Five Everyday Items You Can Reuse And Save Money.

You use it once, you can use it again - let's save money

GREEN has become an almost holy word as more and more people grow concerned about the planet we are leaving behind for future generations.

 

 What’s even more frightening is that we live in a consumerist world where the use-and-dispose culture has become the normal way businesses milk consumers for more money. Items are less durable and made of cheap, sometimes harmful substances to ensure it doesn’t last so we have to keep buying replacements. The items we discard end up rotting on landfills that grow larger and larger by the day. 

 

Let’s face it; we can’t all build recycling plants. And sometimes, the energy needed to recycle can defeat the purpose of the exercise. We don’t expect you to miraculously halve your trash by reusing items but the following tips and tricks could be useful and will help you save money.

 

Cardboard toilet paper rolls

 

Those round cardboard tubes left after you've finished up all the toilet paper can be used to carefully store away all your wires, candles or even stationary. You can also use it when you pack to keep certain items like pantyhose and socks to keep them from getting damaged. This means less buying of new panty-hose or wires and more money for real awesomeness.

 

CD cases

 

There are different types of CD cases. There are those for individual CDs, and the ones to keep multiple CDs. For the individual CDs, you can turn them into a calendar or even use it to keep petty cash notes. Just be sure to keep the CD case is kept in a secure place! Whereas for the multiple CD tower cases, you can use it to store cables or even bagels!

 

Boxes

 

Why buy more storage from Ikea when with a little creativity you could make your own! If you have wine boxes, or even any boxes that are similarly sized, you could turn them into a shoe rack. If you have tissue boxes, you can use them to keep all the plastic bags you may have lying around. Shoe boxes are also great to store almost anything! Create some dividers with some extra cardboard from other boxes and you can make a bento style container to keep your toiletries in.

 

Cans

 

Cans come in all kinds of sizes: tall ones, short ones, little one and large ones: perfect for storing all kinds of different sized knick-knacks. Bigger cans come in handy tostore pencils, stationary and anything else that is fitting. If you are the arty kind, decorate your cans with wrapping paper, coloured masking tape, or ribbons. You can even cut holes and designsin the cans to make a pretty tea light candle holder. As it can be tricky to cut holes through the cans, try pouring some water into the can and freeze it. This will make it easier to nail the holes in with a hammer.

 

Smaller cans are also perfect for making mini lanterns or use them to store smaller stationery bits such as paper clips, pins, brads or eyelets. Tuna and sardine cans may be tricky to get the smell out of but a few soaks and rinses should do the trick. Once you’ve done away with the fishy odours, you can use them to bake mini cakes in!

 

Yoghurt Containers

 

Yoghurt containers are pretty versatile, and they can come in various sizes depending on the type you buy. The bigger ones can be used as an extra container to store anything such as frozen items or even spices. You can even use it to store leftover food and give it to friends and family during a party or event. 

 

For the smaller, individual yoghurt containers, they can also be used as item holders, or even to portion control your snacks as you watch TV. If gardening is your thing;use them for planting seedlings.Just cut some holes at the bottom of the cup and you're done.

 

These tips are just the beginning. Scan the web for more reuse and recycle ideas to make the most of the items you have at home. 

 

Five Celebrity Diets You Should Not Try?

DIETS involving gulping air rather than food, avoiding gluten like the plague, and replacing sensible meals with booze rank as some of the worst celebrity diets to avoid. With the approach of January, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) has shared its annual top five worst celebrity diets for the coming year.

 For the past three years, the Dukan Diet had topped the chart, but this year’s new entry, the Breatharian Diet, has claimed the distinction of worst faddy weight-loss plan. Here’s the rundown: 

1. Breatharian diet – Skip meals and even water and just breathe air; at least that’s the premise of this fad. While not wildly dissimilar to Madonna’s alleged Air diet, this diet comes with serious health risks. 

2. Biotyping – This diet claims to reduce body fat in trouble zones by balancing hormones. Famous followers include Boy George, but BDA experts warn that the plan’s “supplements and pseudo-science” make it worth skipping. 

3. Gluten-free diet – While Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly eschews gluten, the BDA says that while “important for those with coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity, there is no credible published research showing that a gluten-free diet leads to weight loss in other people.” Of course, trimming back on breads, pastries, and cakes certainly won’t hurt your waistline, but gluten-free doesn’t mean calorie-free. 

4. Alcorexia/Drunkorexia diet – Basically, a diet based on alcohol and little else. Followers “save up” their caloric intake from food for binge-drinking madness at parties.

5. Dukan Diet – The famous protein-heavy Dukan Diet, popularised by celebrities such as Carol Middleton (mom to Kate Middleton), Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bundchen, is confusing, time consuming, rigid, and hard to sustain, the BDA claims. Side effects are likewise unappealing, with everything from lack of energy to constipation and bad breath.