Greening Your Pantry

I have a confession to make…I have a very bad habit of letting my pantry get out of control and then end up buying things that I already had in my pantry that I couldn’t find. Recently I came to realize how green this wasn’t and decided to change the way my pantry works.

Chaos bothers me. For the most part I’m a very orderly person. Jamison and Alexis however both have no problem with messes any and everywhere. Over time my pantry had become a mess. Things were haphazardly thrown in here and there and you couldn’t find anything! For a month or so I was determined that I was going to get it straightened up and organized. I can’t tell you how many times I went to find something in the pantry of chaos only to get overwhelmed by the spiral of stuff piled everywhere and I just gave up and bought what I needed the next time I was at the store. Not very green at all, especially when you have products in your pantry that have expired because you couldn’t find what you were looking for.

A week ago I got on this organization kick. In fact I’m still on this kick, there are other areas of my house that are screaming for a reorg! In the past 2 weeks I’ve straightened my closet, organized my mud room, “redesigned” my spice cabinet, specified a drawer in my kitchen just for my teas and reorganized my pantry! It’s amazing what I can now find at the tips of my fingers that I had to search and hunt for before!

My general idea with my pantry was that similar products should be together and I should be able to spot what was in the pantry simply by opening the doors. On the top shelf I have general baking “accessories” like nuts, chocolate chips, dried apples, oatmeal, dried tomatoes, cocoa nibs, etc. I can pull out the top shelf and find what I need in a flash.

On the second shelf I have a whole area devoted to Jamison’s gluten free things (Though obviously the sour dough pretzels are not gluten free!) and an assortment of dried beans, oils and “mom’s treats”. There is a little overlap here and there, but I can again slide out the shelf and see at a glance what is there.

On the third shelf I have Lex’s assortment of pastas and rice…She’s really a pasta/rice girl! I also have my assortment of vinegars and crackers. I like to put these down on Lex’s level, though she’s more than adept at using her stool too.

And finally on the bottom shelf I have the “big” stuff that is too tall for the other shelves, along with a treat jar that Lex is allowed to get one thing out of a day, spaghetti sauce, tuna, and the overflow of vinegars from the shelf above.

So how is this greener? It’s simple. With one glance I can see what is there, use what needs to be used and not purchase duplicate products while identical items sit in the pantry and go bad. It’s less wasteful and allows an ease of use that helps my chaos loathing soul. It’s also cheaper in the long run, which is always a good thing, and allows you to save money by using what you have instead of buying something you don’t really need.

What’s in your pantry? Any tips or ideas that work for you? I’m curious….

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What’s Going On

What’s Going On The Greenists Search Going GreenBeautyFoodHome CarePets What’s Going On Posted on June 15, 2010 by Allie

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10 Green Gift Ideas for Father’s Day

10 Green Gift Ideas for Father’s Day The Greenists Search Going GreenBeautyFoodHome CarePets 10 Green Gift Ideas for Father’s Day Posted on June 16, 2010 by Courtney

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Here a cluck there a cluck

One of the easiest ways to get your kitchen is green to keep a small flock of chickens. Easy maintenance for versatile, relatively quiet and amusing chickens are a must have for any Microsteader

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Everybody Hurts*

When driving on the freeways around Atlanta at, say, 2 a.m., the joy and freedom of owning a car in a country with an extensive network of well-maintained roads is readily apparent: light poles flashing by, the hum of the macadam beneath my tires, the near-empty lanes inviting me to push the pedal down a little harder and just keep going- if I weren’t so tired, that is, because it’s 2 a.m. on a Wednesday and why the heck aren’t I home in bed?

Venture out onto the same stretch of road anytime between the hours of 6 and 10 a.m. or 3 and 7 p.m. and instead of joy and freedom you’re more likely to experience violent rage or, at best, abject helplessness as you watch the windblown litter make more expedient progress down the road. Or maybe you just shrug, mutter a few four-letter words and wonder why we keep doing this every day when it clearly isn’t working. Traffic gets worse, we add more roads and more lanes to the ones we already have, and then add more cars. We’ll never win. There must be a better way.

