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Li Xuan

June 23rd, 2022

Repurposing old items

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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Li Xuan

June 23rd, 2022

Repurposing old items

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

It’s that time of the year again when we’re all getting ready to move out of our accommodation or start moving to a new location. You may be thinking, what am I going to do with all this expired clutter that’s taking up all my space? Well, think again before you throw anything out as there are a million ways to extend the lives of these items!

Expired items

While expired toothpaste won’t do your teeth any good, there are a whole load of functions it can still serve before you blindly discard the whole tube. From cleaning shoes to soothing burns and treating insect bites or even cleaning walls and removing gunk from your appliances.

Worn out clothes

This is a super versatile one. You could sew and transform them into a new and fashionable wallet or reusable bag for your grocery shopping, pillow blanket covers or even a funky t-shirt blanket. To make further energy savings in the winter, you could make DIY drafts out of your ripped jeans.

Old towels

As your bath towels start fading and accumulating holes, don’t immediately toss them in the bin. Divide them into half and use them as washable cleaning rags to take care of dirty floors, tabletops, windows and more! (I have just saved you £1.90 from your local Sainsbury’s)

Household items

A staggering 2 billion disposable razors are approximately thrown into landfills every year. Do your part to decrease this environmental impact by prolonging the shelf life of your razors. After each use, rinse your razor and give it a quick blast with your hairdryer. A dry razor will stay sharp longer and steer clear of rusting which enables up to twice as many shaves from each blade. Once your razor has passed its prime, use it to shave pills from your sweaters.

Tea bags

One tea bag can make two cups of tea, maybe even three or four. To maximise the bang for your brew, periodically steep your tea in a teapot on the stove. If you’re a light drinker and only have one cup to start the day off, place your used tea bag in the refrigerator and repurpose it for later in the day to relax your eyes. Voilà, no more of those terrible morning eye-bags!

Takeaway boxes

An obvious one but often overlooked. When you order takeout, hold onto the containers and make sure to reuse them for storing your homemade food or even future takeout orders.

So next time before you’re about to contribute to the excessive amounts of global waste, make use of your creativity and think of how you could make your “old” items brand new again to make your daily tasks easier. Happy repurposing!

About the author

Li Xuan

A Malaysian Borneo native studying MSc Environment and Development. Given my multicultural upbringing, I speak 6 languages which is partly why I chose the LSE and its very international student body! I'm also a R'n'B/soul/jazz fanatic.

Posted In: Money

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