Things to Reuse Instead of Throwing Out

Use old boxes of baking soda to make homemade cleaners with loads of scrubbing power. Learn how with these baking soda cleaner recipes.

Round up all of your soap slivers. Then, melt them in the microwave, and form them into a new bar of soap.

Tip: Use a coffee mug as a soap mold, and you'll end up with a fancy, round bar.

Save the mesh bags that oranges, onions, potatoes and other produce come in. Then, use them as pot scrubbers when you're washing dishes.

Simmer a pot of old herbs to freshen your house or use them to fragrance your homemade cleaners.

Cut up old clothing, and use the fabric and buttons in your craft projects.

• Uses for Old Jeans
• Uses for Old Buttons
• Make a Sweater Bag

Start a container in your freezer for meal scraps—a couple bites of meat, a few spoonfuls of vegetables. Then, cook up a big pot of soup every time you fill it to the top.

Save the wax from your spent candles, and melt it down to create new candles:

• How to Make Jar Candles
• Make a Bundt Cake Candle

Gather all those fabric scraps that seem too small to use, and fashion them into a colorful rag wreath:

• How to Make a Rag Wreath

Turn a stash of free t-shirts into a collection of reusable grocery totes:

• How to Make a T-Shirt Tote Bag