Adjunct bits and bobs often outlive the thing they were intended to service.
Examples:
- I have a big collection of old cables—USB mini, USB micro, USB A, USB B, USB C, Thunderbolt, HDMI, RCA audio, and on and on—that came with some electronic device that is no longer with us
- I have dozens of AC adapters that I keep in a drawer because I periodically need one for some device or another, long after their original devices have found their way into the elecronics recycling
- I have a collection of tie wraps and screws and other ‘fasten-y’ things that were originally packaged with some item that is no longer with us
- I have a small jar of allen wrenches and other little tools that came with some piece of furniture, while the latter is long gone
- The soy yogurt or spaghetti sauce or snacks were used up long ago, but the plastic or glass container they came in continues to do duty in the garden or the kitchen or garage
- The package was delivered months ago, but the bubble wrap or box it came in is tucked away in the garage for future use
- I used to have a stack of CD / DVD cases that would find use long after their original disc was gone (though now those cases are finally going away too)
- We have a shelf of decorative gift boxes and bags and ribbons that live on to see another day, when the gifts they originally graced are gone
- Back when I was a paper-based person, I kept notes in three-ring binders; I’d get the binders from various presentations (usually work-related), and eventually the papers would get recycled and the binders used again