We've all heard the familiar advice, "reduce, reuse and recycle." What you may not know is that plastics may be among the most "reused" materials around. A recent consumer telephone poll sponsored by APC suggests 87 percent of Americans have reused a plastic product in the last six months. The holiday season is no exception to reuse.

The American Plastics Council (APC), challenges Americans to think of ten different ways to reuse a single plastic item. This is the perfect time of year to bring out your creativity-and maybe even win a gift for yourself!

There are many different ways to use plastic to put those personal touches on gifts and decorations around the home. Here are just a few fun and easy ways to reuse plastic items this holiday season:

• When making your holiday cookies, use the open end of clean yogurt cups as cookie cutters. Fill clean margarine tubs with holiday sprinkles to dip cookies in. Once they are cooked, where should you put them to keep them safe & fresh? A clean plastic food tub, of course! Decorate the outside of a large plastic container with paint or markers, line with colored tissue paper and fill with cookies for everyone to enjoy.

• Polystyrene packaging "peanuts" can be spray painted in holiday or metallic colors to use as filler in gift bags. String the colored foam "peanuts" on thread and use as tinsel on the tree instead of popcorn.

• Do you hate when you run out of wrapping paper at the last minute? Make your own by "sponging" color on plain paper with soft foam Nerfª balls or sponges dipped in poster paint, or make stamps out of polystyrene foam cut into different shapes and decorate.

• When you leave goodies out for Santa on Christmas Eve, don't forget about the reindeer! Have children paint clean margarine tubs to use as a water dish for Dancer, Dasher, and Prancer.