I totally agree with you. I grew up in the post WWII austerity of the north of England where a common saying not to be ashamed of was "where there's muck there's brass".
Where I used to live someone started on a 5 acre site next to the local tip, a recycling site called "Junkastic Park". There you could buy spare parts for old washing machines, hair dryers, beds, concrete mixers, toilet bowls and sinks, bathtubs, wood, tiles, ... One time I even saw the mounting bearing for a 6 inch naval warship gun turret machined out of solid stainless steel. No one at the auction of navy surplus wanted it so the auctioneer gave it away to say himself carriage and tip dumping fees.
Sadly some snowflake determined that it was too dangerous for people to be clambering over old fridges and washing machines disassembling them for the pump or tub or whatever. Too risky for local council, insurance company et al to continue. So it was forced to close. Besides which the employees at the local tip were complaining that they couldn't steal and sell the better stuff down at the pub!

When i lived in japan, i would save plastic containers that had contained, oh, say, yoghurt, or margarine, and use them to store leftovers, or nails, or paper clips, or whatever. my japanese friends thought i was a genius. they'd been throwing them away and then going out and buying the japanese version of tupperware! i save jars -- any foodstuffs that come in boxes are susceptible to bugs, and that goes double for grains, so i seal that all up in jars. i just ground up some coffee beans that came in bags. i put my fresh grounds in an empty french fried onion container, and i put the leftover whole beans in jars. i use egg cartons to start seedlings indoors before planting season. jeans ripped beyond repair? patch material for stuff that CAN be repaired! i even made a quilt once, but i'm no good at it lol. pill bottles? i made beaded jewelry; beads can be sorted and stored in those bottles. yeah, i am big on containers, and i do use them -- i don't just save them. i go to adult daycare with my alzheimer's-afflicted fiancé, and sometimes the lunch they provide is either short on veggies or long on white bread. when i know this in advance i use a nice, sturdy saved container that once had something else in it to bring a salad along to eat with the provided lunch. i have even repurposed ugly prints on canvas, since fresh canvas is so expensive and i like to paint! and i had a cat, now gone, alas, having succumbed to a brain tumor, whose favorite toy was a nose spray bottle he stole from me! once i discovered his love for such things, i made sure not to throw the bottles away when i was done, but instead rinse them and let him play with them to his heart's content. orange peel you say? soak in white vinegar to make a wonderful nontoxic cleaning fluid! egg shells you say? calcium for the garden -- and those coffee grounds acidify the soil so your pink hydrangeas can blossom blue! we compost all our other discardable vegetable matter (even some kinds of paper); we don't have to pay for plant food.

i always wrap birthday and chanukah presents in pictures i cut from old magazines and catalogues (yes, i recycle the remains). tubs that have no lids? poke holes in the bottom: instant planters!

and what's wrong with a little judicious scavenging anyway? in japan, people would throw away entire sets, like 40 pieces, of china in perfect condition, and rocking chairs, and book shelves -- i missed out on a wok once (someone else grabbed it). it's not as if i rummaged through icky garbage; there were special locations to throw out furniture and stuff. i think the only furniture i had in my house that wasn't acquired from one of those sites was my fridge and my bed! (oh, i miss my rocking chairs!) as for thrift stores, what could be better than helping the cause of your choice AND finding a bargain? some of us can't afford to buy new things (and some of us prefer old things anyway -- the workmanship is often far superior!) garage sales/yard sales help the individual sellers and you can find such treasures.

by far the most valuable treasures i ever found were my cat wafer, discarded at the age of 10 days in a deep gutter the night before a hurricane, and my cat wasabi, thrown into a trash can with his tail broken and his nose dripping green goo from the respiratory infection that almost killed him. someone threw these two treasures away and they gave me joy for almost 15 years each.

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I love making things from other broken things its the best thing ever!

