Giving new uses to old things (aka repurposing) is the original green idea. Dental floss can be used to truss a chicken or slice refrigerator cookie dough, an elasticized bracelet can be a charming napkin ring when twisted a couple times, or your bundt pan can make a great ice ring mold for the punch bowl.

Don’t you appreciate how this approach to living with, and using our stuff has “smart,” “surprising,” and “good for the earth” all wrapped up into one? This said, here are a few more ideas for giving our everyday belongings new life and new purpose:

YOGA MAT. A forgotten or spare yoga mat can be cut to fit your kitchen shelves and used as a super surface to cushion tableware and glassware. Or cut it to the size of the rug at your sink or stove and enjoy the extra layer of softness it provides.

ZIPPERED PLASTIC BAG I. I bet many of you have tried this: Using a zippered plastic bag to pipe frosting. Add some frosting, snip of a corner of the bag, squeeze frosting into the snipped corner and decorate away.

ZIPPERED PLASTIC BAG II. This can cushion breakable cargo. Slide a straw into a bag that is nearly closed and blow air to inflate it. Remove the straw and quickly finish closing the bag. You now have your own bubble wrap!

WAX PAPER. Use this to clean floors. If you run out of Swiffer-style sweeper cloths, just substitute a piece of wax paper cut to the size of the tool. Gunk will stick to the wax paper as you sweep!

WALNUT. I use walnut halves all the time to revive my hardwood floors and repair scratches on my furniture. By rubbing these into the scratches, the natural oils penetrate the wood and do a good job of hiding the scratches.

RUBBER BAND. This can be used to secure wobbly and wayward glasses in the dishwasher—I tether them to the prongs of the washer’s upper rack.

PASTA MAKER. If you’ve given up the idea of making your own pasta, you can still use this interesting tool—it’s a great paper shredder. Who knew?

MICROWAVE. Use this to get more juice from your lemons and limes. Place them in the microwave for 20 seconds before squeezing and see how much easier the squeezing goes.

LOLLIPOPS. Got any leftover from Halloween? (Or hang onto some next Halloween.) These make great little stir sticks for iced drinks!

ICE GEL PACKS. I keep them in the freezer, “just in case.” But I just heard that they make great coolers for the picnic basket. Secure one or two (with rubber bands or hair elastics) to your bottle of soda, and voila—chilled beverage.

GOLF TEES. These can keep food being served at potlucks organized. Distinguish vegetarian from meat dishes, or medium rare from well done steaks, etc. by flagging them with clean colored tees.

GRATER. One of my favorite ideas is to salvage burned (overly done) muffins or cookies by lightly grating away the charred or too-brown bits. Admittedly, the cookie or muffin isn’t as superb as if the overbaking hadn’t happened. But this is a good way to avoid throwing the batch out.