Reuse Reuse Tips

Reusing your things can help you to unleash your creativity, save money, and help to protect the environment. Here, we give you some tips to help you to get started

Recycling is a great way to mitigate our impact on the environment, but reusing things is even better:

• You can save money by avoiding having to buy expensive replacements.
• You can create exciting things, like unique pieces of furniture.
• There are environmental benefits, not just because the item isn’t thrown into landfill, but because the use of raw resources that would have gone into making a replacement can be avoided.

Reusing items as they are

Lots of items can be used more than once. We have a page dedicated to furniture reuse | Lesswaste, and another for reusable nappies | Lesswaste.

Reusable bags are a great example of reuse that stops unnecessary waste, and they’re widely available in a variety of shops and supermarkets. Old clothes can be repaired or customised to give them a new lease of life, and spare buttons can be kept safely in an old jar for when they’re needed.

It may be cheaper to repair things rather than replace them. For example, shoes can often be re-heeled, and machinery or electrical equipment can sometimes be fixed.

Fixer groups and repair cafes 

A variety of fixer groups and repair cafes are currently running across the county and usually meet on a regular basis. They consist of local amateurs or professionals that work together to mend/repair broken or damaged items, particularly mechanical and electrical but some also cover textiles and furniture.  

They usually work alongside the owner, helping to upskill them in the process. To see groups and their locations, check the waste prevention map|Lesswaste.org.uk.

Reusing items as something else

Once an item is no longer needed, you may be able to use it for another purpose. There are no limits to the possibilities. Some examples include, shredding old newspapers for use as animal bedding, and cutting up old clothes to use as rags around the house. Old jars make great paint pots, or can be put to use to help to keep brushes clean or even used for jam making.

Share and borrow

Rather than buying something to use only once, you could share or borrow instead. All sorts of things can be rented, including tools and DVDs. You could arrange a book swap between friends, and pass on children’s clothes.  Informal sharing / borrowing amongst friends and neighbours can be taken to the next step with the creation of tool libraries. The Library of Things offers support and guidance on establishing a more formal network in your community.

Pass it on to someone else

If you can’t make any more use of your things, then perhaps someone else can. There are lots of ways that you can sell or give away unwanted things. Consider donating to the local charity shop, or selling at a car boot sale. There are also lots of great resources online that allow you to give away or sell your things to people who want them, such as Freegle, Freecycle, Gumtree, Vinted and Ebay.

There are lots of ways to donate items to charity. You can get support with finding a charity willing to accept what you have to offer, through the Charity Retail Association | support. They also provide guidance on how to make a donation to your local charity Charity Retail Association | Donating to charity They have an app you can download for donating and reselling of fashion and clothing: Loop | Digital wardrobe.

Textiles and clothing can be taken to a variety of clothing and textile recycling points. To find a textile recycling point near you, visit: Recycle Now |clothing-textiles.  They can also be taken to the Recycling and Household waste sites for reuse and recycling. See: Leicestershire County Council |Find a recycling and household waste site.

In a similar way, it’s important to keep shoes, boots, and other footwear in use for as long as possible, too. Sometimes they can be taken to a shoe repairer to be re-heeled or re-soled when worn down, or re-glued when the sole has come loose. However, if your footwear is damaged beyond repair, they can’t be reused or recycled and will need to be put in the bin. Leather handbags can often be repaired, too. You might be able to give or take footwear and bags to a clothes swap, see below, or give them to a local charity shop.

Takeback schemes

Many retailers are now running in-store takeback schemes, to help keep items in use for longer through resale or recycling. Some retailers partner with a charity or social enterprise to deliver the service, and they will focus on reuse or recycling, but if the item is unsuitable for either, then it will be disposed of responsibly. You can find these schemes for a variety of items, including furniture, electricals, home textiles, clothing and footwear. Some brands have programmes to take back their own products and sometimes they also accept other brands. These schemes are usually free to use and enable you to takeback items you no longer want at the point of purchasing something new. Sometimes an incentive is provided to encourage this behaviour. It’s certainly worth checking whether a store has a takeback scheme if you’re in the process of buying something new.

Give or Take events

Give or Take events are a fun way for people to exchange things they no longer need. Having successfully organised a number of these events in the past, we’ve developed a free guide to help you to organise your own: Give or Take Toolkit | Lesswaste

Clothes swap events

If you’d like to keep the focus on clothing, fabrics and fashion, we’ve also got a toolkit for organising your own swap events: Swishing Toolkit| Lesswaste.