Reuse, Renew, and Refresh: In the Kitchen

Tired of the disposable lifestyle? It's expensive and wasteful. See ways to get longer life out of the things in the kitchen.

• Got unsightly silverware? Polish it with the juice of a banana skin pureed in a blender.
• When tomato sauce turns a good plastic container pink, fill it with warm water, drop in one or two denture-cleaning tablets, wait 20 minutes, and rinse. (The ablets also work well for cleaning toilets.)
• If you spill red wine on a tablecloth or carpet, sprinkle the stain liberally with salt and leave it alone until the salt turns red. Then shake out and wash the tablecloth or vacuum the carpet.
• Pull a clean cotton sock over your hand to wash or dry the dishes.
• Refresh household sponges by soaking them in cold salt water for ten minutes.
• And old trash can or barrel makes an ideal potato garden. Make sure the can ha a few holes in the bottom for trainage.
• The barrel of a dead washing machine makes a dandy outdoor planter. Just build a wooden box around it to disguise the metal. Really.
• Is your toast toast? Unplug it, cut off the cord, clean out the crumbs, and use it to hold bills and other mail.
• Use clean, squeeze-type ketchup and mustard containers for decorating cakes. Their spouts are great for writing and drawing with cake icing.