Recycling in the Home

gritts · 15 August 2005 at 9:39PM

I have two that are always used in our house.

When leaving your supermarket you always see loads of the clear fruit and veg plastic bags left in supermarket trolleys (why do people insist on grabbing loads of them?). 9 times out of 10 I bet the trolley guys would just through them in the bin.

I make a habit of picking them up to give them some sort of use or extra life. For example nappy bags.
I must say I only use the ones that have been discarded.

The other one is when I needed to clean paint brushes I could never find a suitable vessel for the white spirit to put the brush in. Now all the used large yogurt pots are stored next to my brushes just in case.

squeaky · 15 August 2005 at 10:11PM

I use empty beans tins for paint brushes

catznine · 15 August 2005 at 10:33PM

While cutting the up empty plastic milk containers to use for seedlings/freezer containers etc don't forget that the top part can be used as a funnel.

Individual cakes can be made in old cleaned out baked bean tins.

Supermarket carrier bags can be reused as bin bags but also used in many craft projects like braided rugs or christmas decorations (the red & green ones are the best).

I wash out most plastic bags like bread bags (not those that have contained meat though) for freezing fruit and veg from the garden.

Old jam jars are great for new jams, chutneys, preserves etc OH's Grandad used them to store his nails, screws and tacks in by screwing the lids to the underside of shelves in his shed and then screwing the filled jars into the lids. I use the small miniature jam jars (from presents given to us) to store sequins and beads for craft work.

My neighbour uses old cleaned out vinegar bottles to put his home made beer into!

will go away and try to think of some more ideas :think:

tootles_2 · 15 August 2005 at 10:35PM

I use Tesco carrier bags for rubbish, we recycle all kitchen waste into the compost bin. the inners from toilet rolls are used to plant beans in for the garden. Empty juice cartons to pour fat in from draining mince after frying and excess fat from meat roasted in the oven then when they are full and the fat solidfied you can cut off the carton and hang it up for the birds, I put it in the netting bags which you get things in from the supermarket. Egg shells are crushed, baked in the oven for 20 minutes and then scattered around plants to stop the snails eating them. Orange peel can be dried and used in pot porri. Hlaves of grapefruit can also be used as slug traps. We save any washing up water that is not too greasy and throw it on the garden. Plastic pop bottles cut in half can be used as mini greenhouses to help cutting retain moisture until they root.

Tea bags make at least 4 cups of tea, coffee grounds go on the garden and cold tea is used to water fushias, camellia's and raspberries.

Can't think of anything else now but there are loads of other things that we do to recycle things..............

chickadee · 15 August 2005 at 11:10PM

For about four years now I have used the cut off top of one of the 3-litre Robinson's (or similar) cordial bottles with the wide neck as a jam funnel for transferring my hm jam and marmalade into jars without spilling it over my worktop. It has gone a bit of a funny shape due to the heat of the jam so I bought a new one from Lidl this week for £1.49. Hopefully this will serve me well for many jam-making seasons to come.

I use the tops of cut-off milk bottles (2- and 3-litre ones) as scoops by cutting them off diagonally. I have one in the bathroom which I use to rinse ds's hair and another to scoop wood shavings out of the bag for my guinea pigs' bedding.

The tiny jam jars that are sold with scones in cafes and are such a rip-off are re-used many times for taking salad dressing to work for my lunchtime salad. I find they hold just enough and I prefer to dress it just before I eat it, not hours in advance.

Old herb jars are used for holding birthday cake candles and holders, and curtain hooks.

Film canisters (soon to be a thing of the past with our move to digital imagery) are great for paper clips, drawing pins and for the kids to hold their change on holiday.

All drink containers get re-filled with cordials for day trips or for taking milk to work.

Old Christmas cards get re-used as gift tags the following year using the pinking shears and hole punch technique. This is a good pastime for a rainy day.

My son is always saying to his friends that his mum will never throw anything away until it has been used at least twice! My brother also used to laugh at me as he once pointed out that my cupboards and utility room are full of empty margarine tubs or catering-size ice-cream containers with marker pen labels written on the side like SHOE CLEANING, ODD SOCKS, DISHWASHER TABLETS, etc. Funny, I hadn't noticed it until he mentioned it but now I just smile as I write another label in large capitals on the next tub that comes my way......

BWZN93 · 16 August 2005 at 12:30AM

I had another thought. The 'widget' in cans of bitter etc are really useful cat toys when given a decent rinse and dried off. Especially if your cat loves hiding/losing every other toy known to man - these come in packs of 8!!

Health and Safety notes:

Make sure the kitty is trained not to leave toys on the stairs in case of nasty accidents

Always get an adult to supervise the cutting open of cans as they are extremely sharp. :rolleyes:

Jo xx

apprentice_tycoon · 18 August 2005 at 12:33PM

If you have egg trays rather than boxes they are great in parcels as void fill instead of polystyrene peanuts

123xyz · 18 August 2005 at 3:38PM

The little net bags you get with washing tablets. Put a bar of soap in and hang them by the shower. You can use the soap directly from the bag whilst in the shower, the soap dries rather than going soggy afterwards, and you exfoliate while you wash in the bargain!

apprentice_tycoon · 18 August 2005 at 5:45PM

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 agree about the labels (lakeland freezer labels are a little more reliable but not 100%) and the marker pen can sometimes wear off. One way to get around this is to put the labelled marge tub of bolognese in a freezer bag, that way even if the label pops off it's still held by the bag and the bag can be re-used indefinately. I keep these second hand bags together in the freezer so I'm always reminded to use them and not start another new one.

Mumsie · 18 August 2005 at 7:22PM

Saving money? Recycling? You have to train yourself not to be fashion conscious/not to worry about your image. For instance. Cars. Most of us buy cars. Do we think about what we buy? You have to change your attitude to cars. Forget the image. Think - how much can I afford? Truthfully. Don't borrow money to buy a car. (It's just a piece of metal to get you from A to

Forget the colour/year/keeping up with the Joneses. We are the Joneses. Think what you really want in a car? Open top? Comfort? Speed? Forget new cars. Pay £500 and anything major goes wrong, throw it (or give it) away.

Look at the local Bargain Pages and see what cars are selling cheaply. Always the ones that lack (what other people think) image. Image costs a great deal of money. Quirkiness comes cheap. For instance.....
2cv's - so cheap to run and convertible and you always get a wave from fellow owners.
Anything Japanese - always good for reliability.

Anything more than ten years old can be repaired without a computer by anybody with a basic knowledge.

Your local garage will repair it for £15-20 per hour rather than £90 at a main dealer.

Plus in these congested times, it doesn't matter if you scratch it.

If you take it to one of the new recycling centres they will pay you for the car. If you have a newer car. Convert it to LPG. You get a grant and it's 34p a litre and much greener and cleaner.

It'w worth doing on older cars but buy the kit second hand and have somebody to fit it.

Happy car hunting - Penelope

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Recycling in the Home

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