I'm an old lady, as you will know by reading the following. My mother grew up during the depression. She always washed and reused bread bags, jars, or any kind of container. She also snipped off buttons, hooks, zippers and so forth if any clothing was worn out. She used newspapers to wrap the garbage, and so on. Those who lived during that difficult time were recyclers the likes of which you don't see much any more. I used to think she was just weird, but over time I have taken up more and more of these practices because they make so much sense.