But what? We always hear about more buses, more trains, more carpool lanes, not to mention making the roads bigger and more extensive, which from the rush hour driver’s point of view only serves to accommodate even larger traffic jams. In my own fantasy solution to our transportation woes we have roads dedicated entirely to bikes- pathways intended not just for recreation but for transportation, because I’m someone who is willing to ride a bike to get somewhere but I’m not willing to fight speeding cars to get there, because a bicyclist will lose that match every time. These pedal-power freeways (or maybe we’ll allow electric bikes and scooters on them as well?) will not intersect motorways, going over or under them, keeping bikes and cars segregated, and they’ll actually go places. And there surely will still be cars, some of us will just spend a bit more time in the saddle instead- when the weather doesn’t completely suck, of course. Hey, it’s not perfect.

And my little dream isn’t for everybody, I realize. That’s why I want to know what it would take to get you out of your car. Expanded bus service? High-speed rail? Airships? Nothing short of instantaneous molecular transport? Please share your vision in the comments. Until we figure it out, you can always shift your schedule around to avoid the worst parts of the day- apparently 2 a.m. is an ideal time to get around.

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Review: Sula Shea Butter Balm

Als ich mehr über grünes Leben, ist eine Sache, die ich gelernt habe, die Inhaltsstoffe von alles zu lesen, ich kaufen. Wenn es darum geht, Beauty-Produkte, schaue ich immer für Elemente, die Erdöl-frei. Es gibt Möglichkeiten, befeuchten, die Dinge, die auf der Grundlage in Öl betreffen nicht, und je mehr ich darüber nachdenke, reiben von Erdöl auf meiner Haut wie auch immer Art von Brutto ist.

So freue ich mich, Ihnen sagen, über Sula Shea-Butter Balsam, eine Linie von sanft duftende, Allzweck-Körper Balsame.Sie sind gemacht mit Zutaten, die ich kann aussprechen: organische Shea-Butter, Bio-Sonnenblumenöl, Bienenwachs, organische Jojobaöl, Rose Geranium ätherisches Öl und rose Otto ätherisches Öl.

Diese handgefertigten Balsame kommen in.37-Unzen Dosen, so sind Sie sehr portabel und nicht chaotisch überhaupt. Mein favorite Sache über diese Balsam ist, dass es so vielseitig — Sie können es auf Ihre Hände, Füße, Lippen, Gesicht, Nagelhaut und sogar Ihr Haar zu verwenden. Ich benutze es vor allem auf meine Hände und Füße, weil es, befeuchtet ohne das Gefühl fettig.Das Beispiel, das ich versuchte ist der Rosa Demascena-Duft, der Licht und blumig und nicht überwältigend überhaupt ist.Andere Düfte sind Bergamotte und Neroli Blossom.

Sula Shea-Butter Balms Einzelhandel bei Anthropologie, Ulta und sulabeauty.com für $ 8-$ 9.

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A/V Fridays – The Cove

A/V Fridays – The Cove The Greenists Search Going GreenBeautyFoodHome CarePets A/V Fridays – The Cove Posted on June 18, 2010 by Allie

Have you seen it?  Do you plan to?

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What Scott Bedford made reuse and recycling stuff

What Scott Bedford made reuse of & stuff, how can I reuse or recycle recycling cans tuna? What can I reuse or recycle an irrigation system? How can I reuse or recycle "Swiffer" Pug handles? How can I reuse or recycle fettiger fish & chip papers? How can I reuse, recycle upward trend or synthetic England flags? Join this week's reduce, reuse of & recycling round-up, how can I reuse or recycling foam water pipe lagging? How can I reuse or recycle old pram/buggy one? How can I make to facilitate recycling at home? Categoriesart & craft, the use of recycled materials (40) dilemmas (6) elements (801) baby (17) bathroom Christmas (68) business (5) (25) clothing and fabrics (86) Easter (4) food (119) Garden (78) hobbies (98) budget (446) kitchen (124) medical (18) (71) (205) packaging paper & stationery (48) (28) technology (46) toys (11) Valentines (11) water (9) Sports (12) to reduce this (32) repair of this (17) reverse this (50) recycle this GuidesRecycling at the Christmas recycling CharityReusing and recycling of baby StuffTagsbathroombottlebottlesboxcardboardChristmasclothclothesclothes Fabricclothes Fabricclothingcoffeecompostcompostingcraftselectronicsfoamfoilfoodfood and likefruitgardenglasshouseholdjewellerykitchenmetalpackagingpaperplasticrecyclingrecylingreducingrepairingreusingrubbershoessportsstationerytechnologyupcyclingvegetableswaterwirewood other green handicraft SitesAlison Bailey Smith's jewelry & WireworkCrafting green WorldRecycled crafts

