In surviving a worse case scenario disaster, everything you have in your possession will have to last you indefinitely along with foraging for what you need.  This will be due to no supply truck running, civil unrest and crime waves destroying businesses and homes, and devastation from natural disasters.  So recycling everything feasible will be the norm after any major disaster.

Aluminum foil & pans – Are mainly used for cooking to include homemade solar ovens.  They can be cleaned and reused until totally worn out.

Clothing and Footwear – During prolonged post disaster situations, clothing will wear out and children will eventually outgrow their own clothing and shoes.  With no stores available for new clothes, hand-me-downs will be the norm along with bartering for clothing that fit.  When preparing for children, it would be recommended to have extra clothing in your survival supplies that are a couple of sizes larger than they are.  The same thing goes for shoes and boots.

Furniture – Once furniture is totally worn out, parts can be used clothing, insulation, making newer furniture or firewood.  Using your sewing knowledge you can take the furniture fabric and curtains to make clothes to wear.

Glass jars – Come in all shapes and sizes, there more durable than plastic, and have multiple uses like canning your fruits and vegetables from your survival garden.  Save the all, and if they break, be sure to save the lids and use the broken glass for defense.

Lumber – Crates, pallets, abandon lumber yards and old houses are a great source for lumber used for building survival projects.

Nails, Screws, Bolts & Nuts – Unless you have a good supply or have found a good stock, you will have to taking them out of old buildings and re-straitening the nails to use for survival projects.

Paper – from news paper to writing paper, save it for from taking notes to starting fires.

Plastic bags – Trash bags to zip-lock bags, save them all because they have multiple uses until they are completely worn out.  You will want to stock a variety of sizes of them in your survival supplies.

Pots & Pans – Cast aluminum and cast iron pots and pans like Dutch ovens are your best bet for cooking in survival conditions.  These will last for YEARS.  However, Teflon coated pots and pans will eventually wear down to bare metal with holes and are much thinner than the cast ones.  My mother has a Dutch over she uses on campouts that is over 100 years old.

Rope & String – Come in all of types of cotton to hemp to nylon and has multiple uses during survival conditions.

Tin cans – Also come in all shapes and sizes and have multiple uses.  Just be sure to have a good strong pair if tin-snips handy.

Wire – Bailing wire to electrical wire, save it all.  Wire has multiple uses that will come in real handy doing survival projects.

These are just a few of the many things that you will have to recycle.  Because overtime in a post disaster situation, you will run out of everyday common items that we take for granted.  Even though some of this stuff you might not use, you can always use it for bartering for things you need.  Using your survival savvy, you can come up with all sorts of creative ideas for using these items under survival conditions.

Next article: Sheltering in Place vs. Bugging Out

Recommended reading:

Dare to Prepare by Holly Deyo is one of the top three preparedness books on the market.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen is an excellent novel on what will happen after an EMP attack.

Patriots – A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles is another excellent novel of what will happen after an economic collapse.

How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It by James Wesley, Rawles is another excellent reference book on preparedness.

Recommended viewing:

After Armageddon is a History Channel 90 minute documentary about a worse case scenario disaster situation that can be watched on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r97xoSOEjM