Reuses

The home of reuses, reuse ideas and things that can be used again

Reuses.co.uk is about the many reuses of everyday things.

Every day, useful items are thrown away even though they may still have another use. Furniture, clothes, tools, books, electrical items, household goods, building materials, office equipment, garden items, bicycles, toys and many other things can often be reused, repaired, donated, sold, shared, repurposed or passed on.

Reuse is the simple idea. Reuses are the practical possibilities.

A chair can have reuses in another home. Clothes can have reuses through repair, alteration, donation or resale. Building materials can have reuses in new projects. Packaging, office equipment, garden tools and household items may all have reuses before they become waste.

Reuses.co.uk is being developed as a home for reuse information, reuse ideas and practical examples of how useful things can be used again.

Reuses before waste

Before something is thrown away, it is worth asking:

What are its possible reuses?

Is it broken, or just unwanted?
Could it be repaired?
Could it be used by somebody else?
Could it be donated, sold, shared, repurposed or passed on?

Recycling is important, but reuse should often come first. Recycling usually breaks an item down into materials. Reuse keeps the whole object useful for longer.

That matters because every product has already used raw materials, energy, transport, labour and money before it reaches us. Finding new reuses for existing things helps reduce waste and save resources.

Reuses for furniture, clothes, materials and more

Almost anything that is still safe, useful or repairable may have further reuses.

Furniture can be donated, restored, sold or moved to a new home. Clothes can be worn again, repaired, altered, swapped, donated or resold. Building materials can sometimes be reclaimed and reused in new work. Household items can be shared locally. Office equipment, shelving, packaging, books, toys, bicycles, garden tools and electrical items may all have value to somebody else.

The important question is simple:

Can this be used again?

A one-stop source for reuses

Reuses.co.uk is the home page of reuse.

It is being created as a practical source of information about reuses in all their forms — from furniture reuses and clothes reuses to repair, donation, second-hand goods, reclaimed materials, reusable household items and community reuse projects.

The aim is to make reuse easier to understand, easier to find and easier to choose.