Repurposing Socks

In the world of Greenness we have the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  To reduce means to decrease the amount you consume.  Don't be wasteful, basically.  Reuse means to use an item or resource again, without changing the form (my Grandmother-In-Law is famous for this--she reuses meat containers for cookies--my Brother -In-Law just LOVES that!).  Recycling is taking an item, breaking it down and making it into something else (like a plastic milk jug being melted down and made into another plastic bottle or a park bench.)  In my opinion Reducing is the most important.  Reusing is next best, because it doesn't require any additional energy or resources to reuse, as it does to recycle.  Today's lesson in the 3 R's is about Reusing.  Reusing socks.  This may sound gross, but I'm not taking about wearing and rewearing your socks for weeks on end.  No, this about finding a use for that poor random sock
that had a mate at one time, but got lost in the worm hole that is in the dryer.  I wish I could say that these 5 ideas are all mine, but I actually read them in a magazine, a birthday gift from my friend, Stacy.  I really likes some of them and will definitely try them, while other's sound like they were just trying to come up with a few more things to reach 5.

1. Move Furniture --stick the socks on the legs and slide it across the floor.

2. Soothe Sore Muscles-- fill a sock with uncooked rice and knot the other end.  Microwave it for a minute in 20-second incriminates until it's warm to the touch.  Apply to aches and pains.

3. Freshen Laundry-  Dab about 15 drops of an essential oil on a cotton sock.  Roll it into all, then tuck it inside another sock.  Twist the top of the second sock and pull it over the "ball" section, then toss it in your dryer.  When the ball starts to lose it's scent, just add more oil.

4. Store Gift Wrap-  Cut a 2" section from a sock and side it onto the roll of gift wrap to keep the paper from unrolling.

5. Keep the car dry-- keep a thick tube sock in your glove box.  When it's rainy, use the sock as a sleeve for your wet umbrella.  

**6.  This one is mine--DUSTING!!  Throw a sock on either hand and you've got two dusting cloths! They work great to dust things like dining room chairs and picture frames.  I feel like I'm going at super speed dusting with two hands like that!