottles? They are the perfect size for mini first aid kits to keep in your car or take on a trip. Great for aspirin, band aids, and Neosporin.


Repurposing

For repurposing, you don’t have to look farther than your very own bathroom. Use that old toothbrush for those stubborn stains in your grout or other small areas. Have you ever heard of using your old toothpaste container for cake decorating? Just snip off the end and clean it thoroughly. Empty night cream jars work great for small items like earrings, paperclips, and safety pins. They also are perfect for vitamins or other small items when traveling.


What do you do with broken or chipped china? You can break it up into small pieces and make a mosaic for art purposes, retile an old table or flower pot, or even make a key fob or jewelry. We found an old changing table on the side of the road that had been used for gardening. We replaced the shelves, painted it, and turned it back into a changing table. Many old furniture can be repurposed to make new items. An old door can be turned into decorative item or more practical to mount on the wall (add hooks) to hold coats. An old crib can be used as a porch swing (I have one). There are endless opportunities for furniture. HGTV has numerous shows showing you lots of ideas, but it’s just as easy to look at YouTube or Google to find ideas.


Fabric Scraps

I am one of those people who has a bin fully dedicated to fabric scraps. It’s perfect for Halloween school costumes, crafts, and just for fun. I’ve personally used extra scraps to make aprons, holders for Chapstick, and pencil pouches. Take a gander at the following website for even more ideas. https://www.diyncrafts.com/15703/repurpose/100-brilliant-projects-to-upcycle-leftover-fabric-scraps


Second Hand

Buying items second hand is great for saving money as well as reusing. As Macklemore says in the song Thrift Shop, “One man's trash, that's another man's come up.” **Refer to my previous blog Clothing Hacks on 4/5/21 for more specific information about buying previously owned items.

Around the House

Even though cans and glass are easily recyclable, you can also use them for lots of different other things as well. Great for bulk pantry items like beans, rice, macaroni, desk organizers, and bathroom containers. With milk jugs, you can make them into a bird feeder, watering pot, or even a charging station. A stained or old coffee mug (even with no handle) can be used for planting small plants and herbs. Your dryer sheets are amazing at scrubbing soap scum, stubborn pan stains, and even polishing chrome. When you get to the bottom of your Clorox wipes, there is inevitably some more liquid. Instead of dumping it down the drain, roll off some paper towels and put them in to soak up the remaining amount. It makes it go a little farther and you don’t waste any product. Instead of aluminum foil, paper cupcake holders, or parchment paper, choose silicone options. Not only are they reusable, but they are also very easy to clean and save your pans from wear and tear.


Bigger Items

When we renovated our kitchen, we pulled out all of the cabinets without destroying them and sold them on Craig’s List. This accomplished several things. We got a little extra money toward our renovation and the cabinets lived on for another day and gave someone else a great deal on sturdy cabinets. In addition, we purchased a double oven from a store that took returns from warehouses and other stores. If they don’t want to resell an opened box/item, they transfer it to these types of resellers. We saved hundreds of dollars on that one item alone. Over the years, we’ve purchased many items through these types of stores including opened bulk items (chips, candy, gum, etc.), Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville Blender, clothes, and even a tent.


Recycle

Most people are familiar with recycling. Whether they are actually doing it or not is another story. I’ve been told by some people that it’s tedious and that they have no place to put the materials and other sob stories. It may be somewhat of an inconvenience, but it can be beneficial for all. Let’s talk about some of the benefits.


· Recycling helps keep items out of the landfills—including some things that NEVER degrade like Styrofoam containers.

· Recycling reduces the amount of trash that you have to put out every week. Since you are not putting all the computer paper, mail, plastic items (milk jugs, cottage cheese containers), canned goods (fruits, veggies, soft drinks), or glass (apple sauce containers, spaghetti sauce containers) in your trash, it significantly cuts down on your trash output.

