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.

Use newspaper sleeves as disposable work gloves, pooper scooper bags or as yarn for your next crochet project. Discover  more uses for plastic bags and newspaper sleeves.

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

Over time, honey tends to get thick and cloudy, but that doesn't mean that you need to toss it. Learn how to restore honey to its original consistency, and enjoy every bit of what you paid for.

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

Use extra ice cube trays to freeze leftover broth, store homemade baby food, or to organize your jewelry collection.

• More Uses for Ice Cube Trays

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

Meltdown broken crayon pieces, and use them to create new, chunky rainbow-colored crayons. Learn how to recycle old crayons into new crayons.