Throwing something away and replacing it is so easy now that we don’t always stop to think about whether an item still has some life left in it. Previous generations often looked at things differently, finding another use for worn clothes, empty jars, food scraps, and other everyday things before they ever considered tossing them.
Some of Grandma’s habits may feel old-fashioned now, but the basic idea still makes a lot of sense. Using something twice, repairing what you already own, or finding another purpose for something headed for the trash can save a little money while cutting down on waste.
Here are 12 things Grandma was much more likely to keep around and put to work again.
Vegetable scraps
Ends and peels from certain vegetables didn’t always have to head straight for the garbage. You could save usable scraps for stock, while other plant-based kitchen scraps could be composted and eventually returned to the garden instead of thrown away.
Worn-out clothes
A ripped shirt or pair of jeans didn’t automatically mean it was time for the trash, because you could still salvage usable fabric, buttons, and zippers. You could patch and repair clothes first, then eventually cut them up for sewing projects, quilts, cleaning cloths, or other household uses.
Old towels and sheets
Threadbare towels may no longer belong in the bathroom, but they can still make some of the best cleaning rags around the house. Old sheets also provide a surprising amount of usable fabric for drop cloths, sewing projects, pet bedding, and other jobs where appearance doesn’t really matter.
Buttons, zippers, and other sewing notions
Before a worn-out piece of clothing disappeared, Grandma might have removed anything useful for another repair. A jar filled with spare buttons, zippers, snaps, and other notions meant you could fix something later without making a trip to the store.
Aluminum foil
A piece of foil that was relatively clean after its first use didn’t necessarily need to go straight into the trash. Depending on what it touched and its condition, you could sometimes wipe it, rinse it, dry it, and reuse it for another non-messy job instead of pulling off a fresh sheet.
Related: 9 Foods You Should Stop Cooking in Aluminum Foil
Glass jars
Empty food jars were basically free storage containers long before matching pantry containers became something we went out and bought. After being thoroughly washed, jars could hold dry goods, craft supplies, buttons, screws, nails, and all the other little things that needed somewhere to go.
Shoe boxes and other sturdy boxes
A good box wasn’t trash when it could become an organizer for something else. Shoe boxes and other sturdy containers could hold craft supplies, photographs, holiday decorations, paperwork, or miscellaneous items, while extras could be flattened until you needed them.
Newspaper
Yesterday’s newspaper could have a surprisingly long second life around the house. You could reuse it to wrap fragile items, protect surfaces during messy projects, pack boxes, start certain fires where appropriate, or add it in suitable amounts to a compost pile.
Related: Before You Recycle That Newspaper, Try One of These Garden Uses
Soap scraps
Those tiny pieces left at the end of a bar of soap weren’t necessarily useless just because they were hard to hold. You could collect several and use them together, put them in a small soap-saving pouch, or use them until there was practically nothing left.
Cloth diapers
Disposable diapers weren’t always the default, and washable cloth versions were designed to be used over and over rather than tossed after a single change. Once they were no longer needed as diapers, worn cotton cloths could even move on to another job around the house as cleaning rags.
