We've all done it. You're finished with your banana or cheese stick, and you look for a receptacle to dispose of your waste. You see a garbage can 3 feet away from you, and on your way over to it, you spot a compost and recycling bin 20 feet away. You know the right thing to do would be to take the extra 17 feet to the dispose of your waste correctly, but out of laziness, you toss it into the trash. However, there is definitely a better solution to the issue of throwing things away or recycling them immediately. After we use certain items, we need to think about the material, use, and capability that that item holds. Could you reuse that plastic bag for chips tomorrow? Do you think that maybe you could use that apple core to grow an apple tree in your backyard? Can you use that Tupperwares packaging from those Oreos for another snack? Personally, I reuse my plastic sandwich bags every day, and the life of those bags last weeks. Here are some helpful tips for extending the "lives" of the items you buy and use:
1) Reuse plastic sandwich bags multiple days for different fru its, crackers, or cookies.
2) Compost your organic wastes instead of throwing them away!
3) Make use of butter, cream cheese, or jam containers as Tupperwares for school snacks.
4) Use plastic packaging for other uses (I used plastic packaging as a pencil case for school).The EPA states that 32 million tons of plastic waste were generated in 2012, representing 12.7 percent of total municipal solid waste. Much of this can be recycled, or even reused for other needs.
5) These rules do not only apply to food: cardboard box packaging can be used for storage or projects, frozen yogurt spoons can be reused for school utensils (my mom's favorite), and use the fabric from old furniture to make a blanket or carpet.
If we as humans can follow some of these suggestions, we can drastically reduce our overall carbon footprint on the Earth from excessive manufacturing and packaging. Do your part!

these are all awesome ideas, thanks Sebastian!  I have a upstairs neighbor who is currently creating his very own role playing game, and he is building the models *all* out of used/found materials and a glue gun

Thanks for the compliment Mr. Hodin! That's sounds like such a fun game! I will try to do the same one day. I enjoy hearing about people who get creative with reusing and repurposing--I never thought about such a unique game! Have you asked your neighbor if you could try the game? I recommend you ask him for ideas on how you can reuse items in your life. Do you have any examples on how you do so?

I'm pretty obsessive about re-use.  I always carry a tupperware bowl and cup with me (especially when I travel) so when I get food to go (or if I have leftovers) I don't have to get a to-go container.  Tonight i just reused my hot sauce bottles and refilled them with fresh hot sauce.  And I made our garden raised beds all out of leftover wood I found lying around.

Here's an article I helped write about attending Burning Man in 2009, describing the structure we built there completely from used & found materials:
http://web.stanford.edu/~seastar/pdf/Hodinetal2009.pdf

My family also reuses frozen yogurt spoons. I really like all of your creative ideas. I think it would be create to spread awareness that we do not need to buy and manufacture more plastic tupperware, as we already have tons. Just like you, my family reuses our tupperware from products such as cottage cheese and peanut butter to store other foods. Wouldn't it be great if all food containers were built to be reused in such ways? The foil lids of many yogurt brands bother me because they hinder the reusability of the containers and they are often just thrown away or recycled.

Mr. Hodin: That's a very good idea! You could bring those Tupperwares to restaurants and get your left-overs there! The garden beds are great ideas--reusing organic material to sprout more organic material! The article was very intriguing! The Burning Man Festival truly seems like a sight to behold!

Kendall Post: They are just so convenient and colorful! Who can resist using those spoons? I think we should petition for change  so that product containers can be created to intentionally be used for future use! Yes! If only yogurt foil could be made to be caps, so that yogurt cups could fit more yogurt or food! Thank you Kendall for your great ideas about repurposing materials!

Sebastian you listed a lot of great ideas for me to implement into my own life and get my family on board as well. One thing that my mother and I take very seriously is to reuse our Trader Joe's bags whenever we go to buy grocery's. It is a good way to prevent from buying and disposing of plastic and paper bags. With the recent signing of Jerry Brown on the Bill that is banning the dispensing of single-use plastic bags is a huge step in the right direction. I am in full support of this bill as I believe more states will implement this same law in time. If the entire nation was to get on board it would tremendously decrease the amount of plastic bags you see on the side of the highway and other local areas.