Reuse. Recycle. Repurpose.

We are all familiar with the term recycling. Recycling is processing used material into new products. Recycling prevents waste by turning these materials, which still have life in them, into something new.

Another term that you have probably heard of, reusing, refers to simply utilizing something more than once. Getting the most life possible out of an item.

What about repurposing? 

If you’ve never heard the term repurposing, let me tell you a little about one of my favorite words. Repurposing is finding new uses for things that might otherwise be thrown away or go to waste. The use of something for a purpose other than its original intended used. You can find items to repurpose just about anywhere, starting right in your own back yard.

Here’s four things that you can repurpose this summer to save time, money, and energy at home.

• Water: Recycle water by using it to water plants and gardens. Collect rainwater in a bucket or container in your backyard.  Or, you can catch rainwater from the downspout on your roof gutters. You can simply attach a water butt or other kind of container to catch the rainwater. You can then use this water to water plants, vegetable or flower gardens. Leftover drinking water, or cooking water, when cooled, can also be used for this purpose.

• Grass: After mowing your lawn, leave grass clippings on the lawn instead of bagging them. The grass will decompose and return to the soil, and fertilize it naturally. If leaving the clippings to go back to the earth is not for you, be sure to bag and recycle them. Clippings are collected every week, from March to October on the same day of week as your regular recycling day; and on your regular recycling day from Nov. 1 to the end of the grass season.

• Coffee: When you’ve finished your morning cup o' joe, don’t get rid of the grinds. Not only can you use coffee grinds to make a great natural plant fertilizer, but it’s also an excellent treatment for cellulite. Yes, cellulite. Mix a little of your favorite moisturizer or lotion, or even a little olive oil, and rub it on problem areas.

• Human Hair: Yep. You can even repurpose your own hair (or someone else's). After your next keep-cool summer cut, save some of the clippings for your garden. Turns out, potential veggie nibblers like deer and rabbits, can be warded off when human hair is placed in and around the perimeter of your garden.

It doesn’t take a green expert to come up with great ideas for repurposing around your home. Chances are, some of you are already doing it. You just never had a name for it. So the next time you are about to toss something in the trash or down the drain, give it a second look. There could be a money saving option, or a hidden green treasure just waiting for you.