Saving money on household items and reducing our impact on the environment often go hand-in-hand.
One way to cut both costs and waste is to reuse and repurpose items we already have at home.
There are many things that can have a second-life as a cleaning tool, storage option, DIY supply or gardening accessory. You just have to put your thinking cap on and get a bit creative.
To get you started we've rounded up a list of 10 things you can find an alternative use for once they've fulfilled their original purpose.
Scroll through for inspiration on turning your old household items into eco-friendly, cost-saving pieces.
If you're putting your used toothbrushes straight into the bin, we need to have a chat.
That's because you're missing out on one of the best cleaning tools out there, and it costs you nothing.
Toothbrushes are great for cleaning grout, scrubbing stains, and getting all that gunk out of your sink hole.
A dry and sanitised toothbrush can also clean your computer keyboard by loosening all the dirt and crumbs that get stuck under the keys.
To get a toothbrush ready for cleaning, disinfect it by running it under boiling water (be careful as the plastic can melt), soak in vinegar for a few minutes, or pop in the dishwasher.
Then label the toothbrush for whatever task you're going to use it for. You don't want to get your cleaning brushes mixed up, or forget what it's for and use it to clean your teeth again.
If your old clothes are still in good condition you can donate them to a charity store.
But if they're thin, have a hole or two or a stain that just won't budge, it's best to find another use.
A fantastic option for worn-out clothes is to cut them up into smaller pieces and use as cleaning rags.
This will save you money on buying new cloths, especially if you have a particularly dirty or nasty cleaning job that will ruin your cloths.
The best part is you can just wash them after using them to clean. Or if you've cleaned something like mould, you can throw them in the bin guilt-free.
If you're a crafty person, another great option for old t-shirts is to turn them into yarn.
There are a couple of different cutting techniques for making yarn, so have a look on YouTube to see which method works best for you.
Once you've got your ball of yarn, you can use it to crochet baskets, coasters, trivets and planters.
Pool noodles are a lot more versatile than you think, and can be used for storage, DIYs and gardening.
Keen fishers will find them useful for storing their rods.
Just cut a section to fit the side of a metal shelf and make slits along the noodle for each rod you need to store.
If you're more of a DIYer, pool noodles have been used to make bedheads and even velvet stools. You just need a staple gun, a lot of fabric and some patience.
As for gardeners, pool noodles help save on soil and improve drainage in pots.
Simply cut up a pool noodle into smaller pieces, pop in the bottom third of a large plant pot and then fill with soil.
With the pool noodles at the base of the pot, you'll need less soil, which will save you money.
Plus there'll be plenty of space to allow water to flow out of the pot more easily, preventing the plant from getting root rot.
If you want a free plant pot to get your seedlings started in, then start saving your toilet roll tubes.
These make perfect little pots to help get plants started. And when the plants have reached two to three inches tall, you can just plant the whole thing in the new pot and the tube will break down in the soil.
To use toilet rolls as seedling pots, just push in one end to make the base of the planter. Then add some soil, drop in a seed and top with a little more soil.
Now that streaming music has overtaken CDs, you probably have a lot of these shiny discs taking up space in your home.
If you want to find another use for them, they can be used to make a deterrent for birds.
This is particularly useful if you have birds eating the plants in your garden, or leaving droppings on your nice clean washing.
This hack is as easy as tying a piece of string to the CD and hanging it up.
Once a tea cup is broken or has a chip in it, it's not great to keep drinking from it as germs can fester in these cracks.
To reuse your chipped tea cups, get creative and try a DIY.
One option is to make a bird feeder by gluing the cup to the saucer. Once the glue has dried attach a piece of string to hang it from a branch or hook, and add some bird seeds.
If plants are more your thing, you can turn the cup and saucer into a planter. Just glue in your preferred position and when dry, add soil and plants.
A third option is to use the chipped cup as a candle holder. Simply add a wick and pour melted wax into the tea cup.
A broken terracotta pot doesn't need to be thrown away, instead you can repurpose it in a couple of ways.
One smart idea is to add the broken pieces to the bottom of another plant pot. This will assist in drainage and help prevent root rot.
Another option is to get creative and turn the broken pot into a funky planter.
To do this fill a half broken pot with soil and then arrange the pieces inside that pot to create sections for different plants.
Once you're happy with the look, pop in your plants. Succulents work particularly well for this, as will herbs.
There are plenty of things you can do with an egg carton, but one of our favourite ways is for storage.
The small compartments in egg cartons make them perfect for storing things like screws, nuts and bolts.
An egg carton can also help keep Christmas ornaments safe from breakage, thanks to its cushy material.
Crafters will find egg cartons handy for storing small items like embroidery thread, washy tapes and beads.
If your storage is all sorted, you can instead try using egg cartons to start seedlings, as packing material for fragile parcels or as a paint palette for kids.
Socks are probably second to underwear in terms of how frequently we wear them out and repurchase them.
So finding a second life for socks is important for the planet, especially if you've ended up with a huge group of odd ones.
There are plenty of things you can do with old socks around the house, and the only limit is your imagination.
One of the best ways is to pop the sock over your hand like a glove and use it as a duster.
You'll find having the sock on your hand means you can get into all sorts of tight spots and awkward spaces more easily than with a cloth.
Sock hand dusters are particularly good at cleaning blinds, because you can just run your hand on both sides of the slat at the same time.