I'm all for reusing within limits. When looking for a solution, a used item is fine. However, it is not OK to save unused items for that potential purpose. That is hoarding and creates a lot more problems than it solves. Live minimally and efficiently. Reuse when it serves those purposes.

It’s a good thing to reuse.

I love to repurpose objects or use them in my crafts projects. That's why I have an entire room of bins of various 'ingredients' such as fabric scraps, or glitter, or glues, or......

I love going to the dumps amazing what you can find .

I reuse as much as possible before I toss or even have a yard sale. Old curtains might turn into cut pieces used for dust cloths or wiping chores. I've even used them as pretty table coverings. No one notices they're curtains. I reuse grocery bags. I haven't purchased trashbags in years. I reuse glass jars for storage; spices, coffee, bacon grease. I don't throw away plastic food containers. They make great Tupperware . I reuse dish sponges on floors and bathrooms before finally tossing.
Wooden clothes pins have turned into chip and frozen bag clips. You can paint them if you want. And of course clothes and shoes I don't wear anymore are donated to thrift stores. These are all small and virtually effortless ways to contribute your part in reducing waste.

What asshole told you that? I'm guessing American, since for the most part, we think shiny and new is always best. Yep, I'm an American trashing Americans! Re-use! Repurpose! I repurpose all kinds of discarded clothing for my custom aprons...look how cute!

I used to cut up cereal boxes to make bookmarks. I pretty soon realised I would have more bookmarks than books so stopped!

I'm an artist, so even if something doesn't have a super practical use it can sometimes be turned into something beautiful

One mans trash is another mans treasure. If you can re-purpose something that someone else doesn't want, GREAT! There is a thing called planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. If we consume as much materials in the US as much as the rest of the world, it's estimated that you'd need 4-5 Earths. Most of the tings we buy don't last more than 6 months before they are thrown out. Apple is notorious for downgrading their iPhones to make people buy new ones...

I love the way you use and reuse..we do the same....its fun too!

Whoever has Lulu please give her back, I need to paint her nails.

I do try to repurpose old stuff but I am not much good with diy tools. But recycling is big here in the UK, which is brilliant.

My last husband used to work at a landfill company in Houston, TX. You would not believe some of the stuff he would bring home. For example:

1)For several years my daughter and son was clothed by the new clothes he would bring home. We were told that stores would rather trash them than give them to thrift stores. Adult clothes however were shredded.

2)An entire Playboy collection in almost new condition

3)Two classic sports magazines with Mickey Mantle on the cover (one was I believe a Sports Illustrated with him as a rookie)

4)Like new classic toys

5)Gently used Persian rugs. They may have been fake, but they weren't that polythread crap.

My grandfather would go dumpster diving in the Pasadena, TX dumpsters for scrap wood. Personally, reusing things is a lot better than just throwing them away.

We live in a consumer culture that frowns on buying used, and repairing what is supposed to be our own devices. This has to go. Though I never really have taken it up, I've known tons of people who dumpster dive, and much of it has been both for surviving and as a practice of depending on consumer culture.

Absolutley reuse, repair, conserve. I keep things forever and do everything I can to prolong the life of things I use.

The social taboo of being resourceful needs to go. Our planet is covered in disposable everything.

All of my cheesy art is made from what others considered trash. If it isn't rotten or mostly reclaimed by the earth, it still has life in it.

As Bob the builder said "Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!"

I think it's important to salvage resources if possible.

I’m not proud. We even go dumpster diving!

My ex-wife, both when we were together, and even more so after we split up, obtained much of her furniture and decore from roadside trash piles and free yard displays. Repourposed school lockers, old wash tubs, she was very creative in that way. Even had her friends keeping an eye out for useable curbside treasures. Good for you! Myself, I just tend to keep things way beyond their intended use, mostly by treating them gently! If it goes into my trash, it’s dead!

It depends on what you reuse or repurpose.

Like always adding a comment withou polling. I never stop using a woman because she was broken!