Trash or Treasure? – Reuse

Have you heard someone say, “Someone else’s trash is another person’s treasure”?

This means that you need to start thinking differently about ways to treat your trash and, maybe, even turn it into treasure.

I don’t know about you, but I have had lots of practice cleaning things up and putting everything straight in the bin – this is not smart. Changing habits can be really hard! Here’s a challenge: Try looking at your trash before you put it in the bin and think about how to turn it into treasure. It’s your trash but can it be someone else’s treasure? With this mind-set, there is no rubbish. No one makes any garbage and everything is reused.

We all make rubbish, everyday!

Just imagine, you’re at breakfast and you finish the strawberry jam. The jar is your first item of rubbish for the morning. In fact, the jam jar has already created its own rubbish before you took it home from the supermarket. It started making waste when the raw materials that were used to make the jar were taken from the Earth, then transported to the glass factory, which produced more waste while making the jar.

Why reuse things?

• It will stop wastage. Reusing the jar saves natural resources already spent.
• It will keep the Earth cleaner. Reusing the jar will save energy needed to
  dump it.
• It will save hard-earned pocket money if you don’t have to buy new stuff.

Before throwing your empty printer cartridge into the recycling bin, think about how many times can you refill it? Or before throwing your empty jam jar into the recycling bin, think about how it can be reused. How many more lives can you give it? It’s kept jam for you, what other jobs can it do? Make a list and put that jam jar to work!

Here’s a start:

• Hold coins like a moneybox
• A paperclip holder for an office desk.
• Make home–made jam, clean the old jar and fill it up.

What can be reused?

• Any products with refillable packaging like bottles, jars, plastic bags and reusable containers that can be used over and over again.
• Paper, magazines, cardboard and aluminium foil.
• Rechargeable batteries instead of single-use batteries.
• Food scraps once composted will make excellent dirt over time.
• Clothes, shoes, books, toys, bikes and heaps more …

How to reuse?

Put your thinking cap on! Find ways to use stuff rather than throwing it away.

• Refill your printer cartridges and join Cartridge World fundraising challenges.
• Use glass jars for storage.
• Use magazines, paper and cardboard for craft or school projects.
• Start a compost bin or worm farm. It’s good for your garden and pot plants and it can be great fun.
• If you can’t use it, maybe someone else can …

You’ve set your jam jar to work, now try the trash to treasure challenge:

• Look for stuff you don’t use – that box of old toys under your bed, the clothes that don’t fit you any more.
• You’re not using this stuff but someone can!
• Gather all your clothes that don’t fit and make a hand-me-down present for your cousin.
• Ask your local second hand shop if they would like your Harry Potter books. You may be able to exchange them for other books you haven’t read. 
• That bike you used to ride with a wobbly wheel. Find someone who can help you fix it, find out how much it is worth and advertise it in the local paper or the web. You might make some extra pocket money! 
• Maybe you and your family have so much stuff you no longer use, you could have a garage sale in your front yard? Get the whole family involved.

Remember, your trash can be someone else’s treasure!

If you can’t reduce or reuse the waste, then make sure you buy goods that can be recycled.