Inspired by Trent’s Ten Frugal Things To Do With An Empty Vitamin Water (Or Other Plastic Beverage) Container

There aren’t many products for which I show brand loyalty. Cat litter, however, is one of them. I will only use TidyCats litter, and only the scoopable kind that comes in a 27 lb bucket. My cats rip through 27 pounds of kitty litter in record time, however, which creates a bit of a waste problem as far as the buckets go (the used litter itself is another issue entirely). I can recycle them here in Lunenburg, but I’ve become rather attached to my army of yellow and blue buckets, and have found them infinitely useful over the years. Here are just some of the things I’ve done with TidyCat containers.

Hint: some of these tips involve ripping the lid off the bucket. I find this hard to do since I have no upper body strength, but if you or your significant other is not so much of a pantywaist as I am, it should be no problem.

The most obvious use to put them to is mop buckets. Despite holding only dry goods, the pails are watertight, and I have several times used them to mix and hold cleaning solution. Be sure you wipe all the kitty litter dust out of the bottom before you do this, unless you like clay mixed with your Murphy’s Oil Soap.

Drill some holes in the bottom for drainage, fill it with potting soil, and you have a cheap and easy planter. I currently have chives planted in one of mine. If you want to doll it up, I’m sure you could sand the plastic down a little and paint it.

Use it as a blockade. If you have cats (which I’ll assume you do if you’ve read this far; either that, or you have expensive tastes in gritting the drive), you probably have something to blockade. In our upstairs bathroom, we have two empty buckets against the wall where one of our cats likes to urinate. You may need to fill it with something heavy (like - hey! - cat litter) and you will probably want to leave the lid on for this.

FlyLady would be proud of me. I’ve labeled three TidyCat containers with “Give Away” “Put Away” and “Throw Away” and use them when doing a timed declutter of a room.

Continuing the declutter theme: If there are items that you aren’t sure you want to get rid of, serious organizers often recommend boxing it up, putting a date on it, and storing it for a year. TidyCat containers work for long-term storage - keep the lid on for this one, so that you can stack multiple buckets on top of each other.

Moving? Use the containers to pack books, which are often too heavy if packed together in large boxes. They also work well for hand-held appliances.

Do you use Freecycle? Do you have something to be picked up and it’s pouring down rain? Put it in a TidyCat container, write “For [name]” on the lid with a permanent marker, close it, and leave it on your deck or porch.

Run out of garbage bags? Use a TidyCat bucket to hold waste until you can get to the store. On this note, you can use it to dispose of used cat litter as well. (This is a frugal, but not very green tip, as you’ll probably have to throw the bucket out afterwards).

If someone asks for a bag or a box at a garage sale or fleamarket you’re working, give them a TidyCat container instead. Maybe they’ll get as much use out of it as you have!

The only tip I haven’t used myself: use it as a mini-composter or to make leaf mold. Compost Guide will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about making compost. It seems logical to me that you could make a mini composter by drilling holes in the sides and lid, turning it occasionally, watering it, and “taking its temperature” when necessary. Since it’s not recommended that you put too much “brown” material in a compost heap at once, you can compost your leaves into leaf mold separately: add them to an aerated TidyCat container, add a little soil, and wait six months.

What would you do with a used TidyCat container?

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