18th September 2025
I subscribed to the Ethical Consumer monthly email which this month focuses on repair and reuse. At their prompting , can I recommend signing up for this useful newsletter too?
Tag: Reuse
Counting on … day 123
4th August 2025
It is an old slogan but still pertinent: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. If we are to live sustainably within the Earth’s finite resources, if we are to live simply – with joy in enough – then reducing what we consume is a good starting point. Ditto reusing what we have.
And recycling as the last resort.
That said, I do recycle cardboard boxes rather then hoarding them for future use. During Covid whilst so many things were being bought on line, people were hanging onto the boxes, which led to a shortage of recycled card with which to make new boxes. I guess there would be logic in having. Reusable boxes – as for example, with Riverford vegetables boxes.
Counting on … day 106
10th July 2025
Using waste water. Is rain water from the roof waste water or a valuable resource? Collected in a rainwater butt it is ideal for watering plants. Rainwater butts are also useful in terms of preventing flood because the flow of storm water is delayed before it enters the drainage system and therefore helps the system cope with peaks.
Mains water coming into our homes is drinking water quality. We don’t need that same quality of water with which to flush toilets. ‘Grey water’ – ie water that has been used to wash hands or shower, launder clothes, etc – is perfectly adequate for flushing toilets. Grey water is waste water that can be reused. We have a small bowl under the taps in the wash basins to collect hand wash water and a jug to empty it into. This jug of grey water is used for flushing the toilet (unless a bigger flush is needed). We also collect water in a larger bowl from the shower when waiting for the hot water.
A jug by the kitchen sink collects water from cleaning or boiling vegetables, rinsing plates etc and goes to water the garden.
Households are asked to keep a 2-3 day supply of drinking water on hand in case of emergencies. Not wanting to stock up on bottled water – which will in time have to be replaced – I keep two demijohn jars full of drinking water. I empty one (into the pond) and refill it each day so that that our emergency stock of water is constantly fresh without wasting the water.
Counting on … day 105
9th July 2025
Mend, darn and repair clothes. Ideally clothes and household fabrics will give us years of use and pleasure. And even as they wear out, they can still be of use.
Initially we can avoid waste by looking after our clothes and household fabrics will – ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ is a reminder that the sooner we restitch a broken hem or seem, or mind a tear, or darn a hole, the smaller will be the necessary repair. It can be tempting not to repair an item if it’s replacement is cheap – eg holes in socks, but we should consider not just the cost of replacement but the cost of discarding the sock. On that basis darning a hole makes even more sense. (1)
We have moved from a society that would turn collars and replace cuffs rather than buy a new shirt (2), or that would cut old sheets in half and resew, sides to the middle, to get maximum use from the sheet (3)
You can also patch clothes, sheets and even towels (4) but eventually you may get to the stage where the item is no longer useable in its present form. Then rather than being throw away waste, maybe the item can be repurposed. An old sheets and even might be transformed into a pillow slip or a pile of handkerchiefs. A towel might become a set of flannels or cleaning clothes. Old socks make good dusters or shoe polishing cloths. A t-shirt might become a duster or a pair of pants. (5)
(1) https://www.woolovers.com/page/how-to-darn-a-sock
(2) https://mathomhouse.typepad.com/bluestocking/2016/11/turning-shirt-collars.html
(4) https://designmom.com/living-well-4-secrets-to-patching-clothes/
(5) https://www.redhandledscissors.com/2010/06/17/t-shirt-to-underpants-upcycling/
Counting on … day 104
8th July 2025
Waste paper – not all waste paper needs to go into the recycling bin. Much can be reused.
Writing paper that has been used on one side only, can be used in the printer – including business letters which are often printed on really good quality paper. (But use discretion if you are sharing print-outs that you don’t accidentally share private information).
Christmas cards can be cut up for gift tags (but how many do you need?) or alternatively cut up into useful sizes for shopping lists, memos and phone messages.
You can cut the picture from a greeting card and reuse it as a post card. Oxfam even prints postcard outlines on the box of their cards. And if you are hand delivering a card, write on the envelope in pencil – and don’t stick down the flap – so that it can easily be reused. Reusing envelopes is generally another idea.
Wrapping paper too can be reused if carefully folded and kept after use. Using string or ribbon – or elastic bands – instead of sticky tape is good practice.
Old paper bags or sheets of newspaper can be used to line kitchen compost buckets.
Counting on … day 11
15th January 2025
Reducing waste and the pressure we put on the Earth, we should also consider how many single use items we are discarding, including those that we put in the recycling bin.
