Recycling in the Home

Klayre

Having just read the other posts and picked up some new ideas I have two to add.

From experience I know that gerbils love egg boxes and toilet roll tubes - they spend a couple of hours ducking in and out of them and then proceed to shred them. It all adds to the existing bedding/shavings in the cage. Alternatively, pass them onto local schools (along with yoghurt pots, cereal boxes etc).

The other one is that for measuring herbs/spices etc. the spoons you receive with medicines (especially children's ones which also have 1/2 teaspoon measures) are great when you are cooking. I've got pots that the spoons can sit in with the individual spices to prevent cross-contamination.

freemae

I try to re-use/recycle just about everything and it grieves me to chuck out(clear) plastic wrappers and bags (but apparently they`re the wrong kind of plastic to re-cycle - ie: different from Tesco`s carriers, which they do re-cycle...) Anyone know of a recycling centre that handles them?
- If the cellophane wrappers or plastic bags come off organic fruit or veg or whole foods, I usually re-use them to wrap my sandwhiches for work the next day - or to wrap stuff for the freezer. (although I`ve heard that they release toxins over time?) -
*But does anyone have a use for the plastic box containers that most fruit comes in?
I use them to plant my beans and peas early - But I`ve accumulated way more than I can use. I tried making little cloches in the garden, for carrots, etc., but I never perfected a way, after cutting out the ends, to make a continuous (stable) row of them on the uneven soil of my garden.
Also the nets that cover them are handy for storing bulbs: onions, shallots, tulips, etc. Also, they`re good to wrap over baby cabbages or developing pumpkins to keep the predators off...Also good to protect developing fruit on low branches of young fruit trees...But again, I`ve saved way more than I can use...any other suggestions?

kazbert

1sttimer wrote:

All these ideas are great :T

I don't find that labels stay on tubs when frozen and writing over with perm ink pens looks messy. What does everyone else do? I've re-used marg tubs to freeze left overs/single portions but the label has come off and now I have a freezer full of odds and ends that I'm not sure what's in them .

I've found that using the non-permanent pens used for OHPs etc work okay, they come off in the wash. We tried the permanent variety but they stay on a lot more, for years if using the dishwasher. The only problem is that it can get on your fingers with all the condensation once the item starts defrosting.

Great thread btw, made me make my first reply to a great set of forums! I really have a thing about the amount of plastic that's in our waste too, our local supermarket recycles plastic bottles and carrier bags but I wish they used more of the cellulose bags that our organic produce comes in (when we get it from the supermarket - our veg box uses paper bags which go straight in the compost or wormery). Those cellulose bags are compostable which is great.

freemae

Just had some more ideas:
- empty toilet rolls or kitchen rolls (cut in half): Fill them with soil and you
can start your carrots or parsnips - or leeks (for tall ones)
early and in a safe place and then transplant without disturbing the roots.
(and the cardboard breaks down in the soil.)
- empty Pringles containers or shorter cylinder boxes (like from cadbury`s
choc. drink mix) with the plastic lids : Turn upside down - cut a slit in
the metal bottom, the size of a two p coin. (I use a nail - punched
through a few times - this also pushes the rough edges inside, so no
sharp or jagged edges Get kids to decoupage pictures of flowers,
animals, or whatever (cut out pics, glue on and then paint over with liquid
pvc.) When it`s dry, the kids have a bank (with removable bottom!)
Good for saving up pennies, or for special projects, charities, or trips.

janjan

I try to reuse and recycle everything, not always easy.
1) All cardboard boxes are taken to my daughters nursery and I seem to get them back a few weeks later stuck together and covered in glitter!
2) The little spoons that come with ice cream can become plectrums for the guitarists around. Not as good as the real thing as a bit hard but useful none the less.
3) Dark plastic bottles, (brown or blue), the type beer or cider come in we have filled with water and put in our poly tunnel to try to regulate the temperature. THe idea is they heat up during the day and give off the heat in the evening. Wouldn't actually prevent frost damage in the middle of winter but helps a bit.
4) CD's that we no longer want or that come free with the papers we hang in trees or on string roun the veg patch to ward off the birds.
5) Any A4 paper only typed on one side becomes drawing paper or for shopping lists.
6) Junk mail is torn up and made into sticky pictures.
7) Clear plastic drinks bottles can be recycled here but not coloured ones so coloured ones get their bottoms cut off and their lids taken off then put upsidedown in grow bags or tubs and filled with water to help water the plants.
I could go on for ages. I have got some useful tips from this thread, thanks to you all.

DO_YOU_KNOW_DAVE

I've not read the full thread, as i've only just found it. But i've stopped taking carrier bags at supermarkets. This is mainly because i'm sick of having hundreds stashed in my kitchen draws.
Oh and why are'nt these bags bio degradeable, the gardening sacks we get from our council are.
I hate all this packaging on everything, i'm stopping now before I go off on one. I would love it if we all got together a did something about this!

snaggle

rnshon wrote:

I recycle:

...envelopes from junk mail - the prepaid ones are brilliant with a sticker over the prepaid address

As a postman May I clarify what you have said.
You say that you use the envelopes from junk mail,
well so do I, But it's clear that you need to also put a sticker
OVER the First or Second class mark and then put a stamp on it.
Otherwise the recipient will be paying around a pound for postage.
Snaggle

prettypinkfairy

Surely not !

scuzz

DO_YOU_KNOW_DAVE wrote:

I've not read the full thread, as i've only just found it. But i've stopped taking carrier bags at supermarkets. This is mainly because i'm sick of having hundreds stashed in my kitchen draws.
Oh and why are'nt these bags bio degradeable, the gardening sacks we get from our council are.
I hate all this packaging on everything, i'm stopping now before I go off on one. I would love it if we all got together a did something about this!

They can be recycled, a lot of supermarkets have special bins for them. They get turned into street signs and things like that I think

squeaky

It's my understanding that if you use a PRE_PAID envelope to another address you are effectively making the originator pay for your post.

Somewhere a legal eagle will be able to tell us if this is outright theft or merely fraud.

Either way, I don't feel happy about doing it myself.

With non_pre_paid envelopes though - yes I've re-used a few.