How To Reuse 5 Everyday Items

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In this day and age, it is so easy to spend money on things you don’t need that will eventually get tossed in the garbage.

There are free handouts everywhere, and well, if someone is handing you something free, you take it, right?

Wrong.

But If you’re here, you clearly want to find a way to limit the amount of waste you’re producing, so congratulations! Learning how to reuse everyday items is the first step to living a more conscious and sustainable life.

When most people hear zero-waste they automatically think they should just throw out all the plastic things that they own and get rid of a bunch of stuff.

That is the opposite!!!!!! of what you should do.

When going zero-waste, the point is to reduce the amount of things that will end up in the landfill. This is so important to understand. Do not try to be that person that just throws out all their stuff and tries to start new.

Trust me, I get it; I was the same way.

When I first started reading and watching videos about living a zero-waste lifestyle, I thought the only way was to get rid of everything I have and just don’t buy plastic. But thats not the case.

Here I’ll show you 5 (easy) ways to reuse what you already have so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill (or much worse, the ocean :/).

1. Reuse Glass Jars

A mistake that I made when first trying to reduce my waste was go out and buy a 24-pack of mason jars. YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS lol. I thought it was exactly what I had to do because glass is better for the environment – which is true, yes – but if you’re already buying pasta jars, then just reuse those and it’s one less thing that needs to be manufactured again. See what I’m saying?

We reuse because (1) it won’t end up in a landfill and (2) it’s one less thing that has to be manufactured, which produces more greenhouse gases.

( I’d just like to note it may not be safe to reuse plastic jars because of the toxins, so try to opt for glass when grocery shopping!)

2. Wear Your Clothes

See, I told you this was easy. Many of us don’t realize the amount of harm that producing clothes has on the planet. When you are buying clothes and not wearing them, it is a great waste considering how many resources were used to make that clothing item. For example, it takes about 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to make just one pair of jeans, and this is just one example.

Don’t buy clothes you don’t need and just wear what you already have. If there is an item that you don’t like or wear, don’t throw it out.

Instead you can:

give it to a friend or family member
donate it
sell it online
sell it to places that will give you money for it (plato’s closet, etc.)

Here’s a cool link I found that shows you different ways you can reuse your clothes!

3. Keep Your Old Toothbrush

Instead of throwing them out, use them for cleaning. This may be a bit of an obvious one, but it is really useful! About one billion(!) toothbrushes are thrown away every year, which produces about 50 pounds of waste. EVERY. YEAR. Think about that. That’s insane! It really shows you what changing one thing about your routine can do. And for an even more eco-friendly idea, swap your plastic toothbrush for a bamboo one!

I really like this brand of toothbrush. It’s pretty cheap considering most of them sell for a dollar per toothbrush. And you get 10 in a pack, which is pretty worth it.

4. Reuse Old Towels

Don’t let your old towels go to waste! There are plenty of ways you can reuse them and make the most out of them before tossing. Some ways include:

use as cleaning rags
cut them up a lil and use as drying towel for dishes
bath scrubber
turn them into a bath mat (so cool)
make a beach bag
make a bib

and so much more!!

5. Turn Cardboard Boxes Into Cool Stuff

I didn’t think this would be very realistic at first, but GUYS. The things you can do with a cardboard box is more than I thought possible.

I actually did something really cool with all the cardboard boxes I had from moving. Me and a few friends made a whole house for my sister’s cat! I’m still in the process of making it look cute (I’ll post an updated pic when it’s finished) but this is it as of now.