reusayou
It's exciting! It's spectacular! It's the first-ever ReusaChallenge!!!
The inception was much less exhilarating. We finally emptied a CD spool, not unlike this one:
It perched smugly next to my desk for days and days. Taunting plastic cyclops!
Then came a cry for help:
You need to send me:
A nice clean JPG of your creation (more than one would be even better)
A description of its function (it may not be immediately obvious to me, and that's okay)
Materials used
Process, if it needs explaining
Your real first name
Your website, if you like
Last day will be Friday, May 16th.
4/28/2003 07:47:30 PM - 10 comments
even if I never threw anything away, I'd still probably suck
If everyone lived like you, how many Earths would we need? Take the Ecological Footprint quiz and find out.
And I thought I was doing okay. I guess flying once a year and driving to work are no-nos.
4/28/2003 06:32:43 AM - 7 comments
reusabit: those pesky little drink mix container innards
I don't know how many dozens of these I have. With all that powdery food dye, cleaning them sure is a pain, but. I've been using them to mix acrylic paints, and to hold craft glues when the applicator tip is just too big and I have to get out the toothpicks.
Lately I've found they're useful for Easter egg salt.
Other random ideas floating around in my noggin:
* wee seedling starters
* chocolate molds...(difficult to remove)?
* pill cups for playing nurse with your honey
4/25/2003 05:25:19 PM - 11 comments
you say potato
Reuse or recycle... I try to keep them distinct here and in my head. But I guess it doesn't matter if the line blurs every now and then.
4/24/2003 06:48:57 AM - 0 comments
recycle chic
The article itself isn't all that earth-shattering, but there's a list of western US salvage stores.
4/23/2003 06:19:42 AM - 0 comments
Happy Earth Day!
4/22/2003 09:56:09 AM - 0 comments
transportation imagination
Resource Revival makes stuff from bicycle and auto gears and bits.
They even want to be part of your wedding.
4/22/2003 06:28:51 AM - 0 comments
and now for the science portion of our webcast
Anything into oil:
4/21/2003 06:11:48 AM - 3 comments
new new
I'm so excited. Yesterday we went to Michael's (6-9pm 30% off all Regularly Priced Items coupon in hand) and got the soy wax and dye and wicks and smelly to make new candles with the cups below. I've never done this before, so it should be messy and interesting.
I just need to find something microwaveable to melt the wax in. I'm not giving up my Pyrex liquid measures (which would be so ideal), so it's off to the thrift store next week.
4/20/2003 01:41:07 PM - 3 comments
reusabit, er, tip: de-waxifying votive cups
I got this from - of all things - a snail mail spam for Martha Stewart Living.
Do you use those room-freshening candles too? It's obvious you want to save the cups for votives/tealights (or make new candles), but how to get rid of that waxcake in the bottom without making a huge mess? Turn them upside down on a paper towel-covered baking sheet, and pop them in the freezer. The wax shrinks from the sides just enough that, with a few taps, it really does pop right out (or crumbles out when you hit it with a butter knife, in some stubborn cases).
4/18/2003 06:15:00 AM - 5 comments
dumpster diving!
Well, it sure has been a long time since I scavenged anything curbside. College, probably. Butt-ugly rotating gold velvet chair, very retro swag. It gave me hives. I don't really want to talk about it.
But when we saw this abandoned stoneware watercooler base and stand, D.s first thought was porch planter. We've been hunting interesting vessels for a few weeks, and this certainly fit the bill.
Aside from saving space in the landfill, you can't beat free.
4/17/2003 06:25:07 PM - 3 comments
the whole web, and I can't find a single photo
At my old library, I used lots of ancient stamps to maintain the even more ancient federal documents collection. So I put at least one metal stamp carousel to good use (for the unfamiliar - a short, rotating, heavy metal stand with aluminum clip arms that hold your rubber stamps off the desk). But there were many, many others floating around, pretty much useless.
Or were they?
4/17/2003 06:16:00 AM - 2 comments
lil' scrubber
Megan posted about reusing electric toothbrushes for household cleaning. This is good, because I was gearing up to throw that old semi-disposable away.
4/16/2003 06:29:59 AM - 0 comments
creative scavenging
"This book will inspire the do-it-yourselfer, the home decorator, the forward-thinking architect, the green builder, the cheapskate, and the economist."
It's the The Resourceful Renovator. A gallery of ideas for reusing building materials. By Jennifer Corson, the host of the Canadian show, The Resourceful Renovator.
4/15/2003 06:13:47 AM - 2 comments
pickin' and a-spinnin'
Two more little things you can make from old CDs: guitar picks and hovercrafts.
4/14/2003 05:50:40 AM - 2 comments
reusabit: bread tab finger and swear-saver
Bread tabs are pretty useless for anything except closing bread bags, right? Wrong! Affix one to the end of your large tape roll, and end that crazy fingernail edge-hunting forever. I got this idea from a way out-of-print Heloise book (at the library - the ultimate reuser).
4/11/2003 06:17:18 AM - 7 comments
giddy-up
Not your ordinary tire swings and planters.
