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?
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.
That’s a cool cat tent
Thanks
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.
I keep an entire truck in my back yard, because ya know, one day….
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.
This is a hoarders thread but it’s ok cause me too lol
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.
If I keep it, it’s not a garbage.
Plus, reusing something is the second step in Reduce > Reuse > Recycle.
Trinket goblin reporting! I save tons of different little things and stuff for a while, then one day, for no apparent reason I get overwhelmed and throw away everything( or donate or whatever) Cereal boxes are great to paint gouache so I cut them up and use them as needed. Embroidery floss and yarn scraps are great stuffers for small amigurumi. Electrical wire can be used sometimes for kumihimo. Empty glass jars are my doom, I collect them all.
Depends on what you mean by garbage. Something that would decompose or otherwise cause a problem is a hell no. Cardboard is one of those exceptions simply because it’s easy to store it in a way that prevents problems occuring, and it’s trivial to recycle the older pieces as you obtain newer. Mind you, I just keep unfolded boxes in a bin, tightly packed.
When we get something in the mail, the new box goes in, the oldest goes out.
Means we have cardboard for projects, as well as boxes for shipping/Christmas/whatever, but we don’t end up with critters making use of it. If critters did infest the bin, it’s easy enough to dump and burn, then clean the bin.
I tend to keep jars and bins of hardware in the shed. Very useful for sure. And I keep a bin of useless computer parts for art projects. You’d be amazed how often kids and young adults get assigned “found materials” projects if you aren’t known for being the go-to guy in your family for help with such things. While those supplies are space limited, the bin of computer/electronics parts are tucked away along with a box of “cool looking shit”, and I keep basic art supplies around anyway.
Having a good sized shed and a big attic help lol
I dislike waste on principle, and I have enough space to keep a reasonable amount of stuff “in case”, so there I am. I also have a corner of the attic that has durable medical gear I picked up over my years in home health. It’s dwindling now, what with relatives getting older and my own disability, but as the items get used and no longer needed, they come back until they can’t be reasonably passed on again. But some of those that reach end of life have gone into the “cool shit” box lol.
