Save by Repurposing

Repurposing is a means of using an item
in an unexpected way. Ultimately, you can find new uses for items that you would have discarded. The greatest benefit of doing so is to prevent an additional purchase.

Here is an example our family has been fascinated with this winter: dryer lint. Like most families, we do a lot of laundry, and it seems that there is no end to the amount of dryer lint I clean out of the dryer filter between loads. As we began to research some alternative uses, these are some of the things we found:

• Dryer lint makes an excellent firestarter in our wood-burning fireplace insert. (Watching the speed in which it ignites will convince you to never forget to clean out your lint filter.) While the lint works well alone, we learned that if we place it inside of a cardboard roll with wax chips leftover from a used candle, we can get a good 10 minutes of burn time that gets our fire going extremely well with no kindling.
  
• We placed some of the dryer lint outside on the tops of bushes, and the birds had carried it away to their nests in no time!
  
• We used it to stuff homemade felt heart ornaments for Valentine’s Day.
  
• Although we haven’t tried these yet, there are actually craft recipes for dryer lint paper, dryer lint papier mache`, and dryer lint clay. Who knew?
  
• It can be composted.

So many possibilities from something we used to just toss in the trash! There is really no limit to the number of things that an alternate use can be found for. It requires a little thinking. It may even require a little research. But in the end the benefits are many: the obvious money saved on a new purchase, getting a greater value for your money on the original item purchased, the satisfaction of discovery, and the fun of getting everyone involved in the thought process of it all.

As I thought about making this little entry about repurposing, I was reminded that even I am repurposed. When I trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I became a new creation in Him. I hope that you know the excitement of being repurposed in Christ.