Reusing your rubbish

Re-using products is another great way of minimising your rubbish. It saves the energy and resources needed to make new products – and it saves you money too.

Ideas for reusing paper

• After children's drawings and paintings have been displayed for a while they can be used to wrap presents - this also makes the present special.
• Discarded A4-sized paper can be cut and stapled together to make notepads.
• Use the envelopes you receive in the mail a second time by placing a new address label over the last address. Old envelopes can also be used for scribbling down shopping lists, to-do lists, and notes.
• Resealable envelopes can be reused many times.
• Old rolls of wallpaper can be used for children’s drawings.
• Cardboard cartons can be used to collect paper for recycling, instead of plastic bags (even breakfast cereal cartons are good).

Making use of your plastic bags

• Reuse them as bin liners.
• Children can use them for carrying PE gear to school.
• Use them in the garden to hold your grass cuttings and hedge trimmings before transfer to a compost bin.
• Use them when packing for a holiday to keep dirty/wet clothes and shoes away from dry clothing.
• Use them to pick up dog poo when taking your dog for a walk.
• Re-use washed zip lock bags for sandwiches and snacks rather than using plastic wrap.

Ideas for recycling household waste in the garden

• Aluminium trays from pies and cakes make ideal 'drip saucers' to put under pot plants.
• Broken crockery can be used as drainage at the bottom of pot plants.
• Old tyres can be used outside for plant pots - especially good for plants that like warm soils as they trap the heat.
• The following waste items can be modified and used for planting seedlings:
  • egg cartons
  • tetra-pak cartons
  • plastic bottles
  • plastic takeaway containers
  • the cardboard centres from toilet rolls
  • icecream containers.
• Old newspapers (including those gathered from your friends) can be used to mulch and weed control the garden. Wet newspaper and place thickly on the garden. Cover with bark or stones.
• Plastic milk bottles can be used to hold snail bait and pets are less likely to accidentally eat it.
• Old stockings can be used to tie up plants in the garden.

Donating/selling

• Sell unwanted items by holding a garage sale or putting them on an online auction.
• Old or broken household goods such as toasters and transistor radios can be used by others for parts. Sell them cheaply at a garage sale.
• Donate your old computers to schools or community education centres.
• Take your unwanted toys and books to hospitals, early childhood education centres or schools.
• Donate household items or shop at your council’s resource recovery centre.
• Give unwanted clothes to opportunity shops or ‘used clothing’ bins.
• Take old magazines to your local doctors' or dentists’ surgery.
• Creches, schools and kindergartens often need boxes, plastic bags, old buttons, used wrapping paper, greeting cards, ribbons, tiles, crockery and other materials for art resources.
• The DonateNZ website provides a way to put donors and recipients in touch with each other.
• Waste Exchanges encourage exchanges of waste free of charge.