Save Money in the Home - Reusing Tips

One great way to save money in the home (and help the environment) is to reuse things once you are finished with them. For example, you can refill small water bottles again and again (just make sure to clean them in between); you can use newspaper for shipping padding or to build a city out of newspaper in which you are the ultimate emperor; you can reuse old sandwich bags a few times. There are so many possibilities for reusing things around the house when you think about it.

The Three R's: Reduce - Reuse - Recycle

I believe that these are ranked by importance -- to reduce how much you use or consume is the most important thing to do because it prevents the need for those things to ever be manufactured, etc. Think of how much energy is saved this way!

Reusing is something we can all easily do, and it effectively reduces how much you consume, since you are getting more use out of the same things. It also can save lots of money over time if you are consistently reusing things around the house.

Recycling is great and I always recycle anything that I can, but there is energy consumed in gathering, crushing and processing of recycled materials. So, always recycle when possible (otherwise your recyclable items may end up in a landfill -- or worse, in our lakes, rivers or oceans), but why not lean toward the reduce/reuse side? It can make a big difference for the environment as well as for your bank account :)