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.
old cables. because YOU NEVER KNOW
SCART might make a comeback!
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.
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!?
I might have a need for all these ide cables at some point! Or a USB cable for a mid 2000s Motorola phone.
And save every cable tie ever, just in case
They go into a nice heap right next to the rat nest.
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!”
Those examples are not garbage, they are clean materials that can be repurposed. It is the second step in Reduce > Reuse > Recycle!
For years I’ve desoldered components from electronics that are destined 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.
I keep the reddit app saved on my phone just in case
How often do you click on it just to see what happens?
That’s a cool cat tent
Thanks
My “weirdest” would be used face masks. The little metal bit for the bridge of your nose works for tidying up cords like a twist tie. The ear loops work good for zipper pulls and tying up items that need held together. The mask itself works great for checking my car’s oil, dusting the car dash, cleaning up a minor spill, etc. Is it gross I do this? Perhaps. Has it served me well? Definitely.
Eh, leave them in the sun for an hour or so before storage and it’s fine.
Oh, neat idea! RIP to all my masks!
Uh I’d never thought how useful mask ear loops could be. Congrats, you just added another item to my collection.
I keep an entire truck in my back yard, because ya know, one day….
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.
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.)
It’s funny that everyone makes such a big deal out of those single use plastics. I mean, yes we should not have single use plastics, it’s a terrible idea. But it’s also a really small percentage of our total plastic waste. You want to end micro plastics? You need to talk to the textiles industry. The vast majority of micro plastics come from two places, synthetic cloth (polyester clothing, blankets, towels, etc) and from car tires. If we could find effective, affordable, biodegradable materials to make car tires out of, that would be huge. But we already have those materials for clothing, we just need to ban polyester & other synthetics.
Nothing I don’t use up relatively quickly.
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.
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.
It’s true, a good source of spring steel, which is exactly what you need to make custom lockpicks.
Another common source for good lockpicking spring steel is the discarded bristles from one of those street swiping vehicles. You can often find them along the curb after they drive by.
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.
Metal scrap. I toss it in the old refinery and voila! Iron ingots
That’s cool. I used to have a homemade furnace that I used to melt aluminum. But the crucible sprung a leak and the metal reached the blower and I just kinda lost interest before I could get a replacement.
Sounds hot
If I keep it, it’s not a garbage.
Plus, reusing something is the second step in Reduce > Reuse > Recycle.
Inner wrappers for Green&Blacks chocolate bars. They are a beautiful shade of gold foil and I KNOW I will use them for something… some day… Pretty ribbons or twine used for attaching labels to items I’ve purchased. Also Oui glass yogurt cups. They’re so little and cute. I use them for sorting seeds I collect until they are dry enough to put in a sealed container for next year, but I do go overboard and have to think my collection now and then, they aren’t stackable and take a lot of space.
Cast iron pans anyone is getting rid of, no matter the condition. I am convinced that they will become currency in the apocalypse.
