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

GreyQueen

ZeroWasteWeek wrote: »

I think you might have just revolutionised my life. I think even I could manage that.

(mind you, when I went to iron something when my DD was about 7 years old she said "What's THAT?" pointing to the iron <sigh>. That's what body heat is for, right?!)

So glad you have given one of your favourite shirts a new lease of life - that's fantastic! :T Thanks for sharing your story. You guys are a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Glad to be of service. You will wonder how you ever lived in a pre-fusible interfacing world.

A small word of caution, tho. When you are ready to iron, be sure to hold the interfacing up to the light. One side will be matte, the other side a bit shiny. The shiny bit is the adhesive. Get the iron on that side instead of the back and you will have a lovely sticky mess on the sole plate. And yes, I have done that a few times over the years.;)

I bought the shirt in a charity shop for 50p early in 2013 and it as been in constant use ever since, picking up a few compliments on the way. To say I was stricken by it's injury was an understatement, lol. Thank gawd for fusible interfacing, the mender's best friend.

tru

ZeroWasteWeek wrote: »

It is me!

<whispers> But who are *you*?

I can't PM you! You won't remember me anyway I nominated you for a blog award and you broke the rules by only nominating seven people instead of ten

I'll shut up now and stop taking the thread off topic

jlhmd666

After peeling potatoes the other day I brushed the skins with oil (both sides), placed them on a rack, added salt, pepper and cayenne pepper and placed in the oven until crisp. Saved throwing them out and the kids enjoyed them with a salsa dip

thriftwizard

We had a stern letter from our local authority a while back, because we don't usually put out our brown food waste bin. I couldn't resist writing back to tell them that we don't have waste food... we have chickens! Also, two composters and a Green Cone digester, which has an inverted wire cone underneath to keep vermin out, so you can even put bones into it. (After boiling then up for stock, of course.) So even the bits that can't go into the birds (cooked up into a "mash", obviously) or the compost heap can go into the digester to feed next year's apple crop.

Mind you, with anything from 6 - 8 people in the house most of the time, there's not a lot of food left to go to waste anyway; it's mostly just peelings, stalks & bones. Friends & family call me the Leftover Queen, as I can (and quite often have to, at short notice) feed a small army on scraps from the fridge & whatever's in the cupboards.

I run a business basically renovating or re-making & selling on things that other people didn't want. I can't lay claim to zero waste but I know we throw out about half what other households locally do, with twice as many inhabitants. So will try to join in with Zero Waste Week, one way or another!

Ilona

A tee light holder made from an aluminium drinks can.

Ilona

Ilona

A bag made out of knitted video tape and fabric scraps.

Ilona

Ilona

A bag made out of juice cartons and crochet.

Ilona

Ilona

Pen holders made out of tin cans covered in fabric with embellishments.

Ilona

Ilona

Old net curtains used to cover vegetables in raised beds

Ilona

Ilona

Shopping bag made out of an old gazebo roof. Not strictly my rubbish but found in a skip. I made ten shopping bags out of it.

Ilona