Ideas/ways to re-use/recycle "rubbish"?

rhoda_bruce

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I have not turned in the plate on my Suburban, even if my kids want me to, because its the perfect vehicle to get my grain in and right now, I am loving it. It does cost me 200 every 6 months on insurance, but its as big as a truck and I don't need to worry if its raining. I was out of grain a few weeks ago and picked up 11 sacks and most are still in there, so I'm storing my grain. Its too wet and disgusting to think of tracking up mud to move grain anyway. But when I'm all done, I think I can use it as a good moveable coop or for storage, as Britesea said.
It is also my garbage truck. I recycle and as I get cans or plastic, they go straight in the back of the Suburban, until I have enough to go to the recycle bin.
 

HomesteaderWife

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Oh man, the things I could type here! We save a lot of things that come in great handy later on. I will list a few but I have seen some really great things here so far already!

-We get free pallets from a local hardware store that they just toss or burn. I make different things (art) with the pallets and sell it. We also have built perches and nesting boxes with pallet pieces too.
-Old feed bags get saved for multiple purposes. Fire starter or kindling bags. they're also good to cut open and use as a mat to paint on so that you won't get paint all over the place when doing crafts.
-Paper bags from the grocery store we've saved for a lot of things too including wrapping small Christmas gifts.
-I save tin cans for my paint brushes- I put water in it and wash my paint brushes out when I am working. We also save plastic and metal coffee cans to store nails, screws, and I use a small one as a feed scoop.
-Scrap lumber gets used for art, next boxes, animal houses, perches, and such.
 

rhoda_bruce

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I save Ragu and Prego jars, so when I'm putting honey or figs in jars and a relative wants a jar, I don't have to lose my masons. I also might use that food myself, if I don't happen to give it to a family member and will use it first, just in case its shelf life is more limited.
I save all glass jars and bottles to bury in low spots in my yard, barn, coop or garden. Instantly raises the ground level and creates a place for the water to drain better.
I almost never buy new clothes. When I need something, I go to the community center and bring whatever clothes I'm finished with and go through what they have to see if I can find something that better helps me. I pay .50 each and usually leave an extra donation, as well as my purchases and still laugh all the way home, for thinking about the money Walmart didn't get.
I save my old mason jar lids and use in a pinch.....even if its just to have as a storage container for a small amount of food I want to put in the fridge.
 

JASTECH

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@rhoda_bruce, $400 a year? Something is wrong! I pay just under $300 a year for my 1988 F-350 7.3L idi Crecab XLT Lariat long bed.

I used pallet wood to build the sides of my well pit cover.
 

JASTECH

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I shop at Goodwill for my 9 year old son and I. I needed snow boots as my Chippewas came apart (sent them back for possible replacement) so went to Goodwill and found LA Cross snow boots with wool inserts for $15.00. They are 11's and I wear 12 EEE, so yes my toes hurt a lot everyday but better then bare footed.
 

rhoda_bruce

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Ouch......I have planter's fasciitis and I need to take really good care of my feet. I need boots, but not for snow.....it maybe snows here once a decade, if that. I live in a bayou region and it sometimes floods and gets really muddy after. Well, I was having trouble with my boots, cuz I can't point my toes anymore, especially when I'm hurting....plus DS outgrew his a long time ago, so what I did was bought a size 13, which is what he needed. I am in a size 10, but its easier to get out of a 13, when I can't point my toes.
Well, I just pinched 2 tire rims from one of my neighbor's garbage sites. I saw an idea shared online to weld them together and cut out a door to make an entrance for a fire and use it as a burner for small logs. I think it would be a great way to save me on propane. I might even want to use it with my huge cast iron pot, depending on what I'm cooking. I didn't measure it up to my big pot, but I think it will be a good fit. I will see if my brother can weld it for me.
 

JASTECH

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Ouchie, I understand the planters pain too, when I was electrocuted at work it stopped my heart, severed communication to my right lung, L4&5 damaged and caused a large knot on the bottom of both feet and similar knot in left palm. So walking is painful but I have animals to take care of and my son. I hate being on oxygen 24/7 most, heavy bottle pulling on my lower back, banging into things with it, kinda like a baby (I think).
 

sumi

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Ouchie, I understand the planters pain too, when I was electrocuted at work it stopped my heart, severed communication to my right lung, L4&5 damaged and caused a large knot on the bottom of both feet and similar knot in left palm. So walking is painful but I have animals to take care of and my son. I hate being on oxygen 24/7 most, heavy bottle pulling on my lower back, banging into things with it, kinda like a baby (I think).
:hugs
 

Yaya

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I find the waste in the first world appalling! People throw out all sorts of useful stuff! But I have nowhere to keep anything..... :( there was a leather couch lying in a ditch the other day...nothing wrong with it????
 
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