{"id":31025,"date":"2016-04-05T09:49:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T13:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/?p=31025"},"modified":"2016-04-05T09:49:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T13:49:00","slug":"items-you-throw-away-every-day-that-you-can-reuse-or-recycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/items-you-throw-away-every-day-that-you-can-reuse-or-recycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Items you throw away every day that you can reuse or recycle"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year I have partnered with IKEA to share fun ideas on how you can live a more sustainable life. All opinions are my own.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you wanted to reduce the amount of waste you create every week, but don\u2019t have a lot of time or space to manage the excess?<\/p>\n

As someone who loves a clutter-free home, I\u2019m often tempted to throw away anything that I can to keep my house in order. However, I want to be conscious of the environment and repurpose and recycle whenever possible.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

The key for me is to find systems to help you stay organized while being resourceful. Over the years I\u2019ve come up with several ways to recycle and reuse without filling my house with empty toilet paper rolls and cereal boxes.<\/p>\n

IKEA is my favorite place for finding inexpensive items to help keep my home organized. They are stylish, easy to assemble, and are great space savers in the home. Their flat packaging makes them easy to transport home and usually I have my purchases assembled and in use by the end of the day.<\/p>\n

In this post you\u2019ll find some of my helpful tips when it comes to reducing waste. These are five items you are probably throwing away, that you could be reusing in your home.<\/p>\n

Food<\/h3>\n

Have you ever tried making your own compost bin? You can make a basic one out of a large plastic trash can with a lid. Before the items make it to the compost bin outside, this cute miniature KNODD can<\/a> works perfect under the sink in the kitchen to hold items for composting.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Line the can with a paper bag (recycled from the grocery store) to make clean up easier and instead of scraping food off the plate into the garbage or disposal you can scrape it right into the can under your sink. Once the can is full dump it into the larger compost bin in the yard. Remember to never compost meat or fats.<\/p>\n

Dryer sheets<\/h3>\n

I love they way dryer sheets make my clothes feel, but it seems very wasteful to use them once and throw away. Dryer sheets have a long life after they\u2019ve made your clothes less static-y so save them to use around the home.<\/p>\n

My favorite use is to place the used dryer sheet in a pan that has baked-on food. Fill the pan with water and add a used dryer sheet. Let it soak over night and the next morning the baked on food will come right off.<\/p>\n

You can also use dryer sheets to dust blinds, keep drawers smelling fresh, and de-stinkify smelly tennis shoes.<\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

Store used dryer sheets in a cute container like the FRYCKEN basket<\/a> in the laundry room or kitchen.<\/p>\n

Towels<\/h3>\n

In our house towels go from pristine \u201cguest bathroom condition\u201d to \u201cclean up the dog\u2019s mess condition\u201d in a less than a year. Instead of throwing away our frayed towels I reuse them as cleaning rags around the house.<\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

I cut large towels in half or thirds for smaller rags and store in OBSERVAT\u00d6R bins <\/a>in the laundry room or kitchen for easy access. Instead of grabbing a paper towel to clean (or clean up a mess) I use a rag which can be easily washed and reused. I keep a bin next to the washer for dirty rags and throw them into the laundry every few days.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Glass jars<\/h3>\n

Instead of throwing away empty glass jars (think spaghetti sauce or pickles) you can repurpose them all around the house. Glass jars are so trendy right now and there are so many ways you can reuse them. Here are some of my favorite ways to reuse glass jars.<\/p>\n

\"ideas<\/p>\n

\u2022 Vase
\n\u2022 Catch all for the laundry room
\n\u2022 Leftovers
\n\u2022 Dry goods
\n\u2022 Drinking glasses
\n\u2022 Craft projects
\n\u2022 Bathroom storage<\/p>\n

Store glass jars in a rustic pine KNAGGLIG box<\/a> on an open shelf or in a cabinet for easy access.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Paper<\/h3>\n

Paper is easy to recycle with your community program, but it\u2019s also something you can reuse in your home.<\/p>\n

Did you know that you can use shredded paper as bedding for your plants? Place a layer of shredded paper in your flower beds and cover with a thin layer of mulch. You\u2019ll save money on mulch and the paper will decompose and fertilize your garden.<\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

I keep paper trash in a separate KNODD bin<\/a> in my office so it doesn\u2019t get contaminated with other garbage. Once a month I shred it and reuse it.<\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

The next time you are tempted to throw something away, think about how it can be reused instead. Many times reusing a household item is not only the most sustainable option, it\u2019s a money saving option too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As someone who loves a clutter-free home, I\u2019m often tempted to throw away anything that I can to keep my house in order. However, I want to be conscious of the environment and repurpose and recycle whenever possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-living-homemaking","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31037,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31025\/revisions\/31037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}