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Make Your Own Natural Insect Repellent

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gyuvallos/71410563/

Summer makes me happy. I love going swimming, watching baseball, and not wearing socks for four months. But if there’s one thing about summer that bugs me, it’s … well, bugs. Not only are mosquito bites itchy and painful, they’re also dangerous. Going outside, especially into a wooded area, with no insect repellent is not an option.

But insect repellents, as you can imagine, are neither eco-friendly nor particularly good for you. Many are made with DEET, which is highly effective in warding off pests but not something you want swimming around in your bloodstream, which is exactly where it ends up after you spray it on your skin. Fortunately, for those who want to protect their health by avoiding both bug bites and chemical-based insect repellents, there are all kinds of do-it-yourself recipes for natural bug sprays.

Google “make your own insect repellent” and you’ll get more recipes than you can shake a stick at. (I’ve never understood that phrase, but clearly that doesn’t prevent me from using it.) In many recipes, the key ingredients are alcohol (either rubbing or the kind you can drink) and essential oils. Here’s one from Design

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Aussies and Kiwis block commercial whaling

The current Australian Labor government has had a rather spotty record during its brief hold on power and may, in fact, be imploding as I write.

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How can I reuse or recycling of meat which has gone?

We had an email from Amy:

Hello.There is anything I can do with expired meat? read I can it not compost but it is such a waste to throw way?

Yes, it is a waste!As I'm sure you know, it takes a lot of energy, a kilogramme of meat there to ship to your local supermarket and the refrigerator & home - so it would be really better reduce the amount of meat you buy or goes out your watch to produzieren.Eine thing to remember is that just because the date on the packaging says it is turned off, it means, it's really – learn what should smell & look (in terms of color/texture) and judge itself it every time. Take no unreasonable risks but don ' t be a slave to the label either.

Of course even the most organised we make mistakes and from time to time run things and Amy is correct, it be composted in most compost of bins/heap should not apply in the case, it attracts bugs.(Some sealed units and wormeries advertise that you but compost can.)

I suspect that this might be one, the us but any ideas stumps?

I have hunt or fish, some small bit of bait attract, fish or animals - but I so don't hear, if expired meat well would be. who white?

Category: Foods, items, kitchen
Posted by Louisa on 25 June 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle seed packets?

Cor, I worked hard in the garden yesterday – I was ill all last week so was a week behind on everything, and gardens don’t tolerate being a week behind at this time of year, especially since I’m already a couple of months behind on some things!

I think though, aside from a few things for successive planting or winter crops, I’ve planted just about everything I want to try this year – a new garden so lots of experimenting — and lots of empty seed packets in my seed box.

Obviously they’re just paper so could go in our recycling bin but I thought it might be interesting to hear if anyone uses them for anything creative – or to help garden organisation/labelling.

Any suggestions?

(CCA photo by LollyKnit)

Categories: garden, items, packaging, paper & stationery
Posted by louisa on 10 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle an old pond liner?

We have an e-Mail by Martyn had:

Can be recycled solid pond liner? if so, where please?

How far, as I can see rigid pond liner tend, made from fiberglass, and as we discovered last time we had a glass element, is recycled fiber, but is not far enough.

A better idea would be the pond liner reuse.You have a 20 year service life as ponds apparently but after, probably start to lick.(No one mentioned what happened, that 20 years - I it is start hope in leak and not explode, violently nach.denn that would be bad kill all within a radius of 50 m.)If you no longer need it as a pond you offer one on Freecycle Freegle to someone who could will.Oder when it started, leak and irreparable, you (or someone else) to use planter or similar.

Any other ideas?

And what is that damaged with reuse ideas for flexible PVC pond liner or are leaking?

