Collecting items to reuse

[thesunflowergal]

Hi Everyone

Do you collect items to reuse? If so, what?

I collect:

Plant pots, for all my seeds.
Glass jars, for jams, chutneys etc.
Egg boxes, for selling my chickens eggs (when I get them)
Tissue paper and bubble wrap
Take away cartons (from the occasional treat) great for freezing leftovers, and planting seeds.

I think thats about it !!

[starchild]

Toilet roll inners for making seedling pots
Glass jars for chutney
any jiffy bags / bubble wrap and envelopes for reuse
friends give me old shampoo / hand cream bottle and jars and I make my own stuff and give them back to them refilled
the very occasional plastic meat tray or mini sweetcorn tray from the supermarket are reused as plant drip trays

probably loads more, but my mind is blank at the moment

[Annpan]

along with everything already mentioned I also save...

Marg tubs - for storage boxes, freezer tubs, etc
yogurt tubs - for plant pots
ice cream tubs - for homemade icecream, or for storage
fruit punnets - for plants (the ones with their own lids are the best - a free propagator)
All scraps of ribbon and material - for 'something' that I haven't though of yet.

actually I don't throw out anything without thinking 'what can I use this for'

[invisiblepiper]

I'm with Annpan on this one - I have strange items squirreled away in odd corners and drawers!
I put it down to having a Mum raised during the War - what that woman can't do with some leftover string!!!

[Milims]

The plastic containers from the reduced to clear on a Tuesday night danish pastries make fabby wee propogators - great for growing cress on your windowsill!
I also buy rice in bulk form the chinese supermarket - the bags it comes in make wonderful shopping bags
Large envelopes for sending off my book swaps
Large paper bags to line my indoor compost bin with (Homebase do them so I always "acquire" a few if I'm passing! )

[frozenthunderbolt]

Everything that is useful, many things that might be and a lot that only i could imagine a use for. drives everyone to distraction. very nice lol

[invisiblepiper]

The plastic containers from the reduced to clear on a Tuesday night danish pastries make fabby wee propogators - great for growing cress on your windowsill!

WOO HOO! AT LAST - JUSTIFICATION FOR BUYIMG ALL THOSE 'SELL BY' CAKES!
thanks Milims

[Flo]

Other people's plastic carrier bags for bringing muddy produce from the allotment. These are washed out and hung out to dry and reused till they fall apart.

Large plastic carrier bags for collecting compostable material to take to allotment for the heap. Again - washed out, hung out and reused till dead.

[Thomzo]

All of the above. In fact, anything that doesn't smell awful gets kept in case it might come in useful later. Every cupboard in my house is so full of stuff that might be useful that you daren't open the doors.

Cheers
Zoe

[Nomada]

Various plastic containers for various uses including storage, to put home made food in, propogating seeds in. Card board boxes for my rats. Glass jars for cuttings, food, storage, putting flowers in, turning into glass painted lanterns for camping trips. Ferrero rocher boxes for using as insect boxes (yeah I'm weird). For arts and crafts purposes I collect bit's of decorative card, paper, sweet wrappers, cardboard for making stencils/painting on and so on. I'm collecting plastic bags from family members to make these; http://www.instructables.com/id/Fusing_ ... lipse_way/

[jim]

Old hand tools for sending on to Tools for Self-reliance. (Who refurbish them to send to the 3rd World)

Love and Peace
Jim

[thesunflowergal]

Nomada - I keep bits of paper, old cards and stuff for the kids little art projects.

Also wrapping paper, paper bags, ribbon etc for wrapping up other peoples presents.

[elfcurry]

I was wondering today whether it's usual for people who lean towards greenness to have houses full of cr*p which just might come in useful at some point in the future.

Mine certainly is and it's because I can't throw out something which I think might come in useful.

[thesunflowergal]

I was wondering today whether it's usual for people who lean towards greenness to have houses full of cr*p which just might come in useful at some point in the future.

Mine certainly is and it's because I can't throw out something which I think might come in useful.

I do try not to keep to much, as I am worried that one of the kids will fall into a cupboard and not make it out alive

[fruitcake]

argghhh clutter - I hate it - I've spent years space clearing and I'm really into feng shui and trusting that the future will provide - HOWEVER - I had a very ish upbringing and I still have quite severe ish tendencies and we've built our house so we'll be staying here and I have a large potential garden and will be able to indulge some ishnesh so I keep....

old sheets / towels / t shirts etc for rags / dust sheets
screw top wine bottles (cos I want to have a bash at making my own at some point) and we really should go back to buying cork topped ones to support the cork industry and their ecology so I have a time limited source
jam jars
some cottage cheese / yoghurt pots / packaging trays (if I can recycle it then I will)
nails / screws/ bits of wood / DIY stuff
bubble wrap / jiffy bags / large envelopes - for posting the stuff I manage to flog on fleabay etc
gift bags

I also keep jar lids of jars I don't want for my dad - he has lots of jars missing lids - and makes very good jam

I've got guys at work keeping me 2l c*ke bottles (yeuch how can they drink that stuff - I've seen wot it does to a 2p coin) for cloches


the rest goes down the charity shop or on fleabay or recycled / composted (I have a food digester as well as a compost bin) where poss