Whilst recycling has many known benefits as a way of dealing with waste, by reusing items they stop becoming waste in the first place.

For instance, reuse a glass jars which once contained a shop bought pasta sauce for keeping home-made jam.  This is better than recycling the jar as the energy required to collect, clean and recycle the glass is greatly reduced. 

Here are some ideas of how you can reuse items:

Furniture Reuse Groups:
Give your spare household furniture and appliances a new lease of life. Donate good quality furniture and appliances to a reuse group and they can sell on these items to local residents living on low incomes.  You may find the reuse group will collect the items for free.  In Somerset there are reuse groups in: 

Bridgwater – Sedgemoor Furniture Store
Chard - FurniCare
Frome - FurnEquip
Glastonbury - FurnEquip
Minehead – Engage Furniture Reuse Project
Taunton – Home Furniture Services Trust
Wincanton - FurniCare
Yeovil - FurniCare

Scrapstores:
There are a number of scrapstores in Somerset.  Businesses donate clean, safe waste materials that are suitable for art & craft projects i.e. paper, textiles, foil and foam amongst many other items.  For more information on how you can use this great resource or if you are a business how you can donate items, contact your local scrap store.

Glastonbury – GEMS Scrapstore, 13 Chinnock Road, Glastonbury, BA6 8EW, 01458 831252

Minehead – CLOWNS, C/o The West Somerset Sports & Leisure Centre, Bircham Road, Minehead, TA24 7AG, 01643 707190, www.clownsproject.ik.com

Yeovil – Community Resource Service, 9A Garrett Road, Lynx Trading Estate, Yeovil, BA20 2TJ, 01935 462536/462535.  www.southsomerset.gov.uk/scrapstore

Shepton Mallet – A travelling green show which includes a scrapstore tent.  Ham Mill’s Yard, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5JH, 01749 343953, www.greenroadshow.co.uk

Charity Shops:

harity shops raise funds through the donation of good quality items, whether they are clothes, bric-a-brac, or books.  Some larger shops also accept donations of furniture.  Why not give your unwanted items a new home and support your local charity at the same time.

The British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical store in Taunton can off free collection of unwanted furniture and electrical items for sale to raise funds for the foundation.
Please contact them on 0844 248 9122 or visit BHF.org.uk for queries or to arrange a collection.

Reusable nappies:

If you are about too or have small children you will find that if you use disposable nappies you will have a lot of waste to dispose of.  By using reusable nappies (also known as washable, cloth nappies) for part or all of the time and simply washing and reusing them you will have a lot less waste. For more information on cloth nappies, please click here.

Other ideas:

There are a number of internet sites that offer the chance to reuse your items.  There are some sites where you donate or ‘giveaway’ your items i.e. Freecycle.  Alternatively there are sites where you sell your items so you can make a little money i.e. Ebay.

Try avoiding disposable products by purchasing reusable alternatives such as reusable batteries and investing in an electric shaver rather than using disposable plastic razors.

Finally, don’t forget that you can also help charities by making a donation for their next jumble sale, sell your unwanted items at a car boot sale or give your items away as “hand me downs” to family and friends.