Categories: Garden, household items,
Posted by Louisa 28 June 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle 3D glasses?

The Guardian’s Leo Hickman wrote an article yesterday about 3D glasses – how the current trend for jumping-out-at-you big screen action is causing a lot of waste: even with reusing and reconditioning schemes in place, around 7million pairs will be recycled into “plastic pellets” this year – and that’s not including the ones people have taken home.

We’ve only seen a few things in 3D – at the IMAX in Bradford – and we’ve always left the glasses there afterwards. But if we had taken them home (and if there wasn’t anywhere obvious for recycling, that’s what we’d have done), how could we have reused them?

The ones we’ve worn have been stylistic wonders – quirky-shaped plastic frames, which look particularly great over my normal specs…

Categories: hobbies, items, technology
Posted by louisa on 12 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle scraps of chicken wire?

We’ve had an email from Bruce:

I’ve got a large amount of chicken wire leftover after conducting some work in my garden. The biggest 1ft by 2ft, the rest smaller. Can I recycle them in my can bin?

While it certainly could be recycled as scrap metal, it might cause problems further down the can recycling line if you add it to your recycling bin, particularly if your recycling is sorted by machinery. If that bin is your only way of getting it into the recycling system, it might be worth contacting the recycling people at your local council and seeing what they advise (every council is different). Other than that, roaming scrap metal collectors are becoming more common again and most tips/household waste and recycling centres have scrap metal bins.

What about reuses? If you’ve got room to store it, it could be used for patching holes in the future and I know many sculptors use it to make wire frames for their work too. Other suggestions?

(Photo by Elné Burgers

Categories: garden, items
Posted by louisa on 14 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle Birkenstock sandals?

orangeterra left a comment on the “Suggest An Item” page:

What can I do with my old Birkenstock sandals? They’re a combo of rubbery foam soles, cork footbed, and leather straps. Because they take the shape of my feet, I doubt they’d be good hand-me-downs, but I hate to toss them.

Birkenstock has a page about their green production/distribution policies and advice on repairing/maintenance suggestions to prolong the life of the sandals. Birkenstock USA also links to shoe redistribution charity Soles4Souls.

Depending on which bit of orangeterra’s sandals has give way, they might benefit from a little repair – get a few more months out of them with new soles – or if the sole is good but the rest ruined/broken, they might be suitable for turning into slippers.

Any other suggestions? Or recycling links?

Categories: clothes and fabric, items
Posted by louisa on 17 May 2010

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How can I stain my wedding dress?

I got an email with the above subject line and assuming it was spam, braced myself for a rude message – but in fact it was a genuine reusing/upcycling question from Valerie:

i am getting married again, but because it is my second marriage, i don’t want to spend a lot of money all over again.

i still have the gown i wore for my first wedding, a couple of years back (not outdated yet!), which i love, but i wouldn’t wear it white again…can i stain it? to make it cream or just not white?

i read something about tea staining, but i would need to use a tub to evenly stain it, which i don’t have…suggestions?

My first thought whenever anyone asks about staining/dyeing old clothes is always: what fabric is it? Natural fabrics dye a lot better and lot more evenly than synthetic ones. If you’re not sure what fabric it is – well, even if you are sure, it would be worth doing a swatch test on a hidden layer to check out how well the stain will take and what it’ll look like.

(For those interested in natural dyes, I’d recommend the Pioneer Thinking guide to plant dyes – what to use to get different colours and what to use as fixes.)

Any other advice? and what about tub suggestions/advice? I’m not an expert dyer but I believe you have to be careful using some metal pots (especially aluminium) – is plastic to be avoided too? Valerie seems happy with the design but any other upcycling advice?

(Photo by trudyloos)

Categories: clothes and fabric, items, repair this
Posted by louisa on 18 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle hot tub water?

We’ve had an email from Linda:

i want to use the water from my hot tub on the garden, it is a great waste to just put it down the drain. the water has chlorine in it.

if i drain the water into water butts, is there any way i can remove the chlorine from it to make it safe to water my garden?

This isn’t something I know a lot about – I know people use filters to remove the chlorine from tap water but that’s in a lot lower and smaller quantities than a hot tub.

