I’ve been shucking, blanching and freezing lots of corn lately, and that got me thinking about the cobs. I don’t really like to add them to our compost pile, since they take so long to break down, but throwing them away just feels wasteful. Were there other uses for them that I was overlooking? There sure were. Check out all these cool uses for corn cobs that I recently discovered (and can’t wait to try). [Read more…]

I’ve shown you many of the things that we’ve rescued from other people’s curb piles over the years, but I haven’t shown you what we rescue from our own trash. And that’s as much a part of how we save money. So, let me take you through some of the things that we’ve deemed too good to throw out, and I’ll show you how we use them.

Bread Tags

I stick them on the ends of my Washi tape rolls, so we don’t have to peel up the ends every time we use them. This saves us quite a bit of time when we’re preparing Etsy orders.

Take-Out Containers, Strawberry Boxes and Oatmeal Containers

This is my gift wrap of choice. Just add a little tissue paper, and you have the perfect presentation. Since these containers are food-safe, they also work beautifully for wrapping food gifts. Click here to see more examples.

Empty Deodorant Containers

I wash them out, and refill them with my homemade bug repellent sticks.

Plastic Newspaper Sleeves

I use them to bundle small items together when we’re having a yard sale or participating in a consignment sale. Just tie a knot in the top, and you don’t have to worry about anything falling out.

Milk Jugs

We save them all winter. Then, we use them to wintersow our garden seeds.

Egg Cartons

Since we have chickens, we refill our cartons again and again until they’re worn out. Then, they go in the compost pile. Occasionally, I’ll use them to make fire starters. Just stuff the cups with dryer lint (something else I don’t throw away); pour melted wax over top; and you have a great fire starter.

Egg Shells

Since egg shells are full of calcium, they’re the ideal fertilizer for tomatoes. And since broken egg shells are sharp to the touch, they’re also an excellent pest deterrent. Just grind them up, and sprinkle them around your vegetable plants throughout the growing season, to prevent blossom end rot and keep slugs, cats and other garden pests away.

Plastic Grocery Bags

Paying for trash bags pains me, so we use grocery bags in all of our small trash bags. That just leaves us buying bags for the kitchen trash can, which is painful enough.

Spice Jars (lids off parm cheese)

I grow and dry a lot of my own spices, so I wash and reuse my store-bought spice jars. I also keep the lids off of my empty Parmesan cheese containers. When you screw them onto a wide-mouth jar, you have the perfect container for storing bulk spices.

Old Candles

When I’ve burned a candle all the way to the bottom, I melt down the remaining wax, and use it to make a new candle or a batch of fire starters.

So, those are some of the things that I don’t throw away, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten a bunch more. Are there things that you refuse to throw out? I’d love to hear from you.