Recycle Week: Re-use, Recycle and Save Money

pinnks

We have been using sodastreams for 30 years now, mainly to make carbonated water, rather than the fizzy drinks. We then use that to dilute juices like apple or orange but have sometimes tried the concentrates. Things like ginger beer taste fine but cola is not coke. It's more like own brands, so some people may not like the taste.

The bottles last for ever as do the devices themselves. The only reason we changed ours was because the gas bottles changed to larger capacity and the old ones were discontinued but sodastream offered a good deal to switch over. Never say never but I can't seem them making another such change any time soon.

For me the only question is whether you like the taste of your tap water. Ours is good and tastes better once carbonated but areas differ so you might want to think about that. Other than that I can't think of any potential downsides from a usability perspective and can't see they are any worse from the environmental perspective as the gas bottles are exchanged and re-used and the water bottles last forever (we have 2 on the go for 2 litres).

HTH

pippo

pinnks wrote: »

We have been using sodastreams for 30 years now, mainly to make carbonated water, rather than the fizzy drinks. We then use that to dilute juices like apple or orange but have sometimes tried the concentrates. Things like ginger beer taste fine but cola is not coke. It's more like own brands, so some people may not like the taste.

The bottles last for ever as do the devices themselves. The only reason we changed ours was because the gas bottles changed to larger capacity and the old ones were discontinued but sodastream offered a good deal to switch over. Never say never but I can't seem them making another such change any time soon.

For me the only question is whether you like the taste of your tap water. Ours is good and tastes better once carbonated but areas differ so you might want to think about that. Other than that I can't think of any potential downsides from a usability perspective and can't see they are any worse from the environmental perspective as the gas bottles are exchanged and re-used and the water bottles last forever (we have 2 on the go for 2 litres).

HTH

Many thanks for your reply.

Out tap water is lovely so I think we'll be fine!

Think i'll go for it:beer:

Cottonsocks

I reduce my veg waste by freezing any bits that are unused and making a vegetable soup when I've got enough. A tip to make vine tomatoes last longer is to remove the stalks etc, if the greenery starts to mould this travels onto the tomatoes reducing their life. Soft tomatoes can be turned into a passata by putting them in boiling water for a few minutes so easy to remove skins then blending or mashing. If cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, etc are looking a bit floppy, I cut the ends off and put in water, like any plant they soon revive. I am trying to get to zero waste by ordering directly from a farm that delivers to London. Apart from veg they deliver Egg Nation cruelty free eggs and only use paper packaging that they collect when dropping off my next order.

Katiehound

Not sure if this is the right place to post this info- from a GH article.
Be rewarded for recycling!- in some cases

Return Apple devices- if serviceable you might receive an Apple Store Gift Card. Otherwise recycled (it disassembles 200 iphones an hour!)

Currys PC World offers similar scheme for old phones, tablets, laptops, smart watches ,toasters, kettles. Not clear if you have to buy new ones

Levi's- drop off clean unwanted garments or shoes at branches & receive a voucher for 10% off full priced clothing

Lush.- Return 5 black pots to get a free face mask. (Pots are ground down & turned in to new packaging.)

Ink jet cartridges- return to The Recycling factory (freepost). Some kinds are eligible to earn Tesco clubcard points but all cartridges accepted. https://www.therecylclingfactory.com/Tesco

Walkers crisps. Accepts crisp packets from any brand which can be dropped off at a collection point.
Find them at https://www.walkers.co.uk/recycle.
Or start a workplace collection- 400 bags or more qualify for courier collection. After cleaning packets are shredded and used to make products such as outdoor furniture.

sourcrates

Rampant recycling freak me, all food waste goes in the brown bin for composting by the council, plastic bottles, glass, paper, cardboard, all get swallowed by the blue bin, very little goes in the green (landfill) bin now.
If I find I have any polystyrene, it gets chopped up really small and gets used as cushion filler, oh, and I always refill my water bottles too.

Pixiehoney

I love the challenge of this and getting tips that I hadn't thought of.
I already have milk delivered, slightly more expensive but from a local supplier and having glass bottles just feels nicer.
We grow fruit, veg and herbs with varied success but we use everything we manage to grow.
Leftovers used for lunches ( in reusable tubs) and scraps composted.
Reusable water bottles
Batch cook to reduce waste and freeze.
Repair clothes and only buy when absolutely necessary. I have clothes and shoes that are years old. I wear work shoes mostly but alternate them, considering the amount of use, I get my money's worth.
Buy clothes from eBay or charity shops, can get such good bargains and when they are past repairing go to recycling.
Use washable make up remover pads and I only use micellar water to remove make up or baby oil for waterproof mascara, mostly I just don't bother with make up.
Use soap to wash with, haven't tried shampoo bar yet but will when I have run out of shampoo. Might take a while as I figured if it must be plastic buy a massive bottle, will probably.last more than a year!
Plus when I can't be bothered to wash my hair, I use a bit of talcum powder instead of dry shampoo, works just as well and lasts forever.
For cleaning I have reduced products down completely, truth is you really only need soap and water. I do like smelly stuff though so dilute some zoflora in a spray bottle and use as disinfectant and air freshener. I have a little bottle next to the toilet.
Speaking of toilets, I squeeze the toilet roll to avoid half a roll coming away each time.
Probably lots more little things I do without thinking, I'm always aware of trying to not be wasteful, initially for money saving but environmental reasons too, if we all did a little bit...
Look forward to hear more ideas

