What Single or Limited Use Items Do You Reuse?

Whether it's chicken pad thai from Green Peppercorn or leftover charcoal chicken from EJs, I often wash and reuse plastic takeaway containers for later. I'll throw out the container if it's oily or broken.

They're especially handy when after a party and you want people to take home leftover cake or nem nuong.

Sounds tightass but I like to think that reusing/recycling is better than going to landfill.

Comments

  • +6

    Plastic bowls, I feed my cats their wet food in them then throw them out after 3 or 4 uses since they get gross. And I wash plastic takeaway containers like you, for their bowls.

    • +14

      What do you feed your kitties, what breeds are they and can we pwease see some totally cute pictures of them? ^_^

      • +45

        https://ibb.co/juNbbT
        Whatever is the nicest food that is decently on special, Friskies if nothing on special

        • +5

          awww :)

        • +4

          That is so typically cat isn't it. All crammed into one small space.

        • +2

          nicest food
          Friskies

          Oh no… nice food would be real food.

        • +1

          https://ibb.co/juNbbT

          Thank you. Good to see they're hard at work.

        • +2

          @try2bhelpful:

          That is so typically cat isn't it. All crammed into one small space.

          Gotta conserve warms, it's a cold world.

        • +8

          @Scrooge McDuck: Crystal, the one oh the right, was there first, but Sugar wanted the basket. Her solution was to sit on top of her and hope it made her run away so she could claim the basket for herself. Crystal determinedly ignored her and eventually Sugar just curled up on top and they were like that for a few hours

        • @Quantumcat: username checks out

    • +10

      Personally I get china bowls from the op shop. They cost a pittance and they wash really well in the dish washer. We got a whole stack of smallish ones when they were 50c each. These ones still had the labels on the bottom so they were probably brand new.

      • That's a good idea. They have plastic bowls for dry food but they don't go in the dishwasher well. I'll look out for china ones and see how they fare

        • Our little girls get a chunk of raw meat each in the morning and at night; on top of their regular cat food. To make it easier to keep the chunks separated we put the meat into silicon ice cube trays before we freeze them; we can then pop them out and store them in a plastic bag in the freezer. We take two out of the freezer at a time and put them in the fridge in old takeaway containers to thaw between meals. Give them chop up a little, a light zap in the microwave to stop them being cold, and the kitties get a bit of fresh meat as well.

        • @try2bhelpful: that's a good idea. Show us a photo of your kitties sometime :)

        • +5

          @Quantumcat: This is an old picture, they are 2 1/2 years old now. They are Somalis, which are long haired abyssinians and they are called Esmeralda Weatherwax and Marie Curie.

          https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/157591/54756/img_0163.…

        • @try2bhelpful: Aw they're so sweet and fluffy. And cute names. Mine don't like each other :-(

        • +3

          @Quantumcat: Hence the "old picture" bit. They have a weird relationship that consists of chasing each other around the house and mutual truces. They don't hurt each other but a certain amount of stalking and chasing does occur. We have a converted two story warehouse with the original beams so cat parkour is a daily occurance. I think I might put up a forum post so people can provide tips on what they have done to make life better/more interesting for their pets.

        • @try2bhelpful: Off topic, but similar. We have an indoor cat and use chicken food for the litter tray. We can put it in the compost and it works well.

        • @poohduck: We have the woodbased one that disintegrates and drops into the bottom tray. Works really well and you only need to discard the stuff at the bottom most times. (Scooping out the more solid matter).
          http://www.kitter.com.au/product/how-to-use/

          In our case the cats go outside most of the time but one of them likes the tray for "special occassions" and if we take it away she will pee elsewhere in the house.

    • -4

      (profanity) that just give em bikkies

    • rinse and put them in the dishwasher…. never gross then

  • +15

    just waiting for some smart arse to say "condom"

  • +50

    Single-use plastic bags.

