Is there a 'disposable' product that you will use more than once?

-Plastic utensils
-Razors
-Plastic Bags
-Waterbottles
-Everything you just mentioned

I use disposable razors more than once.

I should have read @dxs‘s post because I too refill plastic, disposable water bottles, plastic bags and plastic cutlery.

paper towels (if used for something clean like drying hands or counter), paper plates if used for something dry, depending on what it is. Paper/plastic cups, plastic utensils, depending on where I use them (at home or work = re-use). Sometimes water bottles.

Razors. Probably lots of things. I am notoriously cheap.

Milk jugs to store clean water.

Are disposable razors actually supposed to be used once??? I use one for a month or more.

Oh yeah, good reminder. Disposable razors, I will use a few times.

Disposable razors, One day use contact lens(it works fine for me even for a month). The plastic yoghurt containers, I use it either to store screws,nut or bolts and sometimes I use it as seedling starter pot. The plastic bags,spoons,cups etc are the other items.

Not always, but sometimes I reuse paper towels, plastic utensils, retialmstore garment bags or plastic covers, carry out plastic containers (but not more than a few times) and plastic bags. There must be other things. Plastic bags I reuse sometimes many times. Like a laundry bad from a hotel, I often keep them and travel with them. I use clear plastic bags, the kid you use a twist tie with, I use those to put my shoes in when I travel. I reuse those bags for years.

As far as razors, disposables tend to have lower quality blades. I use them around 10–15 shaves, which is about 2–4 weeks for me depending on the time of year and if I am at home or on vacation. My husband would not keep a disposable that long, he is prone to folicutilitis, which I think is common for men with thick beards, or thick hairs especially. He needs a sharp blade to ensure a quick clean cut on the hairs, and then he has no problems.

Everything @dxs said.

Ear pick (the use-once-then-throw-away type). I usually keep one in my pocket after use so that I can use it again. A typical ear pick of mine has a life span of at least two days.

Some wrap papers. I keep them so that I can use them for something else. Many times warp papers have proven useful.

Do batteries count? I am still rocking a old camera that tears through AA batteries in a day. But those same batteries after they no longer work in the camera will power the remote for my tv for months.

Oh yeah the carry out food containers. I put them in the dishwasher. The plastic is pretty thick and they have a leak proof lid.

Just thought of another. Sometimes I reuse a tea bag. The same day, but I don’t immediately throw it out after one use. I like my tea light, so the leaves usually have some “tea” left in them after I make a mug full.

Floss picks. I re-use them until the floss breaks.
I’ve stopped refusing most plastic bags, but the ones I get are re-used. We take them to the antique mall.
I have some incredible water bottles that are square and came with flavored water in them originally. I’ve been (re)using them for years. As in, 6–8 years probably.

What’s an ear pick, @Mimishu1995? Like a Q-tip?

That’s awesome, @johnpowell. I didn’t know that!

At work, I use a paper cup for my coffee, and I’ll reuse the same cup at least four days in a row.

Reusing tea bags filled with black tea means more tannic acid, which most people find bitter. My mother used to save and reuse them; we’d find these weird and unappetizing-looking dried-up tea bags in the fridge. It became a family joke.

Fluther

When my notebooks no longer have any paper left in them, I use them as file folders and add pockets.

I recycle tins from Christmas too. Biscuit tins are kept to store baking or the like throughout the year.

I also keep empty glass candle containers. I’m going to fill them with candle wax and make my own.

I have a compressed Styrofoam cup at the auction that I’m reusing indefinitely, @jca. Sassafras tea liquid concentrate in hot water. It’s good.

The clean part of the kleenex I will use again

@Coloma will have you drawn and quartered, @talljasperman!

@ibstubro yeah, that’s it. I have to use “ear pick” since I don’t know what it’s called.

My family is disgusted by the fact that I reuse those things. But I find it more convenient than having to get a new one everytime I need to clean my ears.

@Mimishu1995: Are you talking about a Q-tip? Never mind – I see @ibstubro asked and you answered already.