4/10/2003 05:55:15 AM - 0 comments
geeks can, too
Make the Starship Enterprise out of an old floppy disk! Via MetaFilter.
4/09/2003 05:36:49 AM - 3 comments
victoriana
Translucent Liquid Sculpey is the key to a slightly different spin on the polymer clay Altoids tin - faux porcelain.
4/08/2003 06:02:45 AM - 3 comments
good cause
St. Jude's Ranch turns your unwanted greeting card fronts into new cards, which help provide savings, college funds, and pocket money for their resident at-risk children.
4/07/2003 03:16:34 PM - 0 comments
dumpster diving as lifestyle
Robin sent me a link to the Goddess of Garbage. This woman has become almost famous for taking reuse to a whole new level. Check out the wacky Bag Dress!
4/07/2003 03:11:06 PM - 0 comments
spring, and a girl's thoughts turn to letterboxing
A few more letterboxing ideas gleaned from recent posts to the Letterboxing North America Discussion Group:
Use shatter-proof plastic peanut butter jars as your hiding vessel. You can even paint the lid in "camouflage" to better match the surroundings.
Those little silica gel packets that you find inside shoeboxes and purse pockets? Place them in the ziploc with your notebook for a bit of added insurance against the damp.
Some boxer hid one of his microstamps in a camouflaged solid deodorant container - now that's what I call thinking outside the Servin' Saver!
4/06/2003 02:05:02 PM - 5 comments
reusabit - contact lens travel case
Roselle spotted this tip in the Ecomall Newsletter - use all those clean spare contact lens cases for travel-sized amounts of toothpaste, salves/lotions, or pills!
4/04/2003 03:29:34 PM - 0 comments
wee greenhouse
Sometimes I find the most interesting links in my own stats.
4/03/2003 05:30:55 PM - 2 comments
photos in the round
I just love the Canned Photos at ThriftDeluxe. Though I would probably use an upside-down empty.
4/03/2003 03:07:32 PM - 0 comments
in action
Look! Jenny is making the towel rug! I can't wait to see the project page.
4/03/2003 02:56:34 PM - 0 comments
re: toothbrush weaving
Inspired by Kat in the plastic bag weaving post comments - Maymee Campbell shows us how it's done, and so does Carol Duval.
4/01/2003 06:00:09 AM - 2 comments
It's exciting! It's spectacular! It's the first-ever ReusaChallenge!!!
The inception was much less exhilarating. We finally emptied a CD spool, not unlike this one:
It perched smugly next to my desk for days and days. Taunting plastic cyclops!
Then came a cry for help:
Hi - Love your website. I was wondering if you or anyone had an idea for those empty CD Spool containers? I have a million (well, 4 or 5) that I have kept just in case there is something neat to do with it! My wife wants me to throw them all away!Well, I've got reusablock, but I bet someone out there can come up with a creative, useful idea. Save Erich's collection! Save my sanity! The best idea wins thirty dollars in Virtual Credit at Powells.com (where you can get thousands upon thousands of delicious used books). Honorable mentions get... mentioned honorably.
Help! :-)
Erich
You need to send me:
Last day will be Friday, May 16th.
4/28/2003 07:47:30 PM - 10 comments
even if I never threw anything away, I'd still probably suck
If everyone lived like you, how many Earths would we need? Take the Ecological Footprint quiz and find out.
And I thought I was doing okay. I guess flying once a year and driving to work are no-nos.
4/28/2003 06:32:43 AM - 7 comments
reusabit: those pesky little drink mix container innards
I don't know how many dozens of these I have. With all that powdery food dye, cleaning them sure is a pain, but. I've been using them to mix acrylic paints, and to hold craft glues when the applicator tip is just too big and I have to get out the toothpicks.
Lately I've found they're useful for Easter egg salt.
Other random ideas floating around in my noggin:
* wee seedling starters
* chocolate molds...(difficult to remove)?
* pill cups for playing nurse with your honey
4/25/2003 05:25:19 PM - 11 comments
you say potato
Reuse or recycle... I try to keep them distinct here and in my head. But I guess it doesn't matter if the line blurs every now and then.
4/24/2003 06:48:57 AM - 0 comments
recycle chic
The article itself isn't all that earth-shattering, but there's a list of western US salvage stores.
4/23/2003 06:19:42 AM - 0 comments
Happy Earth Day!
4/22/2003 09:56:09 AM - 0 comments
transportation imagination
Resource Revival makes stuff from bicycle and auto gears and bits.
They even want to be part of your wedding.
4/22/2003 06:28:51 AM - 0 comments
and now for the science portion of our webcast
Anything into oil:
"If a 175-pound man fell into one end, he would come out the other end as 38 pounds of oil, 7 pounds of gas, and 7 pounds of minerals, as well as 123 pounds of sterilized water. While no one plans to put people into a thermal depolymerization machine, an intimate human creation could become a prime feedstock. "There is no reason why we can't turn sewage, including human excrement, into a glorious oil," says engineer Terry Adams, a project consultant. So the city of Philadelphia is in discussion with Changing World Technologies to begin doing exactly that."
