Recycling/garden reuse thread

[Kirsten]

Just some ideas on how to reuse/save energy in the garden:

1) For seed starting or small plants... you can reuse yogurt containers, plastic (disposable) cups that have been rinsed, milk jugs with the top removed, anything relatively deep that will hold soil. This is especially fun with clear disposable cups, as you can see what's going on with all the root action. If you are careful not to overwater, you won't even have to worry about poking holes in the bottom. I've started lots of things from seed this way and transplanted to larger, actual pots after I figured out which ones were strongest and worth saving. (For even smaller seeds like peppers, tomatoes, you can try egg cartons as well.) Flat trays/covers of Chinese take out? Use them for water-catching dishes under your pots! As long as these containers aren't cracked, I keep reusing them, not only for planting but also for watering small seedlings as well.

2) OK for all you Brits who seem to live in the land of constant :sky11: this might not be a concern for you :p but where I live we are CONSTANTLY in a drought in the summer... and so I put a large bucket in each sink and save the water used from washing produce, etc. Obviously don't put soapy water in there, just nudge it aside when you're using soap, and pull it back when you don't... you'll be amazed how much water you can save. We'd frequently fill up a two gallon sized bucket five or six times a day in one sink. This water would then be used to water the garden.

3) Paper towels... seriously, maybe it's just because I live in a college dorm, but there's SO much paper towelage in the trash. Try using either a cloth towel to dry your hands, or here's what I do: the paper towel is clean anyway, since your hands were clean and freshly washed? Well now that it's been dampened anyway, use it to wipe the floor. I hate the idea of all those "disposable one time use" wipes that just go right back into the landfill. And if you're really creative, toss the paper towel into the compost bin when you're done with it.

4) Compost compost compost...!!! You don't need to buy a fancy composter for this... any big old container with holes will do. I have a 10 gallon plastic pot that used to contain some tree in the backyard. Compost is sooooo good for your plants and it's free, too! See the composting thread for more information.

5) Dry your laundry outside. There's a big, huge, free :sunny: out there (I love how I'm illustrating this as I go), so make use of it! Sun-dried clothes smell wonderful - I haven't used a drier in years, and it saves so much energy. Also, stop and think before you toss that one shirt or pair of socks and pants into the washer - do you really need it right now? Try and wait until you have a full load to run the washer. It'll save you money in water usage too.

6) Paper wasting drives me insane because I love trees, so unless I have to print something out nicely and turn it in, I don't use fresh paper. Everything I write (taking notes in class, scribbling, etc) is on the back of something that's been previously printed on. When both sides of the page are finally covered, it's due for the compost pile. (You can recycle too, but composting is more local and saves the energy of recycling it ;) )

7) And lastly this is kind of a stupid one but for some reason it comes to mind... dried up pens. I hate throwing them away (as I do much of anything, if you can't tell!) and there's almost nothing they're good for. I finally figured somethings out... you can either use them as digging tools for planting seeds (the pointed end), or puncture the pointed end deep into the soil and attach a sign to it with the name of your plant as an identification tag.

I'm sure I'll think of more later, saving energy is my big big big thing. Everyone else, please feel free to contribute as well!

[Foz]

cool thanks for the tips!

[farah]

:tree-huggin:

thank you for the tips lots of practical ideas the pen recycling idea is great :D

8) Replace the old style light bulbs with the new energy saving ones & turn of lights and switches when you don't need them (we've started doing this at work as well)

9) Leave the car at home when you have to work short distances - if you have a bike use it more often - better for your health, saves you money and the environment!

[farah]

10) One 55g shampoo bar from www.lush.co.uk gives approximatley the same number of washes as three 250ml bottles - and cuts down on packaging and transport - it lasts longer because it isn't a liquid and doesn't require any chemical preservatives either.

https://www.lush.co.uk/images/stories/shampoobar.jpg

[edibles]

11)If you accidently break a plate or glass do not throw away the pieces, instead put them in the bottom of a pot or container before putting in the soil and it will improve drainage

[Kirsten]

11)If you accidently break a plate or glass do not throw away the pieces, instead put them in the bottom of a pot or container before putting in the soil and it will improve drainage

Good one - same with ceramic pottery shards.