“Ear picks, also called ear scoops, or ear spoons, are a type of curette used to clean the ear canal of earwax (cerumen).

In Asia these are traditionally made from bamboo or precious metals such as silver or gold, but more commonly now, from stainless steel or plastic…

Use of ear picks to remove wax is discouraged by some health professionals for fear of damaging the ear and causing infections.” Source

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@Mimishu1995 What I sometimes do with those is rip the outer layers of cotton off the ends so that it’s “clean” again on the tips. It gets much less softer as you get closer to the plastic, though, so be careful.

Listen to your family, @Mimishu1995. Listen to your family!

lol

There used to be these frozen dinners that came on a little plastic plate to differentiate between the “TV” dinners that used foil school lunch style trays. I wish I could remember the brand name of the frozen dinners. They came out long before all the variety of dinners that are out now. Back then it was Hungry Man or these “fancy” and “gourmet” dinners on these little plastic plates.

My point: These dinners came out about 35 years ago. I think they stopped being sold about 30 years ago. They were a short lived experiment. My grandmother STILL uses ALL of the plates she collected from those meals. They were very sturdy and well made, considering they were supposed to be disposable. She may have cracked one or two, but I believe that she still has over 20 of them.

You know I can’t resist your loveable earnestness, @keobooks.

(They still turn up occasionally at the auction, and one of the help stupidly tried to burn some. Uh, NO.)

Le Menu! That was it! Thank you! It was on the tip of my brain! So my grandparents weren’t the only ones that stored them with the regular china.

Also, my other grandmother saved all of the fancy jelly jars they used to sell and used them as water glasses for lunch or other casual times. EDIT: I just googled jelly jar glasses and OMG my grandmothers on BOTH sides used jelly jars for all of their casual glassware.

She also re-used all her foil multiple times.

People don’t really save stuff like they used to.

At one time, @keobooks, it was expected that nearly everything would be re-used. I remember my dad’s mom rinsing out plastic bags. Hardly ever got re-used because if they dried at all they stuck together. I, personally, still have a hard time throwing foil away after just one use. :)

I know we saved bread sacks when I was a kid because, come mushroom season, we’d grab a bread sack and go to hunting.

@keobooks A while back I got rid if a lot if hard plastic containers because they were stamped with the “bad” plastic numbers. I think the bones to avoid were #3 and #7. I’d have to double check it. You might want to check the plates and look them up, especially if she microwaves them.

Condoms.

lol

Dental floss.

Reading this thread makes me realize that I use very few “disposable” products which makes it difficult to re-use them.

Good for you, @Cupcake. It’s hard to do in this age. Even houses are edging toward disposable.

Non stick baking paper isn’t cheap so I reuse it if it’s not too dirty, I wipe it over with a paper towel and it’s good to go again. Also, used makeup remover wipes are excellent for cleaning the bowl of my stainless steel kitchen sink.

Like parchment, @octopussy? Or some teflon type stuff?

Years ago I bought huge cans of non-stick cooking spray for 75¢ a can, and that’s all I use.

I only rip half the non-stick strip off stick-on bows when I attach it to a gift. That way I or the recipient can use the bow a second time.
I am reusing K-cups for my coffee warm up.

Also my wood burning stove effectively turns all paper products into heating oil when I burn them. 20 pounds of paper is the same heat value as a gallon of heating oil at $3.50 per gallon.

@LuckyGuy What do you mean reusing K-cups? You use the grounds twice? How many ounces? My husband uses the reusable K-cup thingy. I think he makes 13 or 14 ounces with it. Usually Starbucks or Dunkin coffee. I buy them when they are on sale.

@LuckyGuy and @JLeslie: I tried reusing the K-cup again (the pre-packaged one, not the one where you take the basket and put your own coffee in it). It was very weak. My Keurig makes a 16 oz cup, so maybe that’s why it was so weak – because it was used to make a lot of coffee already?

My mom was doing the ½ (or less) stick on bow peel 45 years ago, that I personally know of, @LuckyGuy. I don’t know that I have ever allowed myself the extravagance of a full single peel.

I have the refillable cup too. I’m not talking about that one. I do reuse the grounds twice though.

