Comments on: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: 14 Ways To Reuse Your Trash

By: Anika

Anika — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:39:19 +0000

hey guess what! I LOVE COWS!!

By: James Peat

James Peat — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:54:48 +0000

How humid is it there? I leave orange peels out at night and they are almost dry the next day and totally dry the the day after. The trick is not to put them in a little pile but to spread them out a little or hang them. The great smell is just a bonus for me. I use them as kindling in my wood stove. They burn very energetically, especially the clemintine / mandarin peels. No more busting up all that wood, although in truth I do that too. A Btu is Btu.

By: RANDOM PERSON!

RANDOM PERSON! — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:23:29 +0000

Did you know newspapers work really good for cleaning windows and you can just recycle them afterwards instead of usuing a bunch of paper towels or dirty socks :D

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:51:43 +0000

You don’t need dryer sheets at all if you are drying cotton. An allergist told me to stop using them when my son had an exzema problem, and there is no difference, unless you are drying a load of fuzzy polyester blankets! When I did use dryer sheets, I only used a quarter of a sheet at a time (either cut a stack of them at a time or just ripped them if they already had cuts in them).

By: Trent

Trent — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:48:14 +0000

Jacob: leave them out for half an hour or so, not for days – that’s nasty. If you want to stretch it more, boil them in some water.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:07:07 +0000

I take issue with some items on this list, including:

“I take orange and lemon peels and use them for air fresheners. I leave them out on a saucer to make the house smell fresher. Why use Glade?”

Because Glade doesn’t attract swarms of fruit flies and doesn’t quickly decay and smell up the house with that icky sweet and rotten smell. Glade also doesn’t look as tacky.

By: The Family CEO

The Family CEO — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:02:33 +0000

I love those ideas! I also use an empty kleenex box to collect trash in my car. Then I just toss the whole thing.

By: L

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:21:10 +0000

This is a pretty small suggestion, but studies have shown that microwaving sponges for 2 minutes kills 99.9% of germs on them...meaning you can use them until they fall apart. It also kills that sponge smell. =o)

By: Nathania Johnson

Nathania Johnson — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:56:59 +0000

Dryer sheets are also great for wrapping a hairbrush in. This helps cut down on static electricity when you brush your hair – especially great for winter. Not necessarily a money saving tip – unless of course people try to take care of static-y hair with expensive hair products.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:25:21 +0000

A similar thing that I do (at least in environmental and mental cleanliness) is using freecycle to get rid of larger items. I’ve kept a queen bed, a george foreman grill, and a few other items from hitting the landfill while at the same time saving room in my apartment for stuff I actually want. Sure, you can sell stuff if you’re persistent, but it’s nice having a person pick up what you advertised later that evening and be done with it.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:21:18 +0000

You use dryer sheets? That’s not very frugal.

Old socks is a good one. My parents were still using my old diapers as cleaning rags when I left for college.

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 19:49:30 +0000

I do a lot of this stuff too and think it’s great when anyone tries to save some trash from cluttering the landfill. Watering your plants with cooking water is an extra perk because often the water is nutrient-filled from veggies or whatnot that were boiled in it. I also really like buying HUGE bottles and refilling normal-sized bottles with their contents.