Why reuse?

Your rags might be someone else's riches. Reusing means finding a loving home for your unwanted stuff.

Offer your unwanted stuff to friends and family, maybe your younger sister would love that dress that doesn’t quite fit you, or a mate going on holiday would appreciate those books you’re not sure you’re going to read again.

How can I reuse my stuff?

• Charity shops are a great way to reuse things you don’t want anymore, and with the credit crunch on more people are shopping at them, meaning the shops need more goods! Plus, not only are you reusing unwanted things, money made from sales goes to charity, double win! Not all charity shops take electrical items. Find your nearest charity shop at the Charity Retail Association website.
• Most areas in Scotland have Freecycle groups. What’s that? Freecycle is a way to give your unwanted stuff a good home. You can list your unwanted clothes, games, furniture, anything really, on the Freecycle website and if others are interested they will send you an email. If you see something you want, send a polite email to the person offering and then wait and see if they offer it to you. Some items will gets lots of responses so you might not always get what you were after. Like the name suggests Freecycle is free, you won't get any money for the items you give away. The main aim of Freecycle is to keep things out of landfill, what is your rubbish might be someone else's treasure! The Freecycle website explains more.
• If you want to try and make some money for yourself try selling your unwanted goods. If you are over 18 you can set up an eBay account, but look out for other alternative auction sites. Or try adverts in your local shop. There’s also Gumtree, a kind of online noticeboard, it’s more widely used in cities but worth a go.
• Ever heard of Swishing? It’s basically a big clothes swap party. You take along clothes that you no longer want (they need to be in good condition, you wouldn’t want to take tatty clothes away with you, neither does anyone else!) and swap them for things other people don’t want. There are different ways of ensuring it’s all fair, some larger parties will give everyone the chance to browse so you can see what there is without worrying it’s all going to be snapped up, and often you will get a token for each item of clothing you bring which you ‘spend’ on other items. See the Swishing website for more information.
• Reuse your stuff in new ways. Plastic containers with lids are perfect for storing leftovers and old clean jam jars can be used for storing little things like pens, safety pins, you know, the sort of things you can never find when you need one! Use scrap paper for making notes and stick labels over envelopes you’ve received so you can use them again. Old clothes and towels can be cut up to make into cloths.
• Buy rechargeable batteries instead of chucking used ones away and having to buy more, it’s another thing that will save you money.
• Think about how you could upcycle - the other half of the recycling process. Upcycling means turning unwanted stuff or waste materials into something of higher economic value. For example you could try turning tyres into wallets or bags and old knitwear into cushions.