15 creative uses for items you'd usually throw out

Caroline FoxMay 30, 2020, 03:04 IST

As long as you don't rip holes in the mesh, you can reuse the bag in the tub.POONGPEED/Getty Images

You may be feeling overwhelmed by the amount of trash you are producing, especially if you are spending more time at home.
There are plenty of ways to give cardboard boxes, food scraps, plastic bottles, and old magazines a second life.
Glass jars can be used for storage or homemade candles, while egg cartons can help you in the garden or during art projects.
Choosing to put something you already own to use rather than purchasing a new product is better for the environment and may end up saving you money.

Every week, Americans fill their waste bins to the brim. The average American produces 1,704 pounds of garbage per year, about three times the global average, according to a study from the research firm Verisk Maplecroft.

Next time you are about to mindlessly toss out your empty containers or food scraps, try using these 15 creative ideas to give them a second life.

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Your liter bottles of juice and soda can be recycled into bird feeders.

Wrap string around the cap of the bottle and dangle it from a tree. Ivanna-Kateryna Yakovyna / EyeEm/Getty Images

Plastic soda and water bottles can also be used as planters for growing flowers and vegetables, like lettuce, in the garden.

Growing lettuce in used plastic bottles is easy. SewCream/Shutterstock

If you want to plant an herb garden, an egg carton is a great tool to get your seeds started.

Once your seed sprouts, the carton can go directly into the ground, where it will break down on its own. FotoHelin/Shutterstock

Your old plastic milk jugs can be cut and transformed into scoops for dog food.

Milk gallons are already sturdy and easy to handle. Tim Boyle/Getty Images

After you enjoy your clementines or oranges, hold on to the mesh packaging and use it to store bath toys.

As long as you don't rip holes in the mesh, you can reuse the bag in the tub. POONGPEED/Getty Images

Also try saving the orange peels, as well as other fruit and vegetable scraps, which can be used to make colorful clothing dye.

Turmeric can be used to achieve a vibrant yellow. Margaux Bigelow/Insider

Keep your glass jars, which are great for holding toiletries next to your bathroom sink.

Use an old salsa jar to store your Q-tips. Elena Feodrina/Getty Images

If your grocery store offers bulk options, you can decorate your countertop with glass jars full of dry ingredients.

Reusing glass jars will help keep your ingredients fresh for longer. Dasha Muller/Shutterstock

Glass wine bottles, condiment jars, and jelly containers can also be used to store your kitchen essentials.

If you have ever been tempted to save a stylish wine bottle, try turning it into rice storage. Marcelle Franco/Shutterstock

Alternatively, you can use your glass jars to make custom candles.

A homemade candle made in a mason jar. Caroline Fox/Insider

You can also use an old egg carton as a makeshift paint palette.

Squeezing your paint into the divots also helps you waste less paint. tzahiV/Getty Images

Instead of throwing out the cardboard roll in the center of your toilet paper and paper towels, try reusing it as a pencil holder on your desk.

Homemade pencil holders using old wrapping paper and the center of a toilet paper roll. Caroline Fox/Insider

Or use the roll to organize your wires or shoelaces.

If you have spare shoelaces, using toilet rolls is an easy way to keep them organized. bxTT/Shutterstock

If you want to get creative but don't have many materials, try cutting up old magazines or newspapers for collages — it's the perfect creative activity for parents to try out with kids stuck at home.

Tavi Gevinson started her fashion blog when she was just 12 years old. Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

If you want to get creative but don't have many materials, try cutting up old magazines or newspapers for collages — it's the perfect creative activity for parents to try out with kids stuck at home.

Another trick for when you want to be creative: Old cardboard boxes can serve as a sturdy base for any art project.

A homemade collage made using catalogs and an old cardboard box. Caroline Fox/Insider

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15 creative uses for items you'd usually throw out

Your liter bottles of juice and soda can be recycled into bird feeders.

Plastic soda and water bottles can also be used as planters for growing flowers and vegetables, like lettuce, in the garden.

If you want to plant an herb garden, an egg carton is a great tool to get your seeds started.

Your old plastic milk jugs can be cut and transformed into scoops for dog food.

After you enjoy your clementines or oranges, hold on to the mesh packaging and use it to store bath toys.

Also try saving the orange peels, as well as other fruit and vegetable scraps, which can be used to make colorful clothing dye.

Keep your glass jars, which are great for holding toiletries next to your bathroom sink.

If your grocery store offers bulk options, you can decorate your countertop with glass jars full of dry ingredients.

Glass wine bottles, condiment jars, and jelly containers can also be used to store your kitchen essentials.

Alternatively, you can use your glass jars to make custom candles.

You can also use an old egg carton as a makeshift paint palette.

Instead of throwing out the cardboard roll in the center of your toilet paper and paper towels, try reusing it as a pencil holder on your desk.

Or use the roll to organize your wires or shoelaces.

If you want to get creative but don't have many materials, try cutting up old magazines or newspapers for collages — it's the perfect creative activity for parents to try out with kids stuck at home.

Another trick for when you want to be creative: Old cardboard boxes can serve as a sturdy base for any art project.