Zero Waste Week - tell us your best upcycling and re-use tips

Former_MSE_Helen

"We recently held our second #dumpyourjunk spring clean and decluttering Twitter party with founder of ZeroWasteWeek Rachelle Strauss..."

Read MSE Andrea's full blog:
Dump your junk in time for summer


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ZeroWasteWeek

This sounds absolutely brilliant, Primrose - do you have a pic? I'd love to feature you on my site

Primrose wrote: »

Posted this on another thread but basically recycled our old three armed Hills Hoist garden washing line dryer into a bird feeder. Removed the broken chord, sawed the three arms down to just one third of their length then stuck back in the plastic seal caps at the end at the end of the sawn off tubes.
This has made a convenient compact feeder for hanging three different bird feeding tubes or peanut cages from and is simply stuck into metal spike in the lawn (£3.99 from Amazon). Any surplus seed which falls out of the feeders Is either foraged by ground feeding birds or if it germinates, the mower cuts it down. When you mow lawn you just have to pull out the main pole and replace it afterwards.

Primrose

Alas I haven't a clue how to post photos on this website. Can anybody please provide a total idiot's guide please and I'll try to provide one.

ZeroWasteWeek

I'm going to find out for you, Primrose and get you the help you need - watch this space (and sorry I didn't pick this up before)

sistercas

Primrose wrote: »

Posted this on another thread but basically recycled our old three armed Hills Hoist garden washing line dryer into a bird feeder. Removed the broken chord, sawed the three arms down to just one third of their length then stuck back in the plastic seal caps at the end at the end of the sawn off tubes.
This has made a convenient compact feeder for hanging three different bird feeding tubes or peanut cages from and is simply stuck into metal spike in the lawn (£3.99 from Amazon). Any surplus seed which falls out of the feeders Is either foraged by ground feeding birds or if it germinates, the mower cuts it down. When you mow lawn you just have to pull out the main pole and replace it afterwards.

That's sounds fabulous ,I have a bird feeding station that DH made with an old pole with a couple of bird feeders hanging from it .

I was on a frugal website yesterday , they had mad a bird feeder out of a plastic milk carton , ingenious. Here's the link ( I think I'm not good at this kind of thing)
http://www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk/moneysaving-mayhem

sistercas

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

I had a sample of some lovely wallpaper I had picked up in Homebase. Duckegg blue background with sort of branches on it. I cut some butterflies out of some wrapping paper and stuck them on, fluttering round the branches, then framed it. It's made a lovely picture for DGD's bedroom and she loves it.

I know just the paper you mean , my mum has it in her bedroom
I bet the picture looks great x

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi Primrose,

• First you need to upload your image so you have a url (link beginning http://)
  There are several free sites you can use to upload your images eg tinypic.com, postimage.org.
  
• Once your image is uploaded click the image upload button in the Quick reply window as in the screenshot below.
  
• Enter the url into the box that comes up and click OK.
  
• Your image link should be in your post.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi everyone!

If you're on Twitter, join our #zerowasteweek twitter chat with Rachelle/ZeroWasteWeek 11am today. Just follow us - @MSE_Forum and @myzerowaste and ask your questions on the #zerowasteweek hashtag.

If you join in give us a shout

zebedy

Brilliant thread so giving it a bumpety bump

Primrose

About this time of year I start collecting scrap food peelings like banana skins, apple cores and other similar items in a separate container in the garden . Then when my patio plant containers finish flowering I remove the plants and mix the composted bits into the bare soil and let them rot down over winter.

The containers act as their own mini composter as even on winter days often the sun generates some heat. By the time they're ready for spring/summer planting everything has rotted down and this saves ever having to buy fresh compost for my containers and keeps the soil in good condition.

I grow tumbling tomatoes in some patio pots and provided the plants aren't,t blighted, their old haulms are chopped up and added back to the pots, mixed with the soil and allowed to compost down over winter.

Old wrinkled potatoes which aretoo far gone to be eaten are buried in the middle of my compost heap and in due course grow lovely new potatoes. I,ve just harvested about eight pounds of free potatoes grown in this way !