So anyone with more watery experience got any ideas?

(Photo by allygirl520)

Categories: garden, household, items, water
Posted by louisa on 19 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle carpet underlay?

Not ones to rush, we’re finally getting some carpet fitted in the room we started renovating when we first bought this house last September.

Now this might be carpet sales person nonsense but all the guides we’ve read about choosing a carpet say that the carpet will last a lot longer and wear better if you replace the underlay at the same time. The underlay in the room in question is a very good make apparently but judging by the carpet, has been there for at least 20 years. The old carpet is clearly worn along certain paths and we’re guessing even though it’s harder to see it, the underlay is similarly worn – so we’ve listened to the advice and are replacing it.

Now of course that means we know have both carpet and carpet underlay to get rid of – doubling the amount of stuff to reuse or recycle.

We’ve already covered old carpet in the past and I will certainly keep some of the carpet for those reuses – insulating the floor of our greenhouse for one, and I think some of the carpet might be suitable for making into doormats etc. But what can I do with the underlay?

This is a lot thicker and floppier than the stuff used under wooden or laminate floors. I’m tempted to say it’s foam rubber but I’m not sure it is, and I can’t find out any more about it online, other than it uses “advanced polymers”.

Any suggestions? And any advice on whether the “you have to get new underlay” thing is true or bunk?

(Photo by Haxxah and KraZug)

Categories: household, items
Posted by louisa on 21 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle over 1000 mugs?

We’ve had an email from Andy:

I work for an Events company based in Newmarket, Suffolk, and I have got over 1000 mugs, which as come back from an event and we need to recycle.

Do you know where I can do this?

We’ve got plenty of home & garden reuses for old/broken crockery but I suspect most people would find it hard to reuse over 1000 mugs as plant pots or for kids painting sessions – so we’re looking for mass reuse, redistribution or recycling into something more useful than landfill.

As with the other recent substantial amount of new stuff query, it might be worth contacting a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen, or another similar charity that could use them en masse.

As an absolute last resort instead of landfill, they could probably be crushed down for rubble/hardcore – but it would obviously be better to reuse them before that.

Any other suggestions?

(Oh and event organisers, check out our “how can I reduce the waste I receive at conferences etc?” post – reduce in the first place so you’re not stuck looking for reuse and recycling ideas afterwards!)

Categories: business, household, items
Posted by louisa on 24 May 2010

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What can I reuse or recycle to make a trug?

I’ve been getting more and more interested in wild food lately – we’ve been trying different things while walking the dog in the woods behind our house and on Sunday, we went on a wonderful Wild Food Foray organised by Slow Food West Yorkshire. Led by medical herbalist Jesper Launder, we spent just over three hours pottering around the River Wharfe just north of Barden Bridge and tasted more than a dozen different plants, and also went crayfishing (for nasty invasive signal crayfish) – which was a lot of fun. (I’m going to do a full write up of all the things we tasted on my personal blog soon.)

Anyway, long & short of it is, between wild food collecting and the hopefully bountiful harvest from our garden, a trug would be really useful for carrying stuff back up to the house – a Sussex trug style basket like the one pictured rather than those big rubbery plastic bins with handles. Up to now, I’ve mostly just either taken so few leaves that I could easily carry them in my hands or used shopping bags/a colander when I’ve headed down to get a larger amount of, say, wild garlic – but a trug would be useful for carrying large amounts of longer things, letting them lie flat instead of crunching them up.

One recycled trug idea I’ve seen is made using an old car tyre – the tyre is cut into sections (sixths?) and rope handles are attached, et voila! instant trug. I’ve also seen old fruit/veg boxes made into trugs with addition of a central handle.

But before I start hacking up John’s spare, I thought it might be interesting to hear if anyone has any other suggestions. Might something like paper mache even work? It doesn’t need to be that strong and I guess it could be varnished/painted enough to make it waterproof enough (it wouldn’t be sitting out in the rain but the plants might be damp/dewy.)

Any other ideas?

Categories: garden, household, reverse this
Posted by louisa on 25 May 2010

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Repair This: at what point is it better to buy something new?

Here’s a question that’s been I’ve been wondering about for a while: at what point is it better to buy something new than keep repairing something old?

