The family's top reuse tips
Leicestershire has its own reuse family, the Greenes. Here, they provide their top tips...
Dad’s tips…
- Car boots are a great way of freeing up some space in your house as well as making some extra money.
- We love to watch films as a family but rather than buying a DVD that we will only watch once we rent the films or borrow them from friends instead.
Mum’s tips…
- Old clothes that are beyond repair can be cut into rags to use around the house for cleaning.
- Keep used plastic take away containers to use as food storage containers
Lucy’s tips…
- I love clothes shopping, both on the high street and in charity shops and always take a reusable bag to carry all my new things.
- Why not set up a book swap box at work or share them with family and friends.
- I like to customise my clothes by using bits of interesting fabric I pick up at car boots and charity shops. Fabric shops also sell off cuts of new fabric.
Will’s tips…
- Car boots and second hand websites are great places to buy used cook books so I can try out lots of new recipes.
- Donate unwanted items to charity shops or second hand websites; remember one persons rubbish is another person's treasure.
Jack’s tips…
- Now that I download all my music straight onto my computer I have donated the CD’s I no longer need to a charity shop, or dad tries to sell them at his car boots.
- I just acquired a second hand TV for free! Websites such as www.freeuseit.org or www.freecycle.org offer various items at no cost!
Johnny’s tips…
- Save old jam jars and use them as paint pots.
- I like to decorate my school folders with pictures from my favourite comics after I’ve finished reading them.
- I save Grandpa's old newspapers to cut up and use for my pet rabbit Jasper's bedding.
Grandma Greene’s tips…
- Collect odd and spare buttons in an old biscuit tin or jar, you never know when you’ll need one to mend your favourite outfit.
- I kept our son’s old toys so that Lucy, Jack and Johnny had some to play with when they came to visit when they were little.
Grandpa Greene’s tips…
- Don’t forget there are many places where you can hire items such as tile cutters or a floor sander instead of buying them and using it only once.
- I try to repair broken items before buying a replacement. Mending something is usually cheaper and stops me from having to throw things away.