Articles
Going Green Made Easy - Green Tips Roundup
First Posted: March 25, 2008
By Andrew Lau
3) Cheap and Easy Ways to Re-use Around the Home
Everyone has heard about the 3 Rs, and just about everyone has a recycling bin. We’ve also heard and discussed “reduce” quite a bit. Drive less, lower your thermostat - all commendable and intelligent ways to save – but what about reusing? We tend to hear a little less about that R. As such, we’ve put together a list of handy ways to reuse items around the house in money and earth saving fashion. Have a look:
- Milk bags - Cut open 1 side, give them a quick wash and rinse while you're doing the dishes, and let them dry. You'll have a steady supply of tough and sturdy plastic bags that are useful for storing, well, anything that fits!
- Scrap paper - Everyone has it, use it for anything from doodles to making notes to printing out draft copies instead of wasting clean paper.
- Elastic Bands - Many of the vegetables you buy come bunched by elastic bands. Save them and reuse them!
- Reuse envelopes and boxes for shipping - Open packages and envelopes gently and when it comes time to send rather than receive, cover the existing address with a label or stamp.
- Gift Bags - They pile up over time despite seeing about 20 seconds of use each. You always expect more during the holidays or after birthdays as well. Skip the wrapping paper this year and reuse a perfectly serviceable gift bag.
- Plastic Food Containers - Why buy Tupperware or storage containers when a large number of regular grocery items come in perfectly reusable containers already? Margarine containers, tofu containers, jars in many shapes and sizes, pre-made salad containers and more can easily be washed and reused.
- Paper Towels - A paper towel that has just been used to dry clean hands or the like can easily be dried and reused later for a dirty job like wiping plates before washing. Better yet, check out this thread in our green forum and learn about using shop towels instead of paper towels. They're inexpensive, super durable, and highly reusable.
- Sponges - Don't clean things with a dirty sponge, but don't toss it out either! Two minutes in a microwave can effectively destroy 99% of bacteria can effectively destroy 99% of bacteria and other harmful buildup in a sponge and prolong its usefulness (make sure the sponge is damp before you microwave it).
- Newspaper - Wad it up and use it as a packing material instead of relying on foam peanuts or Styrofoam.
- Coffee Tins and clean Egg Cartons - Schools, day cares, day camps, and kids anywhere can always use such items for arts and crafts. Keep some around the house for a rainy day children's activity or check if a local school or daycare wants to take them off your hands.
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