Reusing Disposable Household Items

Despite our best attempts to go green, the chances are in favor of there still being plenty of little items around the house that don’t quite fit into a recycling category or maybe have one or two other uses left in them. Living in an apartment often means that you have to maximize your resources. This means finding new uses for things that you already have. Here are some ideas:

Dryer Sheets as far as the eye can see

Why are these things all over my new apartment? I just got here and already they’re under couches and beds, in the kitchen and even stuck to the dog. With so many around, I started collecting and storing them to reuse later. It turns out that they can be used to clean stuck-on food from your pans. I’m a runner – that means I have sweaty running shoes. I simply stuff my shoes with a few dryer sheets and that dries them up and keeps them from smelling. One of my favorite reuses for these little guys is as a duster. I saw basically the same product in the store with an outrageous mark-up. With what I have at home all I have to do is grab a sheet and run it along the baseboards, ceiling fan and bookcase – poof! Saved myself $10.

Old Drain Piping

There is a lady in my old neighborhood who had a cool little balcony garden. I talked to her about it a few times because she always had a story about a new plant that she was growing. She eventually invited me over to view her garden, and that is when I saw how creative she had been with her planter selection. Almost every planter was something else in a former life. My favorite was an old piece of drain piping that she salvaged. She cut a length about a foot long, then with a pair of pliers, bent one end inward to close it. She filled it with dirt and had a rustic planter with adequate drainage.

What are you reuse or repurpose ideas?