This is more of a rant that doesn't really go anywhere, but I was looking around last night (all excited about the eggshells) and I couldn't believe that some websites suggested going out to buy a new trash can/bucket/etc, drilling holes in it, and then planting something in it was recycling/being creatively good to the environment etc. I just sat there thinking... no... that's just ruining a perfectly good trash can!!

12) Wash and reuse your plastic forks/spoons/knives. Unless you used them to cut something ridiculously gooey and sticky, it's not that hard and only takes an instant. Anything to save plastic from going into the landfill... my strawberry and rose seeds are currently in Chinese take out containers... oh, and re-use the plastic spoons for filling small seed containers too big for shovels :)

On the topic of writing on the side of paper that's been previously printed on, I did a homework assignment for biology yesterday, only to find that it was on the back of a JAPANESE worksheet. My poor professor was confused, but fortunately quite understanding...

[Riz]

wow kirsten you are a great example of what we all need to do, every little bit helps.

Too be honest with i have bought lots of plastic buckets to use as containers because they are really cheap, the alternative is a terracotta pot and the bigger the container the bigger the cost, even the wooden ones are really expensive, but in spring inshallah i will be using lots of bio-degradable pots for seedlings even eggshells. I too use old spoons to fill seedling pots and even to repot them you can get the spoon down under and take out the whole tap root cleanly. You can buy real cheap "off cuts" of wood which can easily be made into containers, aye ill be saving my planks of wood in the future for that use,

I often wonder when you go shopping and you take all the food stuff out of wrappers, do you see how much plastic it takes to wrap it all in the first place, you get a platsic bag full of plastic wrappings to just throw away its disgraceful. On the weekend in my hometown after the take aways ( fast food) are shut you can see the rubbish bins outside rammed packed with plastic wrappers...

so thanks kirsten for some of the inspiration... :)

[Kirsten]

Oh I'm sorry, I hope you didn't think i was slamming you at all Riz, I saw your buckets with holes and they're quite pretty :) I don't think there's anything wrong with using a bucket with holes to plant flowers in, I just don't think it's really "recycling" if it's brand new. I agree, huge terra cotta pots are SO expensive!! :eek:

I wonder about plastic wrapping too. Maybe this makes me extremely cheap, but when I buy groceries from our on-campus store they come wrapped in clear wrap held in place with a rubber band. (By the way, this is an excellent way to keep your vegetables if you like them extremely unfresh.) I've re-used that clear wrap and rubbed band around the top of a flower pot to keep moisture in, for example...

I read elsewhere that you could take the awful, awful plastic that comes around electronics and kids' games (it's always impossible to open!!), cut them into strips, and use them as plant tags (like you label one side and stick the other into the soil). I haven't tried it but it seems easy enough...

(I saw a cute picture today of a row of eggshells and each one labeled: "Cuke" "Carrot" "Onion" with crayon directly on the eggshell. There's another way to do it lol!)

[Riz]

Not at all Kirsten... :)


When i first started to learn about gardening, i use to buy the pots and they cost £2.99 so that's why i started to buy the 99 pence buckets they are as deep as the plastic pots but cheaper.. I do feel guilty though using plastic and on top of that i know it takes centuries to degrade,,,

Another good idea is to save rain water espically if you live in u.k we have so much rain, its a one off expensive under £60 depending on size of butt, A water butt attached to your drain pipe balanced P.H water ( acid rain hmm) it can fill up in one day and the plants will love rainwater a lot more than tap water and its free espically good if like me you have a water meter that charges per litre.....

I actually made a ghetto version of the water butt, One of my neighbours had a old plastic bin ( a round one quite big) i think they used it to keep chappati flour in, I asked them if they were going to throw it out which they were and i took it of there hands and placed it under my drain pipe ( which i can detach and the rainwater flows right in it) but obviously there is no cut off switch and it over flows, but so what its free and the bin did not cost me anything... when the bin is full of rain water i put the lid on top of it and when it comes to watering my container plants i use the rain water from the butt :)

[Kirsten]

I love saving water, it makes me happy :)

Unfortunately you can't have standing water outside where I live - mosquitoes will breed in it and in addition to being a @#)(*$(#@*$(# PAIN (kind of like squirrels, sometimes) they can carry West Nile disease.

I still put out a dish for the birdies, though, and just change it every day.