· Recycling saves your family money. We use less trash bags so we save money on purchasing kitchen bags. Depending on the recycling in your neighborhood, it may be free to recycle. We’ve been recycling for almost 20 years. Prior to now, we have had curb pick up, but now we have to take everything to our local recycling center. As I drive through the neighborhood, I notice many items that are clearly recyclable (boxes/plastics) that are overflowing their bins. They could put out a fraction of the waste by recycling.


Sell Your Stuff

What do you do with items that you no longer use or don’t work? There are several options for these items. What about having a garage sale? You can earn extra money as well as get rid of unwanted items. You can even join with your neighbors to have a neighborhood sale to attract more potential buyers to the area. You can coordinate one for your neighborhood, advertise for free on Craig’s List and FB marketplace and post signs around the major intersections. If you have a lot of items, it can definitely be worth it. If you can’t sell it, make sure you keep it out of a landfill and donate it.


If you don’t want to have a garage sale, you have other avenues. Online forums like Craig’s List www.craigslist.com, FB marketplace, Mercari www.mrecari.com, Ebay www.ebay.com, and Depopwww.depop.com are just a few places to sell just about any item or service. If you don’t want strangers coming to your house, you can plan a public meeting place. The service may be free (depending on what option you choose) and you don’t have to pay anything if your item does or does not sell. With Ebay, you will be charged even if your item doesn’t sell and you also have to deal with shipping expenses which can be rolled into the price of the item. I find that Ebay is good for smaller, easily shipped things that need a particular marketplace. Depending on what item you need to sell, you can also use consignment sales or stores. **See Hacks for Gifts Received blog on 4/20/21 for more ideas and specifics.


Can’t Sell or Donate?

What do you do with items that can’t be donated to charities because they don’t work or they’re too large? Do you throw them away? Again, these items go to a landfill where they can sit for hundreds of years or forever depending on what we are referring to. I understand that it’s so easy just to throw something out to the curb to be picked up. I’m sure that you’ve seen about every item that you can think of at the curb to be taken by the garbage truck. There is a solution that can help you earn some money and help save the environment.


If you are not successful or feel that your item won’t sell (broken electronics), you still do not have to throw the item out for the trash. Many of the online forums have a FREE section where you can post items. If you don’t want to have contact with these people, you can leave them outside your home or someplace else. Just because you have no use for a broken iPad, doesn’t mean that someone else doesn’t. It could be a fairly easy fix for someone with the know-how.


Another option is Freecycle www.freecycle.org. This organization is designed to keep items out of landfills by reusing items. One person’s trash is another’s treasure. All items are given away for free. People post items that they are offering that range from clothing, bikes, washing machines, and televisions. Some are working perfectly fine and others aren’t. There are 3 options that you see on freecycle. Offer means that you are offering up an item for pick up for free. Taken means that the item is spoken for and is pending pick up or has been picked up. Wanted means that the freecycler is looking for a specific item. I have used all of these options many times. The only down side to participating in freecycle is that the items are not tax deductible. The way I look at it is that if I’m also receiving items from individuals, then it’s a wash. I may not be getting the deduction, but am receiving other items for free.


Many years back, I gave away a portable DVD player for the car with two screens. It had stopped working even though we’d only used it three times. It was out of warranty so I was out of luck with the product. Since I couldn’t sell a broken item, I decided to put it on freecycle. The person who got the player said that her husband was very handy and knew how to deal with those types of things. Since we didn’t, it wasn’t feasible for us to try to do something with it ourselves. She told me that he was able to fix it with two simple parts and spent an afternoon on it. It was a win-win for all. I was able to get rid of my item, keep it out of a landfill, and someone else was able to reuse it.


Try to purchase items made from recycled materials. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for those items to be pricier than their counterparts. Talking strictly financially, weigh out the benefits of doing so. The 3 R’s are definitely going to be around for a while so TODAY is the time to start implementing them into your life. This is for the environment as well as money savings around your home and for you. It is the small things that end up making all the difference in the world for your financial future.

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