For example, I saved a bunch of these small cardboard sheets that were separating the rows of cans in a box of cat food.
Add some glue and you have a little tent for your cat.
The brown packaging paper from shipper Amazon boxes has all kinds of uses.
I hoard this paper to make toys for my parrots.
Wrapping paper for general occasions.
Grocery bags are useful as small bags to separate things, trash bags for small cans or cleaning up a cluttered space, or as temporary barriers she small jobs.
Large cardboard boxes are great for under the car during oil changes.
Lunch meat containers are intended as reusable containers; I use them for lunches.
Fast food cups get reused-as cups.
Cardboard rolls for crafts.
After thoroughly washing, wiping, washing, and wiping again, I will reuse 5 gallon cat litter containers for dog food.
Nothing I don’t use up relatively quickly.
Microplastics have entered the body
Yeah the fast food cup thing bothers me a bit, personally. I don’t typically get fast food, but if I did I would just bring a reusable cup. (Do fast food places allow their use? Idk, I don’t get fast food, but my coffee shop uses my cup.)
old cables. because YOU NEVER KNOW
SCART might make a comeback!
Actually people use those for retro gaming, even in the US where scart wasn’t a thing.
I own even more scart cables than old consoles (and all the consoles just use phono-scart adapters), that’s OK right? Right!?
Also, what if I really need an extra 512MB of DDR2 RAM for something. Im wrong every day but one.
I saved literally every single RAM stick I’ve ever used (and more) minus two I gave to a friend. They’re in a big ziplock bag tucked into the corner of a box of misc PCI cards.
I will almost definitely never have a reason to install RAM from the 90s…but they’re there just in case…
Happened to me a few months ago with an old utility machine I have. I wasn’t as smart.
I used a few for my windows. Actual glass windows. They work as a stopper by wedging them in the track since they tend to slide on their own otherwise.
Sooooooooo many usb-micro cables.
Oh my god I got rid of like 5 cables like four fucking years ago and now EVERY SINGLE TIME we’re missing a cable in the house it’s “ah you threw all those cables out!”
And save every cable tie ever, just in case
They go into a nice heap right next to the rat nest.
I might have a need for all these ide cables at some point! Or a USB cable for a mid 2000s Motorola phone.
Scraps of cardboard for sure. Also little dumb leftover pieces of foam core. I used to put used box cutter blades inside the foam core scraps before throwing them away, thinking that was a safe way to do it. It’s probably not. So now I just toss used blades into an old empty prescription bottle and just keep that on a shelf. (Therefore, I also hang on some of my prescription bottles).
I also tend to hang on to some empty plastic jars and food containers once in a while, too. I wash them thoroughly of course. I probably sound like a hoarder. I don’t hang on to every scrap of this stuff, just a small amount. The plastic jars (like the ones corn starch come in) are handy for storing left over pieces and parts from various crafting projects.
I work in an industry that uses razor blades and if OSHA comes in and finds one laying around it’s an automatic fine ($500 last I heard but that was a decade ago). They make disposable jugs for used blades, we put the blades in and throw the jug away once it’s full. So, basically, the same as your method. It seems to be the best anyone’s came up with.
Back in the days when Safety Razors were king, many houses had a little porcelain slot embedded into the wall by the sink, or one cut into the back of the medicine cabinet. This led to a completely open space in the wall, and the idea was that it would take longer than the expected life of the house to fill it up with rusty razor blades.
https://www.snopes.com/articles/347894/older-home-razor-blade-in-walls/
At least they didn’t try that with toilet paper
Unless it’s literal trash I’m saving it. I’m quite DIY minded person so I often also use those things for my projects.
If I keep it, it’s not a garbage.
Plus, reusing something is the second step in Reduce > Reuse > Recycle.
Adam Savage has entered the chat
For years I’ve desoldered components from electronics that are designed for recycling/trash. I haven’t needed them more than a few times but it’s redeeming when I need a specific thing I’ve never needed before and can pick one out of my component box rather than buying a pack of 100 and never use 99 of them.
Tiny momentary SPST switches are definitely the most common thing I use from the bin but I’ve also reused some LEDs, capacitors, and resistors.
I have a desoldering project in the works with some old boards because the buttons on then are amazing
As someone who just finished a small electronic project where I couldn’t find the perfect switches to save my life, I’ve sworn to save every switch I run across from now on
I used to do that too when I was still in school. Now I have a box of old capacitors and transistors with the wires broken off.
Those examples are not garbage, they are clean materials that can be repurposed. It is the second step in Reduce > Reuse > Recycle!
I keep plenty of scrap parts and supplies but the only “garbage” I tend to hang on to is large foam padding. I have one that I land the end of my kayak on when I’m getting it off my vehicle roof, one that’s big enough to lay on when I’m working under a car and one that I put under heavy parts when working on the workbench. I have a small stack that I will throw away when I realize I’ll never use them then slowly rebuild when I see one and think “I’ll use that for something.”
Any type of container that closes if it’s in good enough shape (bottles, jars, cardboard boxes, bags). Also small open containers like yogurt or instant soup cups are probably the most useful for holding small items/snacks. When they become too many, you pick the best of each and throw away the rest. I also tend to keep foam packaging even though I’ve never found an actual use for it.
I keep the reddit app saved on my phone just in case
I’m an artist, a better question would be what I don’t keep.
Yeah, ok Squidward
More like, “Belongs in the Trash”
Fucking everything, to the point it’s a problem. I replaced my windscreen wipers the other day, when I broke them to fit them in the trash can, I kept the thin metal strip that is inside and acts like a spring. I don’t know if it’s spring steel, but it sure is spring-y and you never know when they may come in handy.
I’ve got a box of boxes, all different sizes, cause you never know!, as well a bag of ziplock bags, there’s got to be like 400 of them.
Windshield wiper scraps are very popular with lockpick enthusiasts.