    • +18

      The June 20th apocalypse is almost upon us… :(

      • +4

        Thanks for the reminder. Gonna look out for the non-degradeable ones and stockpile them. The others will disintegrate after a few months.

      • -2

        Dupe. Reception sucks here!

        • +3

          June 20th will arrive at approx the same time as June 20th. So not too much sooner or later than expected.

        • @bohdud: A wizard arrives precisely when he means to.

      • +34

        South Australia here. We didn't implode when single use plastic bags were banned many years ago.

        • +25

          I'm genuinely surprised South Australia even had plastic bags to start with.

        • +2

          Not sure if this is a dumb comment but what do you use for the bathroom bins? Bagless and wash em more often?

        • +12

          @DaddysBelt: I use the plastic bag that the toilet rolls come in. If you get the nine roll double size Quilton rolls the bag is a good size for a small rubbish bin.

        • +1

          @DaddysBelt: I go bagless, but so much more hygienic to use the supermarket bags :-( The heavy duty ones that cost 10c are useless for rubbish because you can't tie the top easily. If you tie the handles they leak but it is too tough to tie the bag itself.

        • +1

          @KaptnKaos: I'm generally surprised we're talking about South Australia.

      • I went down to the store and grabbed a whole "pack" of them with my item.

  • +4

    Voss bottles.

    • +92

      Cheating. Reusing the bottle is the only reason people buy Voss.

      • +1

        cheapest glass bottle around basically, and comes with free water when you buy it!

        • +1

          they're very fragile though.

        • @fleabag: isn't all glass fragile my friend?

  • cling wrap

    • +2

      I cut down to the size of the bowl that I'm cling wrapping, so that the offcut gets used elsewhere, but don't reuse haha. My friends think I'm weird when they come over and see random squares of cling wrap on the splash back

      • -1

        username checks out

    • What for though ;)

  • +2

    Right now plastic bottles for convenient water on hand nearby but I go through so many that I just end up recycling them when they get nasty.

    I clean all plastic containers both ice cream and takeaway.

    Yeah that's it really.

    Can't do much with pizza boxes and other packaging from stuff like crumpets, bread, cereal, milk and ice cream boxes.

    • Worked with this girl who would do this but just kept using the same bottle. Sometimes I'd glimpse over it to see it the rim all crusty with week old lipstick and skin flakes. Was disgusting.

      • Yah I'm way past that now.. don't let them get anywhere near that stage.. that's just (profanity).

        • Well no, you can clean them. I've had the same plastic bottles for years. Even put them in the freezer when we want to use an esky for travel etc.

        • +5

          @poohduck: The chlorine in tap water will degrade water bottles like Mt Franklins over time, potentially leaching some fairly nasty shit out of the plastic into the water you're drinking. It's fine for 1 or 2 refills, but you really don't want to be keeping them for long periods of time.

  • +10

    Chopsticks, I often use them as paint stirrers, get 4-5 hours worth of stirring from each sushi run.

    • +1

      I'm confused, please elaborate

      • -3

        I misread this and honestly thought you wrote "eraborate"

        • +2

          He was using a Japanese accent.

        • +2

          Preasu eraborato

      • I do model painting as a hobby, sometimes for freelance commission so I end up using a lot of small pots of paint. To keep them mixed without splitting I put ball bearings in the pots but for custom mix colours I need to stir it manually, old chopsticks cut in half do this job wonderfully so when I order takeout from a sushi bar or any asian meal I appreciate the included chopsticks.

  • +18

    It's not really reusing, but I've got a plastic bag somewhere filled with probably hundreds of KFC cleaning towelettes that I have collected for more than a decade.

    I don't even use them, and I don't go to KFC more than once every other month.

    Maybe one day I'll be able to buy something awesome with them, like in The Book of Eli.

    • +41

      They dry out eventually, even if the packet is still sealed.

    • Things I use with those KFC towelettes when I have them:
      (but the local store is getting very stingy)
      1) Wipe the computer screen, keyboard and mouse.
      2) Great for the car steering wheel.
      3) Wipe the switches in my house.

