4 Everyday Items To Reuse Instead Of Replace
Sarah’s water bottles (Photo credit: Bryan Peters)
There are everyday items all around the house that are intended to be disposable. The items are meant to be used once and then thrown away. This wastes the energy and resources used to make the product initially. A large number of disposable products can actually be reused over and over again. This saves resources and helps the environment. Four everyday items are better reused than replaced.
4. Water Bottles
The number of disposable plastic water bottles thrown away every year has started to cause problems in landfills and in the oceans. Plastic water bottles should always be reused instead of replaced. They can be refilled from any faucet or filled with another drink like soda. Many plastic water bottles can even be put into a dishwasher to keep them clean. Reducing the number of water bottles being thrown away every year will help the environment greatly.
3. Bags
Retail stores often place purchases into plastic or paper bags. Any bags from retailers should be saved and reused later as needed. The bags can be reused at different stores. They can also be used as trash bags making it unnecessary to purchase separate plastic bags just for waste. This helps the environment because it reduces the need to produce plastic or paper just so that it can be used for a few minutes walking from a store to the home. The bags can even be used for storage or as a packaging material in boxes when moving.
2. Plastic Food Containers
Restaurants sometimes place carryout food in plastic containers with lids. Items in refrigerator sections of grocery stores come in plastic containers as well. Although some of these containers are recyclable, it still helps the environment to reuse the containers whenever possible. The containers can easily be washed and then used to hold leftovers or to cook. The containers can be used to hold supplies for children or as part of a school project. There is little reason not to reuse these durable plastic containers.
1. Printer Cartridges
Printers in the home require some type of ink or toner cartridge in order to work. Most people simply throw away these cartridges when the ink runs out. The cartridges must be recycled in a special way since most contain circuitry and metals embedded in the plastic. A cartridge refill allows a person to add more ink without having to throw away the outer shell. This reduces the number of cartridges in landfills. It also saves money over buying completely new printer cartridges.
Category: Save Energy
