Friday, April 28, 2017

Easy Reusing and Repurposing around the house

My second grader is studying reusing items in Social Studies and what we do as households to re-purpose and reuse items .  So it got us thinking about our favourite (see what I did there?!) ways that we do our bit to reuse items. 

These are all pretty simple. You're not going to find ways to change a lego into a keychain or kitchen utensils  into hooks or anything. Here are a few of our easy to-dos.

1- I keep a big stash of reusable bags in the trunk of my car for grocery shopping. It helps that I'm 'thrifty' and in Canada a lot of stores charge 5c per plastic bag. In the event that I do get plastic bags, I use them as kitchen garbage bags.

2- I save the nicer glass jars from jams, jellies, yogurts and other condiments for when I make our freezer jam or homemade hot sauces. One run through the dishwasher and it's as good as new. I even used the yogurt containers with new lids as jelly bean party favours for C's eighth.

3- Speaking of containers, all those old perfectly good plastic takeout containers? I save them for  giving others leftovers or if I'm taking just a bit of food for family/a friend. That way I'm not giving them a good container of mine that they then have to remember to give back to me!

4- Okay, this sounds weird and I'll own it. When I'm emptying the girls' or my water bottle to replace it with fresh water (bacteria be gone), I usually empty it into a plant instead of the sink.

These two close to the kitchen are the main recipients.

5- I love those BBW candles and the containers they come in are lovely for storage of beauty items. I freeze the empty jars and then just chip the candle away. One run through the dishwasher and it's as good as new.

6- Old towels make great floor rags!

7- My kiddos have lunchboxes that we use instead of ziplocs.

8- For parties, I keep the tassels and party decorations that are still usable and store them in my huge "party' container. I know they're cheap but it's about the wastage.

9- At Christmas time, we've wrapped a couple boxes (both top and bottom so they open) to use again and again and I save some of the boxes, fancy ribbon and bags to reuse. 

10- Those older veggies  that we don't want to eat raw anymore, like peppers, tomato and carrots, I put them in soups, beans and stews to add more flavour. A friend of mine also saves her peels to put into veggie stock.

What about you? Do you do any of these? Any repurposing tips/tricks to pass along?
 
Linking up with 
AndreaErika and Narci for Favourites on Friday
  and Amanda for Friday Favourites

Happy Weekending, lovelies!

14 comments:

  1. I love repurposing things too! I always do the same with water bottles or any extra water :) I love those candle jars for things, they make cute vases too for little roses. So many good ideas!

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  2. LOVE what you did with the bath and body candle jars! FUN post and happy weekend beautiful lady!!

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  3. We save take out containers for lunches too - I think that's my favorite way to repurpose LOL! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  4. GENIUS with the candle jars! Genius, I say!

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  5. I use the candle jars all the time. They're perfect!

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  6. Amazing tips! I'm the same way with dumping water from bottles into household plants or in the landscaping outside. Happy Friday <3
    Green Fashionista

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  7. Great ideas! We use reusable lunch containers too. I love them. I'm pretty sure my mom does the thing with pouring the water into plants - it's totally not weird! And I have reused candle jars but your new decor is so pretty!

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  8. Love these! What kind of plant is that? I need to save candle jars, I've honestly never thought of that and I love the size of them! Do you have a favorite lunch container? We use containers too but I'm always debating about just investing in a bento box so I don't have to deal with the clutter and chaos of finding lids and bottoms that go together!

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    1. I LOVE the Pottery barn Kids divided lunch boxes. It's separate like bento boxes but plastic so it's cheaper. And the yummbox is great too!

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    2. Awesome, thanks! We have the PB lunchboxes so I should probably just get the ones that I know will fit in their lunch boxes!

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  9. Great ideas! Those bath and body works candle containers are so pretty, I can't believe I never thought to save them before. California charges for bags too. We have a ton of reusable ones, the trick is remembering them when we go shopping...

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  10. I like saving the prettier jars from jams etc. too and such a great way to reuse BBW candles. Reading through this made me think about my Grandmother who was the queen of reusing this around the kitchen even washing foil and reusing it. lol

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  11. The candle jar tip was definitely a favorite of mine. You really have me thinking of what I can reuse now!

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  12. Why have I never thought to pour out the water from our water bottles into plants?!! I love how you have repurposed the BBW candles too...super cute!

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Hearing from you makes me so happy!!

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