Selfsufficientish.com

When I fitted wooden blinds in the office, I had to cut off half the slats. I kept them for years thinking that they might come in useful for something. They just have. They make perfect bean poles. They have a small hole at each end which is perfect for tying them together and they seem to last ok against the weather.

Zoe

Along with many other items I hoard, the one I find most usefull is old cornflake/rice crispies/shreddies packets.

If you pull the seams gently they make really good drawer and kitchen cupboard liners. I've recently found as use for them as shading in the greenhouse!

the paper that market-bought cut flowers come in = gift wrap

I do hope that none of you have to move in the near future or you will need an extra truck for "the collection".

Mind it's odd how much goes on freecycle, is recycled or does go to the tip when you do have to move because you realise that you aren't going to use it.

I was very good yesterday. I took a whole carrier bag full of curtain rings to the Scrap Store. They were delighted.

Zoe

We save yogurt and sour cream containers for freezing leftovers or making freezer jam

All our twine off the hay for tying up tomatoes ,also for stringing peas and beans.

Aluminum sheeting off campers and trailers for roofing sheds we build
Pallets for building things with
odd bits of wire for patching the fences
odd cans of paint for adding color to our projects
Anything possible for the garden-pots,buckets,and baskets mostly

We go out and collect extra pallets,scrap wood,and things for the garden.

We also accept donations of all of the above items, so if someone we know is talking about getting out of gardening, we usually mention that we always need things.

I try to keep a wanted ad on Freecycle and if we really need something badly I put an ad in the Buy,Sell & Trade paper.

I'm going to try doing macrame' with the hay string as well, that will give me another item for my roadside stand, macrame' plant hangers!

Lois

I love reading yours now heres mine, i did feel a bit mean when i started saving everything with a view to "one day i will use it for something" I now save all our hair cuttings when the hairdresser comes and i put them round the garden, one to keep slugs at bay and two for a mulch for fruit trees/bushes.
i saved an old belt made from plaited leather and i spent 15 inutes untying it all i have multiple lengths of leather cord now which i use for all sorts of things, and i keep it all in a kitchen roll holder, which is where i keep plastic bags too., i keep all the candle ends and all the bottles for wine as well as my mums newspapers which is make into bricks for the chimeney.
used tea bags get sprinked with eucalyptus to keep cats of veg plot and the rest get thrown among my azaleas and camelias, along with crushed eggshells. i love it have you got any more?

invisiblepiper wrote:

Milims wrote: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

Yeah - but you only need to buy them once and can then use it for the rest of your life!!!

I never understand why people buy sandwich bags. I use pasta bags and the like for that. It's rare that I throw out anything before it's been used 5 or 6 times - which means, of course, that my house is generally full of potentially useful items...

As somebody mentioned before, it comes from being raised by parents who've known what it's like to do without. My parents lived through two wars. When my mother died, I found two huge boxes full of scraps of paper, used on one side - only good enough to write a shopping list on, but you never know when you might be short of a bit of paper for a shopping list!

must show this thread to my beloved cause she dose her crust when i tell her but it'll be useful
i have been known to skip dive in my own bin to rescue things
i know i am a bit of a horder while sorting out some old paperwork found morgage papers to do with my first house (brought 1991 sold 1995) when asked why i had kept them replyed thought they may be important maybe i need help

happy place wrote: i know i am a bit of a horder while sorting out some old paperwork found morgage papers to do with my first house (brought 1991 sold 1995) when asked why i had kept them replyed thought they may be important maybe i need help

You do.

Shred and compost that paper do.

but they may come in usefull

yes, useful as mulch or compost

Lois

My Dad is a terrible hoarder and I am the same

Last year my parents moved to sheltered housing and we now rent their old house. Since the clearing of all my Dads 'useful stuff' that occupied every room of this house, I have tried to stop myself keeping every useful looking thing for fear of one day having the same situation. It kills me to get rid of some things though...I have bags of fabric for those 'projects' that I never get around to and all kinds of things that 'will be handy for the garden'

This thread has just come up in active topics at the perfect time to inspire me - I've set myself a reusing challenge this week on my blog, so I'll be stealing all of your wonderful ideas and hopefully coming up with one or two of my own...