Plastic yogurt pots can be recycled but that still uses oil to produce the plastic (very little food packaging is made from recycled plastic) and energy to produce it. Could there be a more sustainable way of getting yogurt? One way might be for yogurt to be sold in reusable glass jars – as per milk. Another might be to make one’s own yogurt in reusable pots.
The same is true of margerine tubs – might solid margerine (vegan butter) that comes wrapped in greaseproof paper be better?
And what about refilling and reusing wine bottles, beer bottles etc? We do it with milk and fruit juices.
And what about avoiding single use coffee cups and plastic bottles of water? Tap water is free! And coffee tastes better in a proper cup.
Four different types of refull/ reuse consumer practice
Counting on … day 16
16th January 2024
Reusing rather than replacing can also apply to clothes. Some of our favourite pieces of clothing are often items we have had for many years. I have jumpers that go back 40 years and a kilt that is even older (I had it second hand as a child).
Reusing can also including passing on clothes such as from older to younger children, or between generations. I have several items originally worn by my mother. My husband has items that belonged to his father whilst some of his father’s clothes have already been appropriated by our youngest son who loves the 1930s style.
An alternative way of reusing clothes is to repurpose or reshape them. A pair of trousers that becomes ragged at the knees can be repaired or it can be repurposed as a pair of shorts – potentially leaving you some extra material from the bottoms that can be used to patch something else or to make a small bag. A skirt, dress or trousers etc that are too large can be reshaped to fit a smaller figure. Flaired trouser legs can be narrowed. If you don’t have these skills yourself, you might find someone else who has via a repair cafe or a tailor.
Another way of reusing clothes is to buy second hand ones from a vintage of charity shop – and to likewise pass on items you no longer wear.
Greenpeace reports “Partly because of all this plastic use, and the energy needed to process it, the fashion industry produces 8-10% of global CO2 emissions (4-5 billion tonnes annually).”
Further reading – https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/fast-fashion-climate-change-pollution-violence/
Counting on … day 15
15th January 2024
Re-use rather that replace
Just because a phone/ TV/ tablet/ computer is not this year’s model, there is no good sense in replacing it every year. It better to keep it for as long as it is usefully useable. Mobile phone users typically replace their phones every 2 to 3 years which may reflect the length of the initial contract and/ or the life of the battery. Mobile phone batteries can be replaced (and the old one recycled when they are no longer adequately holding charge). Operating systems can also be updated to ensure the continued functionality of the phone – usually you will receive an online prompt to do this.
A brand-new smartphone generates an average of 85 kilograms in emissions in its first year of us, of which 95% comes from manufacturing and shipping. (1) Spread over 2 years its footprint falls to approximately 45kg a year and over 3 years approximately 30kg a year. Keeping the same phone for each extra years reduces its in-use carbon footprint.
Equally if you are looking to replace your mobile phone, buying a refurbished second hand one will similarly reduce its in-use carbon footprint.
When a mobile phone literally has no usable life in it, make sure that it is properly recycled to ensure its component parts are reused and not discarded via landfill or an incinerator, polluting the environment. You can even do this via Oxfam and help reduce poverty at the same time.
Further reading – https://greentau.org/2021/11/29/green-tau-issue-24/
Counting on … day 1.226
29th November 2023
Recently I was chatting with a friend about the number of items which have since our youth become single use items (this is not to say I am either old nor that everything was so much better in the good old days!). But things like wet wipes did not exist – instead there would be a cloth or maybe even a damp flannel in plastic bag for a journey. A kitchen towel meant a hand towel: washable dish clothes and floor clothes were for wiping up spills. Hankies were cotton and washable and came with embroidered designs or printed patterns. And I even remember from my honeymoon having a paper envelope with my room number, in which I placed my cotton serviette at the end of the meal so that I could use it again at the next meal.
Surely laundering is better than creating waste that is either burnt or ends up in landfill?
Counting on … day 1.224
27th November 2023
As responsible consumers, we may want to think not just about what we are buying but about the packaging too. Most packaging in single use – the plastic container, the cardboard box, the plastic wrap, the paper cup. Sometimes it is essential if we are to be able to take the product home, but more often it is a decorative feature that makes the product more attractive. And giving pleasure is not a bad thing. But maybe there are times when we should be saying ‘no thank you’ when something has an excess of packaging. Or times when we should be writing to the manufacturer asking for less packaging or at least packaging that can – and will be – recycled. Or times when we should look for a refill option using reusable packaging.
I often feel it is a pity that cardboard boxes can’t be reused more often before they are recycled: they are often so strong and sturdy and there must be a a carbon footprint involved in recycling them.
The Green Tau 