Do you find some useless things are actually useful?

Hi zhuhuifen, well I usually chop off the useless long ends on the top of spring onions as soon as I get them home then add them to homemade soup. Orange peel makes a good addition to the fire in the wood burner as adds a great smell. I don't like milk but buy it for my son but I could never use expired milk for anything as I loathe the smell but do know that it is really good applied to sunburnt skin to take the burn off but I'm way too sensible these days to get caught out with sunburn so the gone off milk goes straight down the sink.

Sometimes I take this to far. I use things until they have no use left in them. One of my favorite things is to make emergency candles. I take an old tuna can, wash it out, fill it up with a rolled piece of cardboard, then I fill it with old candle wax. When the power goes out we use these to heat our food and provide light. It helps a ton in the winter. I do squeeze the use out of everything else too. I have the mind set that I should not waste anything to save money.

In India, we never throw anything out, and we always have a use for anything. There are so many examples. One of which is a discarded CD is always stuck on the back of a cycle rickshaw, which is used as an reflector. Can anybody beat this. Plastic soft drink bottles are always used to keep water in the refreg. Old paint tins will be made as plant containers. In some of the houses in India, there is still the hand pump whici is used for pumping out the water. So some people cut the bottom of a half liter soft drink bottle and put it on the nozzle of the pump so that all the water which is pumped falls into the bucket. The list is endless.

Egg shells and coffee grounds make good plant food for your plants that you keep outside in pots (indoor plants tend to get an odour if you do that too often) Tin cans can be used to protect trees from being mowed over when they are little. Also can be used for ashtrays, i've seen my dad use them to bait the skunk traps...

I am terrible as before I throw anything away I will always try and find a use for it, even to the extent that banana skins get placed round the bases of rose bushes. I've now had to become quite strict as I would always think that I can use something for another job and then hoard it away along with all the other stuff I have kept and ended up never using. Such as empty bottles, old margerine tubs, the dregs of candles which I keep meaning to melt down and remould into new candles.

Hello my friend zhuhuifen46 Ji, I consider that there is nothing useless to throw. My hubby has habit of storing everything in orderly manner and making use of those things when time comes. He will never throw any paper/carry-bags/etc.etc. When winter comes and electricity is un-available, we will burn to get some heat. Used cloths can be used as rough rugs/rags for cleaning the house in different ways. many things can be made usre to decorate our house. I feel nothing is useless. May God bless You and have a great time.

I didn't know that about expired milk. I would have never thought to use shampoo to wash socks. Thanks for the info. I recently read of someone using coka cola to clean the bathroom which I would have never thought to do.

I use a old can of peanuts for my cat's food dish, and I saved the lid, so when I move, I just pop it on and go. I use the clear plastic thing that comes on top of a 50 pack of CD's, as the water dish. When I move, I dry it out real quick, place it back on the CD's and go. I use old "tins" as ashtrays, I keep the lid on them when I not smoking, cut's down on smoke smell and if they get knocked over, no spillage. I've had several ppl I know with a cat do the same things.

I think that even the garbage that we find useless anymore in many ways are so useful in some ways like being a fertilizer for the plants. I agree with you that there are things we may discard and find useless but can be used in other areas for the good of all living things. Truly, God is great because everything there is on earth is interrelated in many ways!

I´m always trying to find new uses for things. My last find was to transform milk cotainers in plant containers. True, they are not THAT beautiful, but they are useful. Antway, my garden has shrinked a lot since Lola ( my puppy German Shepherd) came to my home. She is the queen of my ex garden and I had to put away potted plantsNow I´m trying to make a veggie garden in pots. As it´s winter in my country, there are few things I can do. But I did plant grown garlic in the milk containers and they are doing very well. I can even use the leaves for a milld garlic taste in salads. The plastic bags of Lola´s food are recycled into garbage cans.