Right brain math:

When does 1+1 = ½?  When I use everything twice – or more. 

 Reuse is one of the three tenets of environmentalists.  It is not such a novel idea.  We reuse many items in our daily life, such as clothing, housewares, and electronics. But with other items, like packaging or paper, it is easy to get into the habit of using something only once then discarding it. Just by reusing something one more time you could halve your expenses and the use of resources.  Obviously there are limits to this, but this week I challenged myself to think of at least one more use before throwing an item away.

Here’s what I discovered.

If you are a gardener it is easy to repurpose items.  We needed something to shield newly planted seeds from hungry birds.  It had to be transparent, with holes for air and water.  Suddenly, those plastic boxes that hold fresh blueberries took on a new meaning.  And we discovered that they fit perfectly over the cut up milk cartons that we use around new plants to discourage cutworms.  They already had holes on the sides and we put a few more in the top.  Then we anchored them with the plant stakes that are used to identify the plants.

Styrofoam boxes and plastic berry boxes were saved to start seedlings. The plastic boxes form a perfect little greenhouse. Paper towels, wet from wiping up water, were used to test seeds to see if they were viable.   Open up the towel, lay down a few seeds, then fold the towel over them, keep it damp, and wait to see if the seeds germinate.  Cut the bottoms off of plastic gallon jugs, take off the plastic caps and you have cloches to put over plants to keep them warm and encourage growth.  A garden catalog I recently received sells watering spikes that you attach to one-liter soda bottles to create a self-watering system.  This would be especially handy for plants in pots.  Newspapers, except those sections with colored inks or slick paper, are used as mulch.  Old screens are cut into small pieces to place over the drainage holes in pots to prevent soil loss.

What if you are not a gardener? 

Here’s some other items we’ve used more than once:

-       Good cartons, and their packing materials, are saved for mailing gifts and other items. 

-       81/2 x 11” paper that is not filed, or shredded, is torn into four parts and clipped together to use the clean side as notepaper.

-       Containers, from plastic pill bottles to glass and plastic jars, are used for organizing just about anything small from seeds to hardware to a shell collection.

-       A plastic jug can be cut open on the bottom and along one side to use as a scoop, great for dry dog or cat food or birdseed. Also, you can a hole cut in the side and hang it from the top to use as a birdfeeder. Or cut a hole in the side, leaving the handle intact, partially fill with sand and a tea light, and use as luminaries at Christmas.

-       Christmas cards are cut down and used for gift tags.

-       Clothing, such as jeans, too worn to donate, can be cut up for patches or creative sewing projects.

-       Old towels are recycled for pet towels and rags.

-       Handles that break off of one tool can often be reused on another tool.

-       Paper grocery bags can be used for a number of craft projects from making patterns, or as a surface for drawing and coloring, to cutting apart and decorating to use as gift wrap.

-       Fabric. yarn scraps, and beads, double to gift-wrap an item for someone who sews or crafts.

-       Bathwater is used to water houseplants.

-       Food is transformed into leftovers, and vegetable and fruit scraps into compost.

-       Single socks with missing mates are used to store items such as fishing reels or for storing small, delicate items.

How is this green?

Anytime we can reduce our consumption and keep items out of the landfill we are helping the environment and reducing our use of energy, particularly oil.

Your turn:  Rev up your creative right brain and share your tips on using items more than once. 

Resources and Inspirations:

“The Complete Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyczyn.

www.frugalvillage.com

Next week:  Green and clean.