We all get junk mail, and if you’re into free things then you’re probably like me and get quite a bit of it. But what to do with it? Here are a few ideas for ways you can re-use some of it, maybe save yourself some pennies, and certainly save putting it in the recycling too soon.

Padded Envelopes:
These can be re-labelled and used to re-send things to others, or if they’re too worn out for that, what about taking them apart and re-using just the bubble-wrap part of them inside a regular envelope.

Envelopes:
Lots of junk mail these days comes with those pre-paid pre-addressed small or large envelopes to let you send back forms easily. If you buy a simple pack of labels you can easily re-use these junk mail envelopes instead of binning them. You will need to stick a stamp on them still as they’re only pre-stamped to be sent back to where they came from, but that’s easy enough to do. I’ve found that I’ve not had to buy any small envelopes in a couple of years now since I started keeping these to re-use. Not a huge financial saving, but still a saving none the less and less to put in the recycling too.

Paperwork:
Re-use the blank bits – Lots of the junk mail that comes through the door whether it be letters offering you new credit cards, or asking you to buy insurance are often blank on one side, why not cut these into strips, and use the blank side to write your shopping list on, or make a small pad out of them to keep by the phone for messages.
Shredding up junk mail letters might seems like a bit of a waste of energy, but if you use a hand shredder it’s only your energy you’re using, not electricity, and you can then use the shredded paper for a variety of purposes (you can even use the bits you’ve already used once as shopping lists or message pads).
Padding – instead of using bubble-wrap, shredded paper works quite well for protecting objects you need to send in the post, allowing you to use a regular envelope instead of an expensive padded one. (You can even nest one envelope inside another with the shredded paper in between). It can be used to protect ornaments when you transport them, or just as padding round things you want to store in boxes in the loft.
Bedding – Small animals like hamsters etc. need bedding and shredded paper is quite good for this, and it can save you quite a bit not to have to buy the bedding from a pet store.

CDs:
Companies like AOL, and many others sometimes send out cd’s with information on for you to peruse. What to do with them if you don’t want them is a good question, but again here are a few ideas:
Coasters – If you glue a circular piece of cork to the back of one of these CD’s they can make an interesting coaster to pop your coffee mug on.
Mobiles – kids – babies in particular, love shiny things, so what about stringing several of these together and making them into a mobile and hang it in the window. When the sun shines through it, you’ll get some wonderful light reflections on the wall. (If they have words written on one side, glue two together with the shiny side outwards for a better look).
Bird scarer – if you’re into growing your own vegetables, then you’ll know how irritating it can be to have the birds get to your seedlings and young plants, shiny CD’s like this hung up in strings amongst your plants help keep the birds from eating them.

Catalogues:
Assuming the images in them are suitable, these can be great for kids to cut up and collage with, they can also be quite good to use for decoupage on boxes and other objects to make interesting gifts and decorated storage containers. Shredded they can make colourful padding for gift baskets too.

By Vialdana