Everyday people are finding new ways to reuse old materials, unwanted items or garbage that would otherwise be thrown out. As more garbage piles up, people seem to be getting more creative and demand new ways to recycle rather than add to the overflowing landfills.

Listed below are some of the very imaginative and perhaps even useful ways to start recycling items you didn’t even know could be recycled.

1. Recycle Your Books…. but turn them into a hiding place. I know you don’t read all those old books sitting on your shelf, and you may be thinking about throwing them out, but instead you could make a very cool hiding place for valuables. Here is a great tutorial on how to hollow out books.

2. If you’re one of the few people left still reading the old fashion newspapers, please recycle them… by insulating your house! I don’t know how well this works, but it sure looks cool.

3. Recycle old shoes and ride your bike to work. This is how you save the world!

4. Did you know that is takes a Cork Oak Tree around 9 – 12 years before it can be harvested for cork to be used in a wine bottle? So don’t throw away your corks, use them for something creative.

5. Do you have a massive VHS Tape collection, but only watch DVDs now? Then take all that tape and make something functional, like a purse or handbag. Here’s a photo for some inspiration.

6. Depending on how old you are, you might have a few old records collection dust, you could always make a “sound wave”

7. VHS Tapes, Used Books, Old Shoes, and anything else you might consider worthless trash could actually be worth something to someone. Don’t throw it away but give it away, or better yet, exchange it for something better and NEW.

You may think the stuff in your garage is worthless, but it’s not, and the people on Freecycle or Listia.com want it. On Listia you can get rid of the stuff you don’t want, and get new stuff you need for free. It’s done using an auction system, that uses credits, instead of money.  The more stuff you give away, the more stuff you get for free. Listia costs nothing, like Freecycle, but instead of just giving, you get free stuff in return too.

Take all your books, vhs tapes or anything you think is worthless, and put it on Listia… you could end up with a new cell phone, DVDs, or a brand new purse not made out of VHS tapes.

Freecycle has groups located in hundreds of cities, but you must be accepted by the local groups before you can get or give anything. Both Freecycle and  Listia offer a great alternative to passing on or reusing items that were once thought useless. Before throwing anything out, I suggest looking at one of these alternatives.