photo by superfurry

Reusing and repurposing household items easily becomes a habit. Once you start, you’ll question everything before you throw it away. I call it TBT: Think before tossing. Although sometimes you’ll find only one additional use, it still helps to reduce waste. Household items such as newspapers and plastic containers are easy to find second uses for, so I’ll share some items that you might not have thought about reusing.

VINYL TABLECLOTH: Can be used on the entryway floor. Position it felt side up during snowy or rainy days to keep your floors clean. The felt side catches the mud, dirt and water, and the vinyl side keeps your floors dry. Makes a good tarp to drag leaves in the fall, too.

NYLONS: Cut small sections of pantyhose and use to remove nail polish.

WINE CORKS: Remove the glass from an old frame. Trace the glass onto foam core. Cut corks in half lengthwise, and glue the flat side onto foam core. You can glue them all horizontally or vertically, or alternate between the two. Place into your frame. Hang and use as a bulletin board.

PARMESAN CONTAINERS: Can be used to hold your twist-ties, rubber bands or baking soda for cleaning.

COOKING WATER: Instead of tossing it down the drain, use it in the garden.

CANDY CONTAINERS: Use M&M tubes, Altoid tins and Tic Tac containers to hold quarters for parking meters, tolls, lunch money, emergency phone calls or the laundry machine. Use them to hold a few adhesive bandages for your purse or glove compartment, or have a handy place to store your saved seeds from your garden. They can hold toothpicks, sugar substitutes when traveling and salt and pepper or spices when camping.

BABY-CHANGING TABLE: Use it in your laundry room for storage and as a clothes-folding table. It’s also the perfect height for grooming small pets, potting plants or wrapping gifts.

PRODUCE MESH BAGS: Reuse mesh bags from oranges in the bathroom. Hang it and use to store tub toys to dry. They can be cut and used as scrubbers, too.

MUSTARD BOTTLES: Save a few for the kids to use when frosting cookies. It’s much easier than spreading.

BABY MOBILE: Instead of throwing it away, save the little plush parts and use them as ornaments or gift embellishments.

LUNCHBOXES: Use them to store small toys, playing cards, video games, cosmetics, hair accessories, soaps, shampoo or crafts for at home or when traveling. It’s a handy place to store CDs and DVDs, too. Make a stationery kit and fill with cards, paper, stamps, pens and envelopes. Use them to organize your recipe booklets. They stack easily, so you can fill several, label them and stay organized. You can assemble a small baby kit with diapers, baby wipes and a change of clothes and leave it in the car for emergencies. They’re easy-to-carry containers for clothespins. You can assemble a mini-cooking kit for kids with cookie cutters, measuring cups and spoons and kid-friendly recipe cards. They’re great to use as creative gift wrap, too.

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