My machine makes 6, 8, 10 oz size cups. If I use a new k-cup I usually make a full 10 oz and when the cup is down to about half I will reuse the used cup and set it 6 oz. for a refill. It does not matter to me if the cup has been sitting all night or not. I still use it.

@ibstubro A woman after my own heart. :-)

@ibstubro yes I think it’s like parchment paper, it has a slightly waxy feel and can withstand very hot ovens, people line cake tins with it, it took over from non stick spray, less mess.
I had to laugh at the stick on bow, that has never occurred to me to do that – your mom is a very thoughtful gift giver, I hope the recipient knew about the extra gift :)

I have parchment paper but I haven’t used it. I think of it as expensive but I know I’ve seen it at Walmart, which tells me two things: It’s coming down in price and it’s becoming more mainstream.

Oooo! I just thought of a kind of gross one! After my surgey I was incontinent for a while. (Bleech!) Pee pads come in men’s and ladies’ versions. The prices were about the same. Men’s were the shape of a triangle while women’s are more like a figure 8 shape.
Since I was not leaking very much I really did not need the ful capacity of the pad. So, I would buy ladies pads and cut them in half to make 2 smaller pads that did the job perfectly.
They took up less space in my pocket, were easier to conceal, and cut the expense and waste in half. Perfect. I just wish they had come in another color besides pink.

I think it was @johnpowell that posted he always got fake Christmas presents. Just crap to unwrap around the tree that they returned after Christmas and used the money to buy twice as much at the post-Christmas sales.

Now, THAT is ingenious, @octopussy $ @LuckyGuy!!

My mom would be so mad she never thought of it!

My sister actually washes zip lock sandwich bags for reuse.

(So do I.)

My husband wants me to.

I’m getting away from re-using plastic even faster than I’m getting away from using plastic. Especially food related. But for vacuum sealing for the freezer.

I bet I’m turning down 40–50 plastic retail sacks a month, lately. Even if that’s near 100% re-use.

I use much less plastic than I did ten years ago. I have insulated bags for grocery shopping and I primarily use glass containers for leftovers. The only big change that screws this up is I have always been a tap water drinker, but about 6 months ago my water tastes very chemical even after filtering. A couple of months ago we received a letter that a certain chemical is higher than it should be in the drinking water. I wish I had called the water company when I first thought something was wrong. Anyway, we are drinking bottled water for the time being.

I’m converting to glass left-over containers as we speak, @JLeslie. The toughest is glass with glass lids, but I’m making progress.

I’m fighting the urge to dispose of the microwave. lol

Can’t give up the non-stick pans.Yet.
Becoming the Hippy I never was.

I did by some “stick” pots and pans. I use the pots for many things. The pans not so much. Only if I am cooking something with a lot of sauce and I won’t have to add a lot of fat to the pan i din’t make many saucy things though.

I really think switching to glass might have helped my husband’s testosterone level. It was part ofnthe reason I swivtehd alongnwith egneral poison concerns. His was quite low for his age, but still in the normal limit. It has gone up since we switched. We switched yo glass about 5 years ago. He’s had it tested only two or three times in the 5 years.

I still use plastic sometimes for things, but I would say our exposure is at least 50% lower regarding food.

I saw a small study that was done on breast tissue and breast milk to see how loaded up women were with chemicals from plastics. The tissue was taken from women who had their breasts removed from cancer. The milk was from otherwise healthy women with infants.

American wimen had very high numbers in their breast milk. Women from Europe and Australia not as much, but still caused women to wonder.

As far as microwave, I just can’t get panicked about that yet. My BIL didn’t use microwaves for years. He got extremely aggressive colon cancer at 46. Of course that one case doesn’t mean anything. No family history. The doctors did say his healthy diet and life style seemed to help get through the treatment well compared to many people.

I cut scouring sponges in half. I have a dishwasher so they don;t get used very often and tend to go smelly. This way, when I throw away the smelly sponge, I’ve got another ready to go.

I love this thread. Wish I’d seen it when it was written. Missing @ibstubro