We all know recycling is good for the environment but often recycling can save you money too. Just think if you could find new uses for the things you throw away, how many less new things you would buy. If you were buying less new things you probably wouldn't be out driving in your car as much either. So you would save even more money on gas and save the enviornment by polluting less. Plus thinking of different ways to use the stuff we already have is good way to exercise your brain.

So, I started thinking about the humble coffee mug. I don't why but I love coffee mugs and always seem to have way to many of them. I can't bring myself to throw them away. I just have to keep thinking of new ways to use them.

1. Bathroom - Use in the bathroom to help sort lipsticks, lip and eye pencils, mascara, small hair clips, pony tail holders, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, Q-tips etc.

2. Office - Use as a holder for: pencils, pens, highlighters, paper clips, small binder clips, small sticky notepads, rolls of stamps or flash drives in the office.

3. Laundry Room - Use as clothespin holders in the laundry room and you can also use them to store small items you find in the dryer.

4. Garage - Use in the garage to hold small items on your workbench.

5. Closet - Use in your closet to stash buttons that come loose from shirts or empty change into when you empty your pockets.

6. Kids' Rooms - Use in children's room to store colored pencils, crayons, markers and very small toys or doll accessories.

7. Gift holder - Fill with candy, cocoa mix (in a plastic bag), gourmet instant coffee or tea bags and give as a gift. You could even make a cool silk flower arrangement in a coffee mug to brighten up someone's day.

8. Utensil holder - Use at an outdoor meal to hold plastic utensils.

9. Planter - Put small rocks at the bottom, fill with dirt and use as a planter. Some plants will tolerate a pot without drainage holes. I have a Pencil Cactus growing in a pot with no drainage holes.

10. Kitchen - Use in the kitchen to store: packets of artificial sweetener, emergency chocolate supply (ex. Hershey's Kisses - you never know when you might need one), plastic drinking straws (I have a huge coffee mug someone gave me as a joke and I use it to hold straws), twist ties or unsorted grocery coupons.