I will fidget with anything not nailed down if you let me. Just in front of me as I write this I have a few beech tree seeds, a folded up piece of foil, and some paper straw wrappers I’ve rolled into spirals. While the seeds serve an actual function in nature, the foil and straw wrappers are just repurposed “waste” of various meals. To me, these objects aren’t waste, at least not yet. They’re still being used, even if not in their intended manner. The line is very thin though, I accumulate them at a rapid pace, and they wear out easily, generally disintegrating within a month, so even a fully functional fidget becomes waste very quickly when I realize I need to trim the herd. I haven’t “saved from the dumpster” any of the wrappers in my fidget repertoire, the all end up there eventually, just not on the same day they things they contain are eaten or used. In this way, they are waste waiting to happen, I’m just delaying the inevitable trip to the dumpster.

Examples of the straw wrapper/paper spirals I fidget with.