New Uses for Old Things: Household Odds and Ends
As a busy, penny-wise, green-minded mama, I’m on an ever-present mission to find new uses for things that may otherwise end up as trash. Faced with a growing pile of paperless rolls left over from paper towels and toilet tissue, used dryer sheets, and empty laundry-detergent bottles, I polled my eco-oriented parent friends for tips on new ways to use these old things. Here’s what I discovered:
Paper Towel and Toilet Tissue Rolls
Get crafty. Cardboard tubes of all sizes are the ideal foundation for crafts. Paint the tube with stripes or dots and glue on feathers, or fur plus ears and a tail, and you’ve got a quick and cute handmade animal. For the mini musician in your house, tape one end of a toilet paper tube with masking tape, fill with dried beans or rice, tape the other end closed, and voila: a homemade maraca. Up the fun by decorating it with bold paint and glittery glue.
Get organized. Paper tubes are a wonderful way to keep electrical cords tangle-free. Fold the cord and slide it into the roll before plugging it in. Get bonus decor points by covering the roll with colorful tape. And what about those tangled Christmas tree lights? Keep them in holiday-ready shape by wrapping them around a tube before storing for the year. Cardboard tubes can also be used to protect important documents or kids’ artwork. Roll the papers, slide into the tube and stash in a drawer or box.
Get Burning. Fill a cardboard tube with dried leaves and wrap in newspaper for an easy and accessible fire-starter. Stock a basket with these homemade starters during chilly months, and even the most hesitant of fire-makers will be ready to get burning.
Dryer Sheets
Banish (dust) bunnies. Word on the street -- or from my mama crew -- is that used dryer sheets are practically designed for dusting. Run one over shelves, furniture, blinds or any surface where dust gathers.
Say goodbye to soap scum. I’m particularly crazy about this one, since I appreciate anything that makes cleaning the bathroom easier. Running a used dryer sheet across soap scum reveals the shiny surface beneath!
Shine your screens. Screens of all types -- and glass lenses -- love being wiped down by a dryer sheet. Run a used sheet across your computer, TV or glasses for a crystal-clear viewing experience.
Laundry Detergent Bottles
Make a scoop. Cut an empty detergent bottle in half and use the handle side to scoop up, well, anything. Kids will love to add the scoop to sandbox fun!
Make some weights. Homemade gym! It doesn’t get greener than that. Skip the commute to your local workout emporium and get pumping at home. Fill empty detergent bottles with sand or water and flex those muscles.
Make a funnel. Transfer lots of liquid from one place to another with by cutting the bottom off of almost any bottle. Presto: funnel!
Read more about: activities , eco , family fun , green family , green kids , reuse
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TP Tubes
Posted on June 28, 2011
My sister has an outdoor fire pit and uses the Toilet Paper tubes along with the residue from the cloths drier filter screen to start her fires - works great.
Since when is burning things green?
Posted on June 29, 2011
If you really want to be green skip this article's recommendation to use paper towel tubes as fire starters. Put on a sweater folks!! There's a reason smoke is black--it's bad for the environment!
Detergent bottle fun
Posted on July 9, 2011
The parents group at my son's school uses detergent bottles (decorated with school colors & filled with beans/marbles/rocks/etc) to make noisy shakers for pep rallies & football games!
dryer lint reuse
Posted on February 26, 2012
Dryer lint in paperless cardboard rolls are good fire starters
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Posted on May 28, 2012
I made a mixture of 2 cups of cheep suave hair cooeitinndr and 4 cups of water. Pour the cooeitinndr in a pot on low heat add water and pour it into any container you can seal I used an old icecream bucket, I bought a pack of 6 sponges and cut them in half throw them in the bucket and when you need a dryer sheet wring out excess liquid from one sponge so it isn't dripping wet when it goes in the dryer and you can re use these over and over and the liquid mixture will last a long time I have laundry for 7 people and it works great to save money.