4/21/2003 06:11:48 AM - 3 comments
new new
I'm so excited. Yesterday we went to Michael's (6-9pm 30% off all Regularly Priced Items coupon in hand) and got the soy wax and dye and wicks and smelly to make new candles with the cups below. I've never done this before, so it should be messy and interesting.
I just need to find something microwaveable to melt the wax in. I'm not giving up my Pyrex liquid measures (which would be so ideal), so it's off to the thrift store next week.
4/20/2003 01:41:07 PM - 3 comments
reusabit, er, tip: de-waxifying votive cups
I got this from - of all things - a snail mail spam for Martha Stewart Living.
Do you use those room-freshening candles too? It's obvious you want to save the cups for votives/tealights (or make new candles), but how to get rid of that waxcake in the bottom without making a huge mess? Turn them upside down on a paper towel-covered baking sheet, and pop them in the freezer. The wax shrinks from the sides just enough that, with a few taps, it really does pop right out (or crumbles out when you hit it with a butter knife, in some stubborn cases).
4/18/2003 06:15:00 AM - 5 comments
dumpster diving!
Well, it sure has been a long time since I scavenged anything curbside. College, probably. Butt-ugly rotating gold velvet chair, very retro swag. It gave me hives. I don't really want to talk about it.
But when we saw this abandoned stoneware watercooler base and stand, D.s first thought was porch planter. We've been hunting interesting vessels for a few weeks, and this certainly fit the bill.
Aside from saving space in the landfill, you can't beat free.
4/17/2003 06:25:07 PM - 3 comments
the whole web, and I can't find a single photo
At my old library, I used lots of ancient stamps to maintain the even more ancient federal documents collection. So I put at least one metal stamp carousel to good use (for the unfamiliar - a short, rotating, heavy metal stand with aluminum clip arms that hold your rubber stamps off the desk). But there were many, many others floating around, pretty much useless.
Or were they?
4/17/2003 06:16:00 AM - 2 comments
lil' scrubber
Megan posted about reusing electric toothbrushes for household cleaning. This is good, because I was gearing up to throw that old semi-disposable away.
4/16/2003 06:29:59 AM - 0 comments
creative scavenging
"This book will inspire the do-it-yourselfer, the home decorator, the forward-thinking architect, the green builder, the cheapskate, and the economist."
It's the The Resourceful Renovator. A gallery of ideas for reusing building materials. By Jennifer Corson, the host of the Canadian show, The Resourceful Renovator.
4/15/2003 06:13:47 AM - 2 comments
pickin' and a-spinnin'
Two more little things you can make from old CDs: guitar picks and hovercrafts.
4/14/2003 05:50:40 AM - 2 comments
reusabit: bread tab finger and swear-saver
Bread tabs are pretty useless for anything except closing bread bags, right? Wrong! Affix one to the end of your large tape roll, and end that crazy fingernail edge-hunting forever. I got this idea from a way out-of-print Heloise book (at the library - the ultimate reuser).
4/11/2003 06:17:18 AM - 7 comments
giddy-up
Not your ordinary tire swings and planters.
4/10/2003 05:55:15 AM - 0 comments
geeks can, too
Make the Starship Enterprise out of an old floppy disk! Via MetaFilter.
4/09/2003 05:36:49 AM - 3 comments
victoriana
Translucent Liquid Sculpey is the key to a slightly different spin on the polymer clay Altoids tin - faux porcelain.
4/08/2003 06:02:45 AM - 3 comments
good cause
St. Jude's Ranch turns your unwanted greeting card fronts into new cards, which help provide savings, college funds, and pocket money for their resident at-risk children.
4/07/2003 03:16:34 PM - 0 comments
dumpster diving as lifestyle
Robin sent me a link to the Goddess of Garbage. This woman has become almost famous for taking reuse to a whole new level. Check out the wacky Bag Dress!
4/07/2003 03:11:06 PM - 0 comments
spring, and a girl's thoughts turn to letterboxing
A few more letterboxing ideas gleaned from recent posts to the Letterboxing North America Discussion Group:
4/06/2003 02:05:02 PM - 5 comments
reusabit - contact lens travel case
Roselle spotted this tip in the Ecomall Newsletter - use all those clean spare contact lens cases for travel-sized amounts of toothpaste, salves/lotions, or pills!
4/04/2003 03:29:34 PM - 0 comments
wee greenhouse
Sometimes I find the most interesting links in my own stats.
4/03/2003 05:30:55 PM - 2 comments
photos in the round
I just love the Canned Photos at ThriftDeluxe. Though I would probably use an upside-down empty.
4/03/2003 03:07:32 PM - 0 comments
in action
Look! Jenny is making the towel rug! I can't wait to see the project page.
4/03/2003 02:56:34 PM - 0 comments
re: toothbrush weaving
Inspired by Kat in the plastic bag weaving post comments - Maymee Campbell shows us how it's done, and so does Carol Duval.
4/01/2003 06:00:09 AM - 2 comments