Things You Can Do with Everyday Household "Trash"

I like to think I do my part to reduce the amount of waste I put in landfills so I like to reuse things when I can and I also like to save money.  So today I'm sharing some things you can do with everyday household items to save money, time, and the environment. 


Reuse jars and containers
Deli containers can be reused as food storage and if you think the quality is cheap then use those ones for sending guests home with leftovers.  Jars are great if you wash them out and remove the label because you can store herbs, craft supplies, and use them as containers for homemade gifts at the holidays. 

Food waste
I save my egg shells and let them dry out for a day or two then I use a mortar and pestle to crush them and I put them in my potted plants and in my veggie garden to add calcium to the soil.  I also use coffee grounds to help with the acidity level. 

Plant containers
When I get new plants at the store, sometimes I bury them in the little container they came in so that they don't spread and take over my garden.  This is good for things like Chamomile, Mint, and other ground spreading plants. 

Newspaper and other paper items
These get used to line my table when I'm doing messy arts and crafts.  You can also put it under a new garden bed to block out weeds or to start a compost pile.  I also use the brown crumpled up shipping paper that comes inside a box of goods to do the same and sometimes I use it in baskets and containers in my home that have decorative items in them to help the items not sink down in. 

Scrap paper
Scrap paper gets use for to do lists and for jotting notes down.  It gets recycled eventually but I still prolong it's life.  

Ugly household decor
If you have a ceramic figurine you found in a childhood box you can spray paint it a funky color and use it as book shelf decor. 

Old Sheets
I use old sheets and linens as backdrops for photos and I also keep the plain bedsheet that I never use since I only use a fitted sheet on my bed, and I use it to cover my veggie garden during a frost that sneaks in before the real warm weather starts. 

Fruit and veggies going bad
Instead of throwing these out you can put these in a compost pile or do what I do and leave them outside for critters that come at night.  Put them away from your house so you don't invite them to go through your trash.  Opossums eat rotting veggies and birds love fruit. 

Promotional totes
I use these to bag up donations that I take to Goodwill.  This saves me from using my own trash bags and also reduces the amount of them that goes to a landfill eventually. 

Receipts
I use these as bookmarks in some of my favorite books to mark the place of my favorite pages and pages I use as reference from time to time. 

Gift bags and tissue paper
I haven't had to buy my own tissue paper or gift bags in decades.  Just like my mom always did, I save them and reuse them.  If I'm at a party and someone asks if anyone wants to save the bags and tissue paper I always raise my hand.  You can even reuse bows and ribbon. 

Greeting cards
Generic greeting cards that you get in the mail can be used to make your own cards.  Just cut out the image and glue it onto cardstock that you fold and give as a card to someone else. 

Old Magazines
I donate these to nursing homes and leave them around my office at work but you can also clip your favorite words and images from them for crafts and collage backgrounds. 

Empty gift cards
Use these for crafts that require you to squeeze out excess glue or flatten a collage.  I also use them for random things like smoothing out vinyl decals around the house and for scraping up hardened pieces of food on the kitchen counter. 

Old towels and shirts
These make great dust rags and cleaning rags and you can toss them in the laundry when they get too dirty. 

These are just some of the ways you can reuse everyday household "trash".  What items do you use in creative ways? Share below!

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