Awe Chuck It

Has everything become disposable? 

Is everything so expendable that we can just chuck it, toss it, throw it away?

Do manufacturers make anything that last for ages anymore, or has everything become part of our throw away society? Awe to hell with it, chuck it. 

Awe, it's got a stain....it won't turn on.....it isn't touched anymore. 

Do these sound familiar in your home? They did in mine.

I have a hard time throwing out something that is perfectly fine, that could use a screw driver, or maybe a hammer to the side of it (like my garbage disposal when it stopped working). Diapers I even have a hard time with buying disposable, but unfortunately a diaper service for the cloth diapers is out of the the budget at the moment. I cannot throw away toys....not purposely...Lego's in the vacuum don't count. I have a hard time with throwing away ruined clothes, dishes, anything that is of use.

More and more our society is filling landfills, sides of the road, you name it, with STUFF that could be used, re-used, recycled, refurbished, overhauled, donated, you name a use and something could be resused.

T-shirts - make great rags for dusting, painting, cleaning. If you sew a button on a small swatch you can use it as a scrubber for your dishes to really dig into the grime, plus you can wash it and reuse it again. Jeans - make them into shorts, or cut them up to make patches for your kids jeans. Or donate! Jeans never go out of style. Old sheets - valances, pillow cases, table linens or even decorative napkins when pressed, just cut and use some sew tape if you are not domestically inclined or if you are....bust out the sewing machine.

A million things in your home can be reused for the simplest things that you don't have to go out and buy new or replace. But some things inevitably do need to be replaced, however, others don't but households toss them because the items become aesthetically unappealing (like sunfaded toys) or they want the newest edition.

My toys....all sun faded. Part of living in the desert with 100 degree weather four months out of the year and if we are lucky a week a year of rain. But those toys don't work any less because they are sun faded. They are not brittle or unsafe, just kinda ugly. My kids still play with them just the same and when they grow out of them I might sell them for dirt cheap at a garage sale for other children to enjoy. Or heck, donate them to a women's shelter or the Big Brothers Big Sisters Foundation.

So what do you decide to keep or save? Are you a "chuck it" or keep it person?

What items do you reuse in your home? What are some keepers?

What are the chuckers?