There is a part of my brain that does not like to trash what I buy. I know if I buy a jar of pickles, I am
buying not just the pickles but also the jar. Living in a small rural area, we don't have the recycle stuff
like they do in the cities. Yeah, I throw the pickle jar away. BUT.....

Fruit Cups - these are the small plastic throw away cups that contain fruit, jello, gel, parfait, etc. I
buy a lot of those because I pretty much eat a low fat diet. I cannot stand throwing the little plastic
cups away so I don't. At least, not right away, I don't. So this is what I do with them.....

When I buy box's of instant jello, I mix the jello in a bowl and then I pour the jello mixture in the
little cups I saved. I like doing that because I know the exact serving I am eating.

Another thing I do with them is punch a couple small holes in the bottom of the little cups with an
ice pick. I can then fill with dirt and start seedlings for my summer garden.

I think people these days tend to waste too much. I am not huge on reusing but I do try to find a
at least a second use for some items instead of automatically throwing in the trash.

Do you do that with anything?

super

RoseGold wrote: I am guilty I washout mayonaise jars "large plastic'' and use them to store rice, grits, sugar, pasta, tea bags and etc... I eat a lot of fruit cups and really like Val's idea of making jello cups. Thanks Val

There's something very cool about doing that. It just looks cool and very useful.

I have various size jars, mostly mason jars and the like that I store pastas, beans, etc in.

One time I bought a huge jar of the Vlasic pickles and I really liked the jar. It has measurement
and design made into the glass. So I kept it and I spray painted the lid pink.

I'm truly happy reading your notes!!! Why? Simply because I can see my grandma in you, and my mom also. Both of them raised me with a tickle in the ear if ever I throw away quickly bottles, containers, etc. that can be recycled or be used for other purpose. Good afternoon, grandma!

In India we have ''Kabadis " ..they buy all the clutter for a very small price !!! meoooooow

Long ago before there was an internet, there was IBM Machines. :

My grandmother worked at NIPSCO which was and maybe still is, a major gas company in Northern Indiana.
She was a clean up woman. After everyone left after 5pm, my grandmother and the other clean up workers
began their night cleaning in the building. Mopping floors, emptying trash cans, dusting, etc.

Every now and then, my grandmother would bring home a big box. The box was full of tossed out IBM cards.
They were allowed to take them but why would anyone want them? They were cards that had already been
run thru the IBM machines.

The cards were various colors. Orange, Green, Yellow, Blue, White, Off White. I don't know how many would
be in the box's that she brought home. Maybe a thousand or maybe 5,000. It was a lot. They were about
8 to 10 inches longer and maybe about 4 inches wide.

The cards had tiny little squares out of them. That is because they were run through the IBM machines and
I guess those little squares had something to do with inputting account holders information.

So in the basement they went, box after box of IBM cards that had been run through the machines and of no
known purpose but trash. We had several large closets in the basement and one was almost full of those IBM
cards.

Retirement came and to the south we moved. My grandfather bought a church.

One Christmas my grandmother opened several of those IBM card box's. She had glue and glitter. Lot's
of various colors of glitter and stapler and staples. She folded one end of the cards and stapled. she did
that with hundreds. She then stapled them together at the other ends and made large amounts and smaller
amounts. She then stapled them together. She them took the glue and spread it on all those ends and took
glitter and put all over the ends. The finished product was..... Christmas Wreaths. In the middle she took
pine cones that had fallen off our pine cone trees and put some of those in the middle for direction. She
also took sticks and made crosses for the middle. We took those to the church and placed them in the
windows and in front of lighted electric candles. The light would shine through all those tiny square holes
and the glitter would glisten and everyone was so amazed by them.....and I was too.

Everyone wanted them. So I helped take the box's of IBM cards to the church and everyone that wanted
could come to the activity class and help make them. Many went in to the church bazaar and every one
was sold. The money went towards new church pews.

I was just a kid and it was probably one of the first times I realized my grandmother was smarter than me.

I have read where discarded clothing is a problem in the landfills, taking up lots of space. I rarely throw away clothing, instead giving it to church donation boxes, having yard sales or cutting it up for cleaning rags if the items are torn or stained.

I think we waste too much too. I try to buy as much as I can in glass jars. Then when I cook too many beans or whatever I can freeze the extra in the glass jars. I place a piece of plastic wrap over the top and the the lid. It keeps freshly frozen for quiet a while. I keep my paper egg cartons for starting seedlings. I keep the deli salad containers I get when I buy pre-mixed salads and use them to send leftovers home with the family. They work great for that!

I also save the smaller plastic peanut butter jars. The small ones I use to mix my Vinegar-Baking Soda formula for washing and rinsing my hair. I use the big PB jars for storing dry foods.

We just 0le penny pinchers, Valerie!

I keep many sewing items in jars too. I have a large jar full of various colors of spools of thread.
I can see through the jar since it is clear glass and makes it easy for me to choose the color I need
but also keeps the thread dust free. I have a couple of smaller jars with bobbins, buttons, etc.

The large plastic containers of peanuts, such as great value peanuts that come in a 2 pound plastic
container....I save those some times. The label are on there pretty good so I don't bother to pull
the label off. I wash and dry and then place crayons in them. I put crazy stickers all over the label
that I get free in the mail at times. They are really handy plastic containers because they are square
and have a wide round opening and a screw lid. I used one not long ago for paint. Instead of dragging
the giant bucket of paint in the house. I poured a little white paint in one. The opening is large enough
for a paint brush. I had an area in the hall that needed painted.

I guess jars are an item you could say I recycle the most. I use them in the shop to hold screws, nails,
and junk.

I buy sanding blocks at walmart. They are about the size of a sponge. Very handy for sanding furniture,
walls, etc. Some times they get dull but still usable and no need to throw away. So you know those big
square plastic containers of ice cream at walmart.....I buy those. When the ice cream is empty, I never
throw those buckets aways. The square buckets, two of them I have sanding blocks in. Another one I
have used lysol dish sponges. Instead of throwing the dish sponge away, I let them air out and dry and
then put them in the bucket. That way when I have something to wash outside, car wheels or lawn mower,
etc, I use those old dish sponges. I also use the plastic ice cream buckets for water in the summer months
for the outside animals.