This year in celebration of Plastic-Free July, we're focusing on all of the ways that we can reuse things we already have, or give items a second life that would otherwise end up straight in the trash.
Reusing is a great way to reduce your plastic use. With each item repurposed, you avoid bringing home another plastic alternative, plus, if you're able to find a long-term use for your otherwise garbage-bound item, you can help save 6.3 billion tonnes from landfills!
Our top tips for reusing:
- Donate or gift old items to give them a second life. If you have a great quality piece of furniture or clothing that you love but is out of style, store it for the future, you never know when it will come around again!
- Before buying new, look for items second-hand
- Graduate old kitchen plates, cutlery and utensils for camping and picnic gear
- Repair clothing and leather shoes and purses to give them a second life
- Get creative! Save old bits of wrapping, magazines, pots, boxes and reuse them for wrapping gifts, making collages or art projects
- Purchase bulk home goods and cleaning products and reuse pantry and kitchen containers to save on packaging waste
- Save + clean used tinfoil to reuse in the kitchen
- When cleaning out your garden, don't forget that you can reuse soil for new plants and compost all of the weeds and dead-headed plants.
- Repurpose your used coffee grounds for plant fertilizer
- Save any beauty or personal care sample containers to reuse for travel + on-to-go items
- Store leftovers in used hummus, nut butter + dip containers
- Reuse ribbon, gift wrap + gift bags that you receive with gifts
- Upcycle old clothing into kitchen cloths + cleaning rags
- Reuse empty facial mist containers to water your plants
- Turn veggie scraps into vegetable stock
- Save old mail to use as scrap/note paper
- Keep used jars for bulk + pantry items
- If you do find yourself with takeout containers + plastic cutlery, wash + save them for reuse at your next picnic
- When upgrading pillows + blankets in your living room, consider other places in your home where your old cushions could be used (ie. outdoors!)
- Use newspaper to line your trashcans
- Save boxes from any online orders for wrapping gifts, storing things around the house, or give them to a friend who's moving
- Reuse lemon rinds + the ends of vegetables + herbs for juicing
- Keep rubber bands for second use around the house + for food storage
- Clean out the leftover wax in your old candles + reuse the candle jar for jewelry storage, kitchen glasses, pen holders, or make a new candle!
Don't forget that small changes add up to big impact. Any action you can take is better than no action. We're not here to be perfect, we're all about #DiingBetter