On this site, we’re all about reducing & repairing – not buying things new for the sake of it or because they’re a bit scuffed & dirty – but with many things, you reach a point of diminishing returns and it feels like you’re throwing good money/time/resources after bad: at some point you have to make a decision to replace it. I suspect the precise point where that occurs depends very much on the item but I wondered what you think about when you’re deciding whether to repair or replace.

Is it a question of your skills? the item’s repairability? availability/affordability of new parts? its not-just-financial value? Other factors?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Categories: dilemmas, reduce this, repair this
Posted by louisa on 27 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle jerry cans?

We’ve had an email from Lieze:

how can i recycle an old jerry can in a creative way ?

Lieze doesn’t say whether it’s an old school pressed steel one or a newfangled plastic one – or whether it’s been used as a fuel container or a water one.

My first thought for anything container shaped at the moment is “plant pot” (has anyone else had a scarily successful germination rate for their seedlings this year?!) but I think I’d be hesitant to use an old fuel canister for that, even if I could work out a way to make the opening bigger. Anyway, that’s not particularly creative so … I don’t know – maybe if you can slice off the front off a metal one, you could attach hinges and make it into a fun storage cabinet. (I love the idea of it being painted bright pink for the juxtaposition with the cold, industrial metal ;) )

Any other suggestions?

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Categories: garden, household, items
Posted by louisa on 28 May 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle plastic deli counter wrapping?

We’ve had an email from Iona:

The deli counter at Sainsburys insists on wrapping every item in its own yards of plastic wrap including multiple plastic sheets and then the plastic bag. Can they be recycled with carrier bags?

Plastic bags are usually made from polyethylene – which can be high-density (HDPE – resin code 2) or low-density (LDPE – resin code 4). I’m not certain – so please correct me if I’m wrong – but I believe the plastic bags from food counters are LDPE. LDPE is collected for recycling in many areas but you might want to check with your local council to see if you can add it to your doorstep recycling, or if you’re using a carrier bag drop at a supermarket, see if there is any information on the box about that sort of thing.

Before thinking about reuses and recycling ideas though, try to reduce if you can. Ask them to use a single sheet if they must use one at all or swap to non-deli items with more recyclable packaging – although that’s easier said than done because so many refrigerator items from supermarkets come in hard to recycle plastic. (Our little independent butcher in Leeds used as much plastic as any supermarket counter I’ve ever seen too.) I know some people (Mrs Green from My Zero Waste for example) take reusable tubs for the deli people to use instead – I suspect stores’ policies will vary on whether or not they let people do this but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Has anyone any advice on getting the fresh food counter people to cut back on the amount of plastic or use tubs you’ve brought from home?

And are there any reuse ideas for plastic sheets etc?

Categories: household, items, kitchen, packaging
Posted by louisa on 2 June 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle pre-packed sliced meat packaging?

After writing Wednesday’s post about deli counter plastic wrapping, I got thinking about pre-packaged cooked meat packaging and what a pain they are to reuse or recycle.

The ones I’m thinking of are used in the UK for sliced meats such as ham or roast beef/chicken, “continental sausages” (ie chorizo, salami etc), or wafer thin water-injected animal shavings (mmm!). The packaging has a semi-rigid shallow plastic tray and is covered with heat sealed plastic film. According to the misc pack of salami we have the in the fridge, the packing “currently isn’t recyclable (but because we care about the environment, we’re working on it)”. (Uh huh).

There is obviously a reduce option – although depending on the alternative provision, you might end up with as much plastic anyway.

Most packs only contain a single layer or a few slices max so the plastic tray is a little too shallow to use in the usual plastic tray ways – a saucer under plant pots, a paint palette for budding Monets – so are there any other ways they could be reused instead?

Categories: food, items, kitchen, packaging
Posted by louisa on 4 June 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle old clock parts?

We’ve had an email from David:

I need to know how to recycle the inner brass parts of grandfather clock that no longer work?

Brass, like nearly all metals, is in high demand in the recycling world and so if there is a good weight of it, most local scrap metal dealers would willingly take it off your hands – some might even pay a little for it. We have random-but-frequent scrap collections around here (some more legitimate than others…) and there are usually metal bins at local tips.

