The average American produces more than 1700 pounds of trash annually. Every day we throw away things like plastic bottles and old clothes that we no longer wear without a second thought. But instead of adding more waste to landfills, you can reuse these items and give them a new purpose by recycling them.
With a little effort and basic DIY skills, you can freshen up scratched wood furniture with a coat of paint or transform worn T-shirts into cozy quilts. Giving your belongings a second life will help you save money because you won’t have to replace things as often. Here are some tips on how to reuse items around your home like clothes and furniture.
Reuse old clothes
If you have clothes in your closet that you no longer wear, there is no need to throw them away and replace them with new ones. It’s better for the environment and your wallet to find ways to reuse and keep using old clothes.
My favorite way to liven up old clothes is to dye the fabric a different color. I had a bunch of white shirts that started to look dirty even after they were bleached. Instead of throwing them in the trash, I decided to dye them with binding to try and hide the stains.
To my surprise, this craft project worked so well! Although the shirts don’t look brand new, dyeing them has brought them back to wearable condition. I’ll probably be able to ditch the T-shirts for at least another year now. If they start to look blemishes or have holes in them, I plan on using them as pajama shirts or making a T-shirt quilt using my sewing machine.
Dyeing clothes isn’t the only way to reuse them. If your jeans have a hole, for example, you can patch it with a square piece of fabric or make other slits in the denim to make the hole look intentional. If you have buttoned shirts or jackets that you don’t like anymore, you can recycle them by swapping out the buttons or embroidering them to add more flair.
Get creative and watch our recycling videos on YouTube to get some inspiration. The sky is the limit when it comes to reusing old clothes!
Furniture Refinement
A few years ago I bought a white headboard for my bedroom. It wasn’t the wisest purchase considering how easily stains appear on white fabric. Although I mostly managed to avoid food stains on it, the headboard started to look like my greasy hair was rubbing it in every night. Instead of throwing it out and buying a new headboard, I’ll try re-upholstering it with a darker, stain-resistant fabric to save money.
If you haven’t sanded furniture before, you probably shouldn’t jump straight into upholstery. But fortunately, it doesn’t take much effort to transform a piece of furniture. You can refurbish a thrift store coffee table by giving it a fresh coat of paint. It’s easy to upgrade a scratched wood cabinet by covering the drawer faces with reed straps and adding new hardware. You can even Recycle an old coffee table into a modern stool.
YouTube is a great resource that can teach you how to rediscover what thrift stores or furniture you already own to give it new life. This way it won’t end up in a landfill and you won’t have to spend money on brand new furniture.
Reuse old kitchen utensils
Instead of throwing away plastic bottles or shredded tea cups, you can recycle old kitchen items into something new. Believe it or not, you can turn the soda bottles that you would otherwise throw into the recycling bin Beautiful hanging lanterns or flower pots. You can also convert wine bottles to a file Popular yard decoration called bottle tree. Making wine corks Great planters for baby succulents. You can also use teacups, coffee pots, and old building pots as pots for small plants and flowers.
You can also make money from handicrafts that you make from old kitchen items. Jewelry made of ancient metallic silver is very popular. If you figure out how to make cute spoon rings and bracelets, you can sell them on Etsy or at craft fairs for a good profit.
How do you reuse old items you no longer use to save money? Let me know in the comments section below!
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Vicki Munro is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money-saving or fiddling with her budget spreadsheets, she loves traveling, gardening, and cooking healthy vegetarian meals.