Ask Lemmy

Any type of container that closes if it's in good enough shape (bottles, jars, cardboard boxes, bags). Also small open containers like yogurt or instant soup cups are probably the most useful for holding small items/snacks. When they become too many, you pick the best of each and throw away the rest. I also tend to keep foam packaging even though I've never found an actual use for it.

I keep plenty of scrap parts and supplies but the only "garbage" I tend to hang on to is large foam padding. I have one that I land the end of my kayak on when I'm getting it off my vehicle roof, one that's big enough to lay on when I'm working under a car and one that I put under heavy parts when working on the workbench. I have a small stack that I will throw away when I realize I'll never use them then slowly rebuild when I see one and think "I'll use that for something."

I'm living in a really old house, which means the floors are uneven, so I keep any little bits of wood I find, like shelves from old cabinets, paint sticks, whatever, to use as shims to keep my furniture level

Those examples are not garbage, they are clean materials that can be repurposed. It is the second step in Reduce > Reuse > Recycle!

For years I've desoldered components from electronics that are destined for recycling/trash. I haven't needed them more than a few times but it's redeeming when I need a specific thing I've never needed before and can pick one out of my component box rather than buying a pack of 100 and never use 99 of them.

Tiny momentary SPST switches are definitely the most common thing I use from the bin but I've also reused some LEDs, capacitors, and resistors.

I sometimes reuse mineral water/pepsi bottles .

If I keep it, it’s not a garbage.

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Unless it's literal trash I'm saving it. I'm quite DIY minded person so I often also use those things for my projects.

Scraps of cardboard for sure. Also little dumb leftover pieces of foam core. I used to put used box cutter blades inside the foam core scraps before throwing them away, thinking that was a safe way to do it. It's probably not. So now I just toss used blades into an old empty prescription bottle and just keep that on a shelf. (Therefore, I also hang on some of my prescription bottles).

I also tend to hang on to some empty plastic jars and food containers once in a while, too. I wash them thoroughly of course. I probably sound like a hoarder. I don't hang on to every scrap of this stuff, just a small amount. The plastic jars (like the ones corn starch come in) are handy for storing left over pieces and parts from various crafting projects.

Grocery bags are useful as small bags to separate things, trash bags for small cans or cleaning up a cluttered space, or as temporary barriers she small jobs.

Large cardboard boxes are great for under the car during oil changes.

Lunch meat containers are intended as reusable containers; I use them for lunches.

Fast food cups get reused-as cups.

Cardboard rolls for crafts.

After thoroughly washing, wiping, washing, and wiping again, I will reuse 5 gallon cat litter containers for dog food.

old cables. because YOU NEVER KNOW

The brown packaging paper from shipper Amazon boxes has all kinds of uses.