I’d imagine the workings would also be highly desirable to other people who want to reuse rather than recycle them – someone might be able to make them work in another clock or, probably more likely, use them to make artwork. Offer them on your local Freecycle/Freegle group – or put them on eBay if you think they might be worth a few quid (if they’re heavy, you could say pick-up only if you didn’t want to organise shipping).

Any other suggestions? Any particular practical or creative ideas for things that could be done with them?

Categories: household, items, technology
Posted by louisa on 7 June 2010

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How can I get rid of slugs reusing/recycling stuff (or other green ideas)?

I asked a similar question on Twitter the other day but since I’ve lost more leaves to the blighters over the weekend, I thought I’d asked for more suggestions – I want to belt & braces it!

In response to my Twitter question,

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How can I reuse or recycle a rusty cheese grater?

(My! doesn’t that sound like a smutty euphemism? :) )

We’ve had an email from Alicia:

Because a leak caused damp, all the metal stuff in my kitchen cupboard went rusty while I was on holiday. Didn’t think that could happen but it has! There is a square grater, a colander and a seive. Can I do anything with them?

I’ve de-rusted a cast iron griddle pan and we regularly have to de-rust our less-than-perfectly-seasoned wok but I imagine it might be harder work to restore holey things like that – anyone got any advice on repairing them and protecting them so they don’t continue to rust?

I’ve seen all three used as fun light fittings (eg this Instructable uses a colander as a ceiling light shade). If you don’t want them rusty, you could sand them back to get rid of the flakiness and paint them to protect it from future rust and give it a new look.

Failing all that, they’re some sort of metal so can be recycled in the metal scrap bin at your local tip/waste collection site.

Any other suggestions?

Categories: household, items, kitchen
Posted by louisa on 9 June 2010

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How can I make recycling easier at home?

You guys, I have a confession – I’ve been creating more to-landfill waste than normal over the last few months and I don’t really know why.

In our old house, it was rare that the landfill bin was even a quarter full when it was emptied but here, it’s always over half full, two-thirds full by the time it’s emptied. That’s a lot of rubbish.

I think there are a few things at play – we’ve been doing a lot of work on the house & garden which has generated waste. We’ve had a lot of deliveries related to that, so more packaging waste than normal. And, most important, as we’ve technically moved cities, the balance of what we can recycle has changed too – we can recycle glass now but can’t doorstep-recycle plastic or corrugated card. (We’re more likely to reuse glass jars etc and we’ve had a lot of card because of the DIY/deliveries.)

But I think it also feels harder for us to recycle than it used to be – we have to separate out the recycling more, our compost bin is three flights of stairs away from the kitchen, we’re eating in more so creating more food-related waste (although not specifically food waste) and even though the house is bigger, it feels like it has less bin space in the kitchen (so can’t separate in there) and we haven’t got any cellar space like we used to have for medium-term storage of items to be reused. Excuses, excuses.

Almost needless to say, I want to solve this situation! Becoming a zero waste household isn’t feasible for us but I’d like to cut down a lot, preferably down to less-than-the-old-house waste levels.

Some ideas I’ve had:

reduce! The first wave of DIY stuff has mostly come to an end so that’ll cut down a lot of waste and also make it easier for us to bake/cook more at home & cutting down on food packagingget multiple bins (or a single divided bin) in every room to separate recycling on the spot (we already have multiple bins in some rooms and it’s a great help)get a covered bin in the front yard for stuff to take to recycling facilities at the tip (at the moment, we’ve got stuff in carrier bags – it looks untidy and isn’t waterproof)free up some space in the store room (the closest thing we have to a cellar) and half-a-garage to allow more storage space for reusablesset aside a specific box for charity shop stuff and donate the contents regularlyresearch an animal poo solution! (Something more like a bin to break it down rather than a cork to stop it coming out in the first place.)

But what else can I do?

Categories: household, kitchen, reduce this
Posted by louisa on 10 June 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle an old pushchair/stroller?

Walking down the road the other day – on the way to lunch, I spotted the wheels of a pushchair sticking out of a skip. The next time I walked past, the skip had gone so I couldn’t grab it – but it got me thinking all the same.

