The following is a guest post from Phill of Freestuff.co.uk.

The notion that cutting back on energy usage helps the environment while saving money is widely accepted; but for many people, that is where their green aspirations stop. Those who are truly committed to the environment adhere to the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. After you’ve brought your electric bill down, look around your home and garden for other items that you can reuse to help keep the landfills empty and your wallet full.

Roll It

You can easily transform the tubes that are left when the toilet paper, paper towels and wrapping paper are gone into a number of different household helpers. Keep your diplomas, certificates and children’s artwork pristine by rolling them up and placing them inside of an empty paper towel tube before storing them away. Roll your linen tablecloths around an empty wrapping paper tube to keep them from getting creased when not in use. Paper towel and toilet tissue rolls also make the perfect storage for knitting needles and crochet hooks.

Cork Creativity

When the Cabernet is gone, save the bottle’s cork. Wine corks soaked in alcohol make handy fire starters for cold winter nights, or make fishing bobs out of them for those warm summer days. Wine aficionados can make a conversation starter or centrepiece by collecting corks from their favorite bottles in a clear vase. Glue dried wine corks on a thin piece of plywood and set it off with an old frame for an out-of-the-ordinary bulletin board.



The Frugal Gardener

Make your backyard greener by recycling and reusing objects from your home. Drill some small holes along the length of that old leaky hose to make a soaker hose for your garden that will keep your plants hydrated during the hot summer months. Attach old CDs and DVDs to popsicle sticks to create garden markers for your seedlings, or tie them onto strings and dangle them over your garden to act as a makeshift scarecrow.



More Than a Beverage

Coffee is expensive, so make the most of it by reusing any leftovers. Instead of pouring that little bit left in the pot down the drain, pour it over a glass of ice and place it in the refrigerator for an afternoon iced coffee treat. Used coffee grounds also have plenty of household uses. Combine them with a few drops of vanilla extract in a small bowl and place it in your freezer to get rid of any undesirable odours, use them as fertilizer for you outdoor garden or indoor plants or use a soft cloth with the used grounds to hide scratches in your wood furniture.

Even the most mundane household objects may have uses beyond what they were intended for. If you think creatively before throwing things in the trash, you may be able to save yourself money and help the environment at the same time. Be frugal. Go green.

Phill writes for FreeStuff.co.uk – a site that shares all the latest free stuff, competitions, samples and more.