Spoonie_Turtle

I'm late to the party, but:

I repurposed a couple of pairs of old pyjama bottoms to dry my hair because towels large enough for very long hair are too heavy, and the Jersey cotton is better for the hair - pictures and partial explanation https://imgur.com/6li5hTF, https://imgur.com/HeXVWel, https://imgur.com/mEjZLpa

I use the ribbons from hanging clothes and from old diaries to sew closed holes in chunky knitted cardigans https://imgur.com/CnZ5mzF
Also use them in place of hairties at the end of a plait - plait it in the last few 'stitches' then tie the excess in a knot around the tassel, a pretty bit of colour and non-damaging.

The elastic that came holding a pair of shoes together is now around my bin, holding the liner in place (yes a plastic liner, but this way it can be completely full before I need to empty the bin).

An old linen dress that was unsalvageable now is used for the covers on one of my bobbin lace pillows.

Old underwear is perfect for polishing oiled wood (especially hair forks).

One old pair of underwear I cut into strips to use as the cleaner for my treble recorder.

My hair sticks are stored in an old jar and my hair forks in a mug that was going unused https://imgur.com/bwraPV7 and my clips needed safe storage so I repurposed a hanger and a scarf rather than trying to buy suitable storage https://imgur.com/Sj0JLiX ← I've salvaged a lot of old necklaces and bracelets to use the beads to make my own infinity clips, none pictured there though.

Old ramekins for tealight/votive holders

Of course using every blank side of paper for making notes, shopping lists, etc.

Use empty trial size bottles to decant toiletries for going on holiday

I save all thin cardboard for transferring bobbin lace patterns (admittedly I'm too ill to make much right now, but I'm optimistically saving it for any future better health!)

Also have a load of floral patches to sew onto stained garments, but again I've not got very far due to ill health. Most of my coloured threads (mainly for that endeavour, though I do have some other repairing to do too) were from the charity shop

Oh and reusable water bottles of course - though I always used to reuse my disposable ones too, until they eventually were so crinkled or the top misshapen from washing it so many times. I only relented when proper reusable ones were on exceptionally good offer in our local supermarket.

danby22

Great thread this one! Admittedly I haven't gone through all posts, but if anyone can provide advice on how best to recycle a mix of children's and Information Tech books (some of these are out-dated), that'll be appreciated!

Thanks!

Katiehound

danby22 wrote: »

Great thread this one! Admittedly I haven't gone through all posts, but if anyone can provide advice on how best to recycle a mix of children's and Information Tech books (some of these are out-dated), that'll be appreciated!

Thanks!

Firstly if the books are suitable- charity shop donations

Depending on the size of the pages and quality of the paper maybe you can use as any other paper?

I've seen small gift bags from newspaper,

small boxes folded origami style with matching lids,

covering for upcycled storage boxes

paper sculpture:
loads of images & You-tube here : https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=mlQTXuM_g-RT5ceyiAQ&q=paper+sculpture+from+old+books&oq=paper+sculpture+from+books&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i22i30l2.2130.8850..11276...0.0..0.114.2328.24j3......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0j0i13j0i13i30.pAeT4QACpkE

Mainly for hard backs::
https://www.google.co.uk/search?ei=NVUTXpn3EueU1fAPw6e2sAg&q=using+old+books+for+art&oq=using+old+books++&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0l3j0i22i30l7.7530.7530..13248...0.2..0.96.96.1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71.xhHRLxkOM20

I'm sure there are loads more possibilities

Plasticfreemama

I reuse and recycle a lot. here are all my tips for reusing and repurposing things:

- Buy from bulk shops and store products in glass jars from previous items (pickles, olives, mayo, you name it, we wash them and use them again!)
-Use old sheets to make reusable kitchen towels and cloths
-Scraps of fabric from local tailor shops to make reusable wipes for children
-Takeaway tupperwares to freeze leftovers
- Scraps of vegetables to make veggie broth or stock
- Old apple crates donated from a local farmer to make a bookcase in the living room
- I use vinegar and baking soda from the supermarket to also make all-purpose cleaning detergents and toilet cleaning liquid
-I reuse old plastic bags for shopping and storage