      They are really good.

      • One of the best jokes that "Hoges" did was talking to Strop about creating Lemon chicken. You take leftover KFC chicken then blend it with a lemon scented moist towlette. He said "but don't use lanolin because it tastes terrible.".

  • +8

    Glass jars and bottles from prepacked vegies, sauces

    • +13

      Have you tried using something like this for the glass jars: http://www.innovations.com.au/p/kitchen/appliances-cookware/…

      I've found those things to be amazing. Can pull a vacuum seal on a cleaned pickle jar and keep things fresh for a long time that way.

      • +4

        Nice find today I learnt.

      • Didnt know that, nice!

      • +1

        Is it $1 per use? Or can they be reused? Do the lids get damaged?

        We save our jars so that we can make jam, sauce, pickles etc later

        • +6

          They can be reused again and again. The small metal part in the pictures punctures the lid and then the blue disc goes on top as a one way valve. Then can use the pump to pull the air out of the jar. The only damage is a small hole in the lid for the value to go into. They are really sturdy.

          I've had my kit for 4 years and use it all the time. I haven't even lost any of the small metal puncture tools or discs. I keep using the same jars too until the lids start to show small rust spots after being put through the dishwasher a few times.

          As long as you use a jar that once held a vacuum (e.g. pickle/cherry/olive jars are fine, but mason jars from Kmart are not), then this tool will work great. For less than $10, I'd recommend it in every kitchen.

        • @c0balt:

          Can you get spare pins and seals?

        • +1

          @c0balt: What do you typically put in the jars?

        • +2

          @sween64:
          My thoughts exactly, do you repickle?

      • How do you reuse the jars if you're piercing them at the top? Do they maintain suction even after pierced and re-sealed?

        • +1

          I think the 10 jar sealers and piercers it comes with stays on the jar like a makeshift new sealant.

          So technically yes you can re-use the jar as long as you have a spare sealer.

          Without one of these reusable sealers the jar becomes useless or well has a hole with no piercer and sealer to uh seal it.

    • +1

      +1 on the jars. I make my own relishes, lemon curd, etc and the jars work well. Recently bought a pair of these from Bunnings.
      https://www.theperfectsteak.com.au/product/silicone-bbq-glov…

      I have cotton heat proof gloves but they don't work with boiling water when sterilising jars.

      • How much were the gloves at Bunnings?

  • Chopsticks. The takeaway wooden chopsticks are much better than anything more ‘permanent’ - and they last for ages.

  • +12

    Toilet paper.

    Just crumple it up after wiping, leave it on the counter top for the next seating.

    • +1

      Ewwwwwww
      Christ on a cracker. I hope you’re joking.

      • +1

        Just don't ask what he does with old Sao biscuits.

        • God damn it dude I had forgotten about the soggy biscuit for years now.. you got me.. (profanity)@

        • @AlienC: I'm female, I'm going on heresay.

    • Ergh. You can't scrunch it up, you need to leave it flat so you can use both sides

      • +3

        Folding gives you two surfaces. Srunching gives you dozens.

        I'm in it for the long game.

    • Use 1000 grit sandpaper instead. Much more durable and reusable than toilet paper. Wash that shit off when your done and good to go for the next patron.

      • Make sure you use the wet/dry version for more durability with the washing

    • +1

      I actually knew a guy at work who used to blow his nose on tissues, let them dry out, and reuse them…..:(

      • +3

        That's both cheap and nasty.

    • I use a cheap tea towel.

  • +17

    Birthday cake candles. Yes, the candles do get a little shorter each time, but no one cares/notices, still look great in photos. Most candles I can use for 3 birthdays. Especially the big number candles, such a waste to throw it out when only a tiny tip is melted, and the number is still clearly visible.

    • +19

      For my 44th birthday I had previously used number 4 and four individual candles.

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