Waste Not Want Not – How to Make Better Use of Your Waste

If you want to keep your property in as good condition as possible and if you want to avoid it developing a bad smell or becoming overly cluttered, then one of the most important things to stay on top of is your waste and rubbish, and you need to ensure that you throw out the things you don’t need rather than letting them hang around your home and start to develop an unpleasant smell.

However this doesn’t necessarily mean just throwing your things out – and actually it’s a big waste if you are going to just get rid of everything right away. There are many things that you can make use of even when you don’t need them anymore and even when their primary usage is no longer viable. Then again, even if you can’t make any use of your items, then you can at least sell them or give them to someone else. Here we will look at how to de-clutter your home without being wasteful.

Old Food

Food is one of the things that we tend to make the biggest waste of. We eat what we want, and then we just throw away the rest. Well this really needn’t be the case, and actually there are plenty of ways that we can still make use of our food – for instance if you have left overs from a meal then you can easily freeze them and eat them another day and this even applies to things you might not normally think of freezing – such as cheese and bread.

Or let’s say that you have some bolognaise left but not enough for a full meal – rather than throwing it away you could freeze it and this would make it a great little soup. Meanwhile even the juices from your food can be re-used – for instance you can use them to make stock to add flavour to just about anything you want to cook.

Likewise you can also make better use of your peel and juices by using them to create your own fertilizers for your garden – nature’s way of recycling.

Materials

If you’re throwing out an old couch however then unfortunately you aren’t going to be able to eat this with the best will in the world. That said though there is certainly a lot that can be done here with the raw materials and you don’t need to see this as the end. First of all you obviously shouldn’t just throw out your sofas when these can be sold or even given away. Give them away on freecycle, or if they’re still in good condition, try selling them.

However you might alternatively decide to take these apart and use them to your own ends. For instance if the pattern is still in good nick then you can easily use this to re-upholster other furniture. Likewise you can use the wood for instance to make other furniture or even shelves.

Clothing also can be given away to charity shops, sold, or used in other ways – for instance the sleeve of a nice dress might still make a nice scarf even once you’ve grown out of the dress itself. Think creatively and you’ll not only avoid wasting materials but also have something completely unique to wear.

Technology and Gadgets

Technology and gadgets can be re-sold a lot of the time, but likewise you can put them to good use around your home if you are inventive. Not only can a lot of old tech be repurposed as-is these days if you know a bit about coding, but you can also use parts for other things – a small pump for instance could be used to make your very own water fountain from scratch, while a sensor could be used to create a makeshift house alarm – saving you money and also impressing the guests.

When you start doing this properly you will learn that there is a true art to repurposing your belongings and that you can learn a great deal about the way things work by being creative with your use of old supplies.

Crystal is part of the team at Instant Waste and provides flexible solutions for both compactable and non-compactable waste products. She also authors blogs regarding waste management.