I’d like to think that if it was still in a usable condition for a child, they’d have passed it onto someone else – there is an NCT nearly new sale nearby this weekend and it’s been heavily advertised around here for weeks – so I presume it’s damaged in some way.

But just because it’s unsafe for a child doesn’t mean it has no other uses. Our neighbour at the last house would have, as a minimum, reused the wheels for a go-kart or similar. I wonder what other bits could be used for…?

And if it, say, was broken — tears in the supporting fabric or wheel damage — does anyone know if there are any organisations which repair this type of thing for donation to those in need?

(CCA Photo by Chris Denbow. I was tempted to use this photo instead – such a handsome chap!)

Categories: baby, household, items
Posted by louisa on 11 June 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle foam water pipe lagging?

This is usually the other way around – we usually suggest things that can be used to insulate water pipes – but I saw some foam water pipe lagging on the road today while walking the dog. I imagine it had blown off a nearby skip or been taken off by kids (because reuse #1: they’re great for sword fights) but either way: yoink!

Given the rain of the last 24 hrs, they’re a bit wet but since they’re plasticky foam, I imagine they’ll dry fine. We’ll probably use them for actual pipe lagging as we’ve just had some new pipe work put in – but if we were already insulated, what else could we use them for?

Categories: bathroom, household, items
Posted by louisa on 14 June 2010

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How can I reuse, upcycle or recycle synthetic England flags?

Our good friend Tim posted this question on Twitter yesterday:

Anyone have good craft ideas for a synthetic England Flag? There may be lots of them on the streets or landfills soon

There certainly will be! A4-ish size car ones, towel sized ones, super-sized ones… a whole lot of squeaky synthetic white fabric with a red cross on it — all of which will be instantly discarded as soon as the team are knocked out. (I’m speaking from experience about the disappearing – the photo was taken on our old estate by John during the last World Cup and they all disappeared the day after the losing match.)

Of course it would be great if everyone reduced – didn’t buy as many (if any) or kept them to reuse for future events rather than buying new each time but that doesn’t seem to happen.

So any reusing, upcycling and recycling suggestions?

Categories: clothes and fabric, household, items, sports
Posted by louisa on 16 June 2010

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What can I reuse or recycle to make an irrigation system?

I’m lucky because, working from home, I can take a plant-watering break pretty much whenever I or they need it – but I thought it was worth asking for people who have to leave their veggies baking in their greenhouse all day without a comfort break.

Above ground sprinkler type things (like the one in the picture) are apparently very inefficient at watering veggies – too much of the water evaporates on the surface before it has a chance to get down to the roots.

I’ve heard of people using holey old garden hose as a makeshift drip irrigation system but that seems like it might be a little hard to manage the flow – in my mind, the question has a second part that didn’t fit in the headline up there: “how can I make a reused or recycled irrigation system that doesn’t waste too much water?”

Any ideas?

(It’s also important to consider preventative water-loss measures – mulching and the like – which cut down on the amount of water lost to evaporation — what’s your favourite reuse/recycle for that sort of thing?)

Categories: garden, items, reverse this
Posted by louisa on 22 June 2010

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How can I reuse or recycle tuna cans?

While we’ve covered food cans in general before, Danielle emailed asking tuna cans in particular:

i have so many, what can i do with them?

There’s a wide variety of uses for tuna cans:

I know some people use them to make “buddy burner” candles and you can use them as candle holders too – but make sure you put a bit of sand in the bottom first to absorb the heat from the candle rather than it heating the metal.

Some people clean them up and use them as “cookie cutters” for making large biscuits/cookies, and because everything in this house gets commandeered for the purpose sooner or later, I’ve used them as drip saucers under plant pots (pull the label off and leave them silver for an industrial look, paint them to make them look prettier – shiny white or cream gloss gives a pseudo-vintage enamel look).

Since they’re essentially just a small pot with a low centre of gravity, they’re useful for holding small quantities of paint/glue. Or as students have been known to do – use them as makeshift ashtrays.

Any other suggestions?

(Photo by TanjaS)

Categories: household, items, kitchen, packaging
Posted by louisa on 23 June 2010

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