Each day many of use containers and other materials that we may use only once or twice and then throw them in the trash. We don't think much about these items after that.

However, if you don't have many supplies left when chaos occurs, reusing all the trash you find may be your best option. It will definitely make you look at everything you throw away a little differently!

Four Trash Items And How You Can Use Them Include:

Glass containers – Glass containers and bottles can be recycled to be repurposed. Glass is one of the best vessels for keeping food and liquids sanitary and fresh, and many varieties of glass container offer more airtight lids than their plastic counterparts.

Anything with a tight-fitting lid can be reused to store both dry and wet food products, along with other various goods and supplies.

Glass jars can also be used to make candles and oil lamps for DIY low-cost lighting.

You could also use glass bottles to build houses or greenhouses, and that’s not a joke. Actually, more than 50 years ago, Alfred Heineken designed the wobo bottle which he called “the brick that holds beer”, and was used also when building bottle walls and houses.

Tarps/Plastic sheeting – Tarps and plastic sheeting are often recommended for carry in any bug out bag. They make great ground coverings, serve to make a primitive tent, and can be suspended as a makeshift hammock.

Tarps/sheets can also be used to transport goods, wrap food products or fresh game, collect water, radiate heat from a fire into a shelter, or be worn as insulation or a rain poncho.

Paper/Cardboard – Basically anything that comes packaged in paperboard or corrugated cardboard can be burned. It makes great kindling for fires and also acts as emergency insulation in extreme cold conditions. It would be easy to fill your house up with paper and cardboard with the amount of packaging the average household discards.

While you should consider saving a good quantity of paper and cardboard for fire kindling and other emergency uses, don’t go overboard. Also keep in mind that certain dyes, inks, and glosses can emit dangerous toxins when burned, so be careful what you put in the fire and what you use for cooking.

Tin cans – Tin cans (usually made of aluminum) can be recycled into a variety of tools. They will be in abundance when SHTF, as many people will have a plenty of them after consuming their food supplies.

If you’re bugging out and camping somewhere new each night, you know how useful would be a rocket stove made from those used tin cans.

Also, tied together along a string (think the back of a newlywed’s limo), tin cans make an effective primitive alarm system.

A tin can alarm may be the difference between a run in with a hostile threat or hungry animal and a peaceful night’s sleep.

From there, the cans can be shaped back into a flat surface, essentially turning them into sheet metal.

Flattened cans could be used for paneling a variety of surfaces or cut into different tools and blades.

It is incredible everything you can use common trash items for. Whether you need a place to keep food, create a warning system to alert you of a threat, or need something to start a fire or keep your supplies dry, you can use trash items for all these situations and many more.

That why it is important to see what you can re-purpose and reuse after a disaster happens even if it seems like just trash. You never know what you might need it for!

To find out what other trash items you can use when SHTF, please visit Survivopedia.