Repurposing Items

I am a huge believer and practitioner of repurposing any item I can. I believe that every products container has more uses than the one it was designed for. It is our duty as consumers to learn other ways in which containers can be used.

For instance, as I go through my local grocery store I constantly look at how a product is packaged keeping my eye on how that container can be used after the product itself is long gone.

The most common products that come to mind are butter (margarine or near butter) containers. These are great for storing leftovers in the fridge. Just as larger sized Yogurt containers and even whipped topping containers. These plastic tubs of various sizes just scream out “don’t throw me away, re-use me”. Who needs Tupperware or Rubbermaid as long as these little plastic beauties are available?

The small glass jars of artichoke hearts, or yeast, or specialty jellies and jams are just right for making candles in. You can buy a bag of wax at any craft store and pour into your jar of choice in a pan of boiling water and within a few minutes you have a candle for the next time the power to your house goes out. There are a multitude of websites devoted to showing you what you need. Honestly, the double boiler thing is not really necessary.

You can paint these jars afterwards, you can wrap them in jute with a little watered down glue, you can even put contact paper on them to dress them up or leave the label on them if you want.

These jars can be used for keeping loose screws etc in them inside your junk drawer. Out in the workshop they can be used to hold small items. In the kitchen you can store leftover liquids in them. Your imagination is your only limit.

I use small one-cup sized jars to store hummingbird food in the fridge.

I cut milk jugs, vinegar bottles, bleach bottles in half and use the tops as funnels and the bottoms to store kitchen scraps to carry out to the compost pile.

I also use gallon milk jugs to water my house plants with and to carry water out to my bird baths every day.

The lids on some food jars have the little button in the center to be used to check for freshness, these jars are great for putting homemade jelly or other foods in. just put the food in when it is hot, close the lid and wait for the button to ‘pop’ inwards showing it is sealed.

The foil bags that coffee comes in, we use these empty bags to store homemade snacks in when we go hiking.

The tin cans that some foods come in, they are used to store craft items, same as with the small jars mentioned earlier.

Recycling, reusing, repurposing, whatever you want to call it can go a long way towards keeping items out of our landfills as long as possible. Let’s all chip in and help in any way we can.

What clever ways have you come up with to repurpose items? I'd love to hear about them.