The world’s landfills are filling up, and one would expect them to, given that the average person produces as much as 5 pounds of trash in a day. From those 5 pounds, most say that only about a quarter of that amount can be recycled. The call, then, is to innovate new ways to reuse the things you already have on hand but would otherwise wind up in the rubbish. The best part? Reusing an object Here are some to get you started:

• Glass jars

You can get these at the dollar store and even supermarkets. A lot of products have also reverted from plastic back to glass packaging, so you’re likely to already have some of these – reusing is the name of the game, after all.

Glass jars tend to be repurposed to store herbs, spices, other ingredients (if it’s large enough, maybe even cereal), however these can be used for so many other needs. These could serve as desk pen holders or drilled holes into to be used as pots for plants. Its uses aren’t even limited to containing – pick up a food canning hobby or keep kids occupied by giving them some to paint or otherwise decorate.

• Plastic bags

It’s no secret that plastic bags have practically taken over the planet – they’re in the hands of every customer regardless of the kind of establishment they just came from, piling up in landfills, and even drifting aimlessly along roads and sidewalks. This has brought local governments and even establishments themselves to outlaw plastic bags either through charging a little extra for each bag or outright banning them, forcing customers to use paper bags or bring their own reusable bags.

Plastic bag policies aren’t universal, however, so if you wind up having some on hand, you might as well make the most of them. Plastic bags are useful for lining rubbish bins, reused to carry things around, separate soiled clothes from the other contents of a bag you intend to keep clean, and so on.

Should you find yourself running out of alternative uses for them, you may always choose to approach a local recycling center with them.

• Dryer waste

Too many sources online are eager to give you alternative uses for dryer sheets once they’ve served their original purpose, however, none will warn you just how toxic these can be. Dryer sheets are laden with benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, and even chloroform, among many other chemicals. Reusing and doing your part for the rehabilitation of our environment are both great endeavours, but you will have to remember to draw the line where self-sacrifice starts – you can’t save the environment if you wind up sick!

That doesn’t mean dryer waste is entirely useless, however. For example, dryer lint can be repurposed into bedding for your small rodent pets. Dryer lint is also the cause of over 2,900 fires in the United States alone. Put that flammability to good use in your next camping trip. Dryer lint is one of those especially biodegradable materials, making it great for compost or mulching plants in the cold.

• Toothbrushes

You might think your old toothbrush is over, done – passé. Its use actually extends indefinitely no matter how aggressively you’ve used it to scrub your mouth clean.

For food preparation, you can use a toothbrush to brush out the silks from a corn cob or clean out a coffee grinder – just be sure to thoroughly clean the brush before you do. If you, like many others, have the terrible habit of eating over your computer keyboard, a toothbrush should suffice in removing the crumbs from those hard-to-reach spots. Those who use makeup know that mascara clumps terribly. A cleaned toothbrush does wonders in removing these clumps and keeping your lashes neat and in order.

• Used paper products

Offices and other kinds of work place are rife with paper products just waiting to be reused. Copy machines often have a garbage nearby to dispose your flukes to. However, some others come in friendlier-looking forms like a basket clearly designated for placing scratch paper in. If your office copy machine doesn’t have one, you could always set one up yourself. Used paper envelopes work great, too but are much harder to come across. Unused greeting cards, outdated paper flyers, old memos – these and all the other countless paper products you come across every day are great for jotting down quick notes, grocery lists, and so on.

• Leftover food

The leftover greens from that salad you forced yourself to chow down on the night before, used coffee and tea grounds, crushed egg shells, pastries, the fruits you accidentally let overripe, and so on don’t have to go in the trash. Nature didn’t make landfills, so these things were meant to go back into the ground. Make the most out of the natural process of decomposition by strategically composting your leftovers in a compost pile along with some dried leaves you may have lying about.

Take not, however, that there are some things you can’t compost. Meat, bones, fat, animal skin – be they from fish, beef, pork, or poultry – are huge no-nos in composting. In fact, egg shells might be the only material from animals that are safe to compost; grease, animal oils, and all forms of dairy have no place in compost piles.

• Old clothes

Donating clothes that may no longer fit you or your children anymore to orphanages, disaster-struck areas, or the otherwise less fortunate is always a great idea. However, it’s still useful to know that these can be repurposed into mops, rags, rugs, quilts, and so many others. Fabric is an incredibly versatile material to work with as its uses and reusability are pretty much unparalleled.

The good news is that many of these household items are probably in your home right now, which means you’re just one step away from living a more sustainable lifestyle. Good luck!