Green Living 101: Things You Can Reuse To Save Money

I don't know if I'm doing this the right way or not, but here's the article I found...I'm supposed to "linkback" but I'm not sure how to do that. I posted her link to her article at the bottom of the article. There are a lot of neat ways to save money. It's not "true" recycling, as one of the comments noted, but hey, this is saving money, not the liberal version of recycling. We aren't in it to turn a bottle into a bottle. We're about saving money.

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Green Living 101: Things You Can Reuse To Save Money
by heather on December 6, 2008

If you’re looking for ways to save money and go green, then this is the perfect list for you. I love it when things can do double-duty, and “Reuse” is second on the Holy Trio of green living (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).

I think many people have gotten really good at #3. After all, recycling is at an all time high. But, there’s a reason why it’s last on the list. Reducing consumption is, by and large, the best way to go green.

After that comes Reuse, which is what I’m focusing on today. Reusing things not only helps the environment, but it’s also a great way to save money.

The Magic Go Green List

1. Reuse Egg Cartons

Egg cartons make great seed starters in the spring.
If they’re styrofoam, you can break off each little egg cup and use them to cushion items when you have to ship something through the mail.
2. Reuse Your Blue Jeans

This idea came from one of our readers here at The Greenest Dollar. His idea? Use the leg of old jeans as door draft stoppers. Cut off a leg (a blue jean leg, that is), stuff it with old fabric or other filling like plastic bags, and sew up both ends. They work great for keeping doorway drafts at bay.
3. Reuse Your Coffee Grounds

Coffee Grounds (after you’ve made coffee, of course) make a great exfoliator. Use them to wash your hands after you’ve been digging in the dirt. Just mix a tablespoon of regular coffee grounds in your hand with one pump of your regular hand soap and you’re good to go!
Coffee grounds also work great in your yard. Sprinkle them in your flower beds or vegetable garden to add nutrients to the soil.
4. Reuse Wet Wipe Containers

If you have kids, then you have wet wipes. The empty containers are great for storing string and ribbon. Stick a piece of each ribbon out the hole and all you have to do is pull and cut. No tangles!
Wet wipe containers also work great for holding puzzle pieces or game pieces.
These containers are also perfect for storing Kleenex, especially in a bathroom that gets pretty wet or dusty.
5. Reuse Your Coffee Can

If you’re interested in composting, you don’t have to drop $30 on a ceramic “composting crock” for your kitchen. Just use your old coffee can. It’s airtight, so you won’t get any smell, and very easy to wash.
6. Reuse Old Maps

Old, dated maps make the best wrapping paper! Especially this time of year…
Old maps can also make interesting posters, especially if you have a bunch and can do a large section of wall.
7. Reuse Your Old Pens

Some households have absolutely no pens, ever. Others have so many pens they don’t know what to do with them all. If you have a ton of pens floating around, here are some ideas:

Donate them to your local school, library, women’s center, senior center, hospice home, or animal shelter.
Take them to work and put them in a jar by the copying machine for people to take with them.
8. Reuse Your Electronics

Go to Gazelle.com to sell your electronics to others who really need them. Gazelle focuses on everything electric: cell phones, camcorders, video game consoles, computers, PDAs, cameras, movies, MP3 players…everything gets an offer, and they’ll even send you a box to ship it out for free. If you have anything electric you want to get rid of, check out their site. You’ll help the environment, and earn money at the same time. Gazelle has been featured on the Today Show and CNN Money.
9. Reuse Old Envelopes

I use the envelopes from the mail I get everyday as shopping list paper. They’re the perfect size, and when I’m done with the list I toss it into the recycle bin. I never buy new paper for scribbling notes or To Do lists!
10. Reuse Roll-On Deodorant Sticks

Once the deodorant is used up wash out the base and then fill it with paint for your kids to play with. Stick the roller ball back in, and they’re good to go.
If you have a cat, the roller ball itself will make a fun toy for her to bat around.
If you’re into ping pong, then use the ball for your next game. Fun!
Additional Resources

I stumbled onto a fantastic site while doing research for this article.

How Can I Recycle This? is a site fully devoted to reusing things you normally have around the house. Some of her suggestions were sheer genius, so if you’re interested in learning more about how to reuse the common “stuff” you have around the house, please check out her site.

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Tagged as: green living, Recycling

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