It seems like those little silica gel packets come with just about everything you buy these days: medications, electronics, clothing, and more. They always have two instructions: DO NOT EAT and THROW AWAY. While you definitely should not eat them, you don’t need to throw them out! There are actually a lot of uses for them around the house.

A quick note about that safety warning you see all the time: Clear silica gel pellets are nontoxic and fairly safe to handle. Some pellets are treated with color-changing chemicals to indicate when they’ve absorbed moisture, and these chemicals are often carcinogenic. Don’t use colored silica gel pellets for these projects. Otherwise, they’re good to use. We’ve discovered 10 different ways you can use them around the house and garden.

1. Save your phone
Separate your phone and battery. Place both into a sealable baggie with as many silica gel packets as you can find. Seal the bag and let it set until morning. (It sure beats wasting an entire bag of rice!)

2. Protect your leather shoes
Toss a few silica gel packets into your leather shoes (or even sports shoes) to suck out the moisture and keep them from getting moldy.

3. Dry your swimsuit
Try tossing a few of these packets into a zip lock bag with your damp swimsuit to suck out the moisture on the fly.

4. Protect your books
Keep your older books from getting musty by placing a silica gel pack in the cover. You can also place the book into a baggy with the packets to remove any musty smell that’s already there.

5. Keep your window clear
Your windshield fogs up with moisture when the air and temperature combine just the right way. Prevent the foggy windshield by keeping these packets on the dashboard.

6. Protect your pics
Slip a silica gel packet in each photo frame (behind the photo) to keep your images safe from moisture. They’ll last longer.

7. Dry flowers
You’ll need a lot of those gel packets for this one (or you can supplement with silica from the craft store). After carefully trimming your flowers and covering them with the silica gel, they’ll come out dry, but look fresh and pretty. See the full tutorial from Mohans Rule.

8. Keep your pumpkin fresh
If your Halloween pal molds and rots too quickly, try tossing a few silica gel packs inside the carved pumpkin. It will keep moisture at bay and keep your jack-‘o-lantern mold-free a little longer. (Bonus: the gel packs aren’t flammable so you should be okay to light your jack–o-lantern as usual.

9. Keep your seeds safe
If you’re storing seeds to plant next season, you’ll want to keep moisture as far away possible. Store your seeds in a shoe box with one packet to keep them safe.

RESOURCES: hometips.diyeverywhere.com, HOW STUFF WORKS AND STYLE CASTER