Recycling

How can you reuse household items before you recycle them? What about items that can’t be recycled? Get ideas and tips on how to get the most use out of everything before it ends up in recycling or a landfill.

Some of our best recycling tips include:

Learn what to do with shredded paper. In most areas, you can’t recycle it. But you don’t have to immediately throw it away either. It has some surprising uses.
- Also there are some cool uses for dryer lint, believe it or not. Great for arts and crafts and camping.
- And 20 uses for used dryer sheets before you toss them.
Ever wondered how to dispose of old medication safely? The answer is complicated, but we’ve done our best to break it down and keep up to date with the latest changes.
- You can also reuse old medicine bottles in craft projects and as small storage containers. Check our our suggestions!

You can repurpose gift wrap for lots of fun projects and decorative items.
Reuse old pantyhose instead of throwing them away. After a thorough washing, they’re great for several household projects.
Contact lens cases make great makeup containers on the go. They’re lightweight, the stay closed well, and they contain a good amount of items like lipstick, foundation, and even powders like eye shadow.
- Speaking of, you can reuse makeup containers in a number of ways before recycling them.

25 Uses for Shredded Paper You Can’t Recycle

Shredded paper overflowing a wastepaper basket

Most recycling centers don’t accept shredded paper. If you shred as part of your work at home or for personal privacy, here are some ways you can reuse that shredded paper.

6 Cool Uses for Dryer Lint

Collage showing dryer lint and recycled craft paper

Who knew there were so many clever uses for dryer lint? You can make paper mache crafts, recycle used paper into beautiful handmade paper, make clay for the kids’ art projects, and even make it into fire starters.

5 Cool Things to Do with Wax Paper

Wax paper on a cutting board by a red dish towel

Wax paper is wonderful stuff. Even though plastic wrap is more popular these days, there are many things wax paper just does better. Read on for 5 things to do with wax paper.

How to Dispose of Old Medications

Presctiption bottle laying down with pills spilling out

How are you supposed to handle medication disposal? Throw it in the trash? Flush it down the toilet? Mix it with kitty litter and throw it away in a plastic bag? What’s the real scoop?

12 ways to repurpose gift wrapping paper

Three rolls of all-occasion gift-wrapping paper

Before you rip into opening presents, remember that you can repurpose used gift wrap (and boxes) before recycling them. Check out these 12 ways to repurpose gift wrapping paper.

How to use less plastic around your food and beverages

If you’re trying to avoid creating more plastic waste, these tips will show you how to use less plastic around your food and beverages. With just a few small lifestyle adjustments, you can easily avoid most plastic.

Clever Ways to Reuse Old Medicine Bottles

Old medicine bottle with coins and dollars inside

Prescription medicine bottles typically can’t be recycled in the US (I’m not sure about other countries). So what if you could find some ways to reuse old medicine bottles before tossing them?