What do you save from products packaging....

[sohio]

I save quite a bit of product packaging from store bought products, like bread bags, peanut butter jars, cardboard boxes, chip cans, egg cartons, sauce jars with metal lids...etc just wondering what some of you might save and what you use it for.

[emdeengee]

What we don't reuse (some glass jars, plastic containers, plastic bags, cardboard boxes) we take to recycling. Our recycling business has one of the Japanese plastic to fuel oil conversion machines so everything plastic can be used.

I wash plastic bags and reuse them. Plastic food containers are good for short term storage but they are not intended to be used for a long time as the plastic begins to disintegrate. Glass jars are becoming harder and harder to find - every thing is going into plastic jars because it costs less to transport (by weight) than glass jars.

We dismantle sturdy cardboard boxes (from work) and keep them in the cellar because no retailers will let you have cardboard boxes any more for moving or storage (they get paid to recycle). So far we have helped at least 8 of our friends who have had to move who could not get any cardboard boxes without having to pay for them.

[mekasmom]

I save jars, of course. I also save the plastic containers that grape tomatoes come in, strawberry containers, and other like those. I use them for sprouting and even for starting seeds. I save egg cartons when I buy eggs. I save detergent bottles to put homemade detergent back into. My husband and grandkids drink a lot of juice from the 2qt Ocean Spray containers and the like. I save water in those, but I have so many now, I don't use them for that any longer. Now I use them to pour macaroni, rice, and other dried goods into.
I save dog food bags to put garbage into. I save shoe boxes to wrap Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, etc.

[Helena]

The wax paper inside ceral boxes I save and use to rewarap sandwiches or left over foods.

[luvrulz]

I save egg cartons. The rest gets burned or sent to recycling. Oh, I also save those grocery bags and give them to the Amish lady that has a bulk store.... That's it.

[pattycake]

I am one to save containers from restraunts. I save the salad containers from all the fast food places. I don't eat out all that much so these are like gold to me. These are great for sending home food with the kids.

[Callieslamb]

Take out containers with clear plastic lids make great seed starting trays
I use plastic peanutbutter/mayo bottles to store nuts and other ingredients in my cupboards. They are also scoops for fertilizer and animal feed and good for sorting nails and screws in DH's shop.
Cereal boxes are great for crafts or tape a few layers together and make a hard surface for writing on while out in the garden or barn.
Bread bags become plastic gloves for all kinds of nasty chores.
dish soap bottles can be used as dye containers for dying my wool
Bleach bottles hold water in the freezer or are used for feed scoops.

[Old Vet]

Where I live we have a limited recycling. If you take it to a trailer at the school you can recycle plastic and metal and cardboard all in one place. If I want to recycle other things I must hunt other counties that accept what I am trying to recycle.We do not have a dump but if you putt it out the trash men will picket it up.

[Shrek]

What do I save? Only money ,time and the hassle of dragging a trash bin to the road more than once every two to four months/.

Aluminum cans , steel cans , polyester soda bottles, plastic bottle caps from the polyester bottles and glass jars and bottles go to the recycle center for cash in hand once or twice a year.

Paper labels from the cans and the rinse out goes to the worm bins along with any cardboard and food scraps.

All that makes it to my trash bin is styrofoam packing and bags of cat litter box waste when its too inclement to take it to the cat scat compost pile.

Some years I actually come close to making as much from the recycle yard to off set the $132 a year the county sanitation department adds on my utility bill at the rate of $11 a month for trash pick up.

[CJ]

I save all my wine bottles

[Serena]

I have started saving #6 clear plastic containers.... to reuse for shrinky binks! Apparently its supposed to work the same and I am going to test it and try it with my scout group.

[gotmules]

we saved wine bottles until we had enough to re-use for husband's wine.
we buy cat litter in the buckets and use those for everything except food.
plastic coffee cans for feed scoops, and store things in garage (labelled)
peanut butter jars, food storage, taking soup to work, crafts storage.
cambells labels, etc, to school, boxes cut into quilt patterns, recycled in town.
veggie cans for baking, scoops for dog food, recycle in town.
cardboard under mulch, and to kill grass where I want to plant.
shredded paper for the chicken coop, they like it in the nests.
cat litter compost pile?? I could use a place for that, where to put?

[Awnry Abe]

Originally Posted by CJ

I save all my wine bottles

My place would rival the landfill if I did that!

I've noticed that we can't seem toss mesh bags that things like oranges, apples, onions, and potatoes come in. Last year DW had an awesome onion & shallot crop, but we were short of those.

[ItchingDuck]

Mesh bags from onions and such make great scrubbers. You can use them as is or crochet a nice cloth wround them to use for a sish scrubber that won't scratch your pans.
Cardboard is saved, plastic juice jars, anything I don't save is recycled. I love vinegar bottles.

[ani's ark]

Yes, those mesh bags can also go over fruit on trees to keep the birds off. We use newspaper and cardboard for under mulch around fruit trees, or to start the fire in winter. Any other paper waste is burned in the woodstove and the ash goes onto the garden.
Toilet rolls make great covers for the base of leeks in the garden to keep them white and fleshy.
Plastic pop or juice bottles get the bottom cut off - I plant seeds in the base and put the top of the bottle over pepper seedlings to protect them when they are new, acts as a mini-glasshouse.
Glass jars saved for canning, wide mouth glass bottles saved for milk. Just all the beer bottles and plastic wrappers go to the tip for recycling. We do a run to the tip about once a month and want to cover our faces from all the beer and wine bottles - perhaps we need to save them and start to home-brew as well?

[Jennifer L.]

I save any "good" cardboard box. You all know what a "good" cardboard box is.

I save any glass jar with a Mason jar screw top. I have been known to buy one product over another because of the Mason jar screw top.

I save plastic bags that I might buy fruit or veggies in at the supermarket, and tie them loosely when I put the fruit in the bags so they'll come undone easily when I get home with them.

I save all grocery bags to use for small garbage bags around the house. I like to pre-package my non-recyclables before they go into the big clear garbage bag so what I throw away isn't so visible to the crew at the town recycling center. It also lowers the risk of something ripping a garbage bag open and making a mess. You can also use them for things like paint tray liners, other stuff like that.

I save paper packing for stove starting in the shoulder season of the wood stove. (I mean the big wads of paper used for cushioning when you get something by mail.)

I save all the stryofoam and bubble wrap for a friend who mails craft items to galleries.

We have mandatory recycling here which makes it easy to make the decision to get rid of "valuable" things if I have enough of them, because you know it's not just going into a landfill. So if I don't need that cardboard box, it gets broken down and folded up and recycled.