[farah]

Another good idea is to save rain water espically if you live in u.k we have so much rain, its a one off expensive under £60 depending on size of butt, A water butt attached to your drain pipe balanced P.H water ( acid rain hmm) it can fill up in one day and the plants will love rainwater a lot more than tap water and its free espically good if like me you have a water meter that charges per litre...

2 be honest with the amount of rain water we get in the UK there is no need for hoses to water at all water butts are a brill idea

[Riz]

2 be honest with the amount of rain water we get in the UK there is no need for hoses to water at all water butts are a brill idea


yep... i agree totally...

[Foz]

i keep meaning to invest in a water butt

[Kirsten]

:(

We're in so deep of a drought the newscasters tell us it will take several years of excess rain before our water levels go back to normal...

[farah]

:( Is it because of the climate change?

[Riz]

hi farah..

well it happens in U.K as well " water droughts" back in the early 90`s there was a hose pipe ban, in my area 3 years ago we were not allowed to use the hosepipe, because the reservoirs were only 1/4 full.

[farah]

true say but they aren't ever too bad in England as people really have no need for hose pipes here anyway - makes you think the amount of rainfall we have over one year in the UK and we still have shortages because of wastage and water companies behaving irresponsibly - now compare the amount of rain fall Egypt has per year and because of good management it somehow manages to suffice most years, I remember being in Pakistan a week after the major earthquake there was a big drought that whole winter (which meant it was really cold as well), the wells were running dry or empty and so many people passed away and the way people live in villages is sooo sustainable, they re-use everything because they have no choice but to and that's not as bad as some of the droughts in other parts of the world... so if we can do our part in small ways to stop things getting worse then we should as its really no skin of our noses (4give the clichés) :tree-huggin:

[Kirsten]

I agree with you farah - I think too many people are used to taking water for granted and really wasting a lot that they could save.

I just about killed Dandelion Boy (the muslimgrower nickname for my boyfriend because he once identified a dandelion as a tomato plant :) ) the first time we made dinner together and it took him about 20 minutes, with the water on full blast the entire time, to wash ONE pot. After that I always do the dishes!

[Riz]

I was reading that other day in the tabloids..

they are 80 countries in the world that have water shortages that threaten health and economies while 40 percent of the world — more than 2 billion people — have no access to clean water or sanitation.

So in the future forget about "oil wars" it will be "water wars".

nice to round of the year with an optimistic view of the world..:D

[~Obsidian~]

Water butts would be so sensible, although we have that mosquito problem too Kirsten

Do you guys remember the starbucks 'dipper well', the outrage surrounding that! Ridiculous, leaving a tap on 24/7 !!

[farah]

:eek: water wars... but sadly enough there was an advert the other day stating that three children pass away every minute from drinking unsafe water :(


Aww I've probably done stuff just like Dandelion Boy has before, but there was an explanation leaflet for kids i read that laid out things clearly (sorry if i've said this before)- Imagine a bucket full of water as all the water on the planet, then take a cup from that bucket - that is all the water suitable for human consumption - take a teaspoon from the cup - that is all the water that we actually can access and that is for all humans and animals -(glaciers etc make up the rest) reading it put things in perspective

[globalart4u]

my family have been doing all this long before recycling became fashionable we use all the plastic no matter what etc until they die out and even then it is cut down and used in some art project or other or putting on handmade cards etc. Paper is even shredded and used in our lucky dip bucket and cardboard is cut down and planted in the garden - breaks down nicely though slowly but hey.

Old cards we make lovely boxes out of them and use as gift boxes. Old tights are used to make flowers

[~Obsidian~]

I'm a step closer to getting my raised boxes....we've had builders working, and there is some scrap wood :D

[Foz]

Do you guys remember the starbucks 'dipper well', the outrage surrounding that! Ridiculous, leaving a tap on 24/7 !!

whats that about?

[~Obsidian~]

Sorry Foz, I missed this!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7654691.stm

Basically they had a tiny tap running all day long to rinse off utensils.

[TRUREL]

Dunno if it will work but when I order Chicken from Abraham Natural I get polystyrene boxes. Thought I would give a shotusing them as plant containers.

I'll let you know how it goes.



http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/8585/011wkv.jpg

[Riz]

^ cool..

i do the same thing with poly boxes, i have some basil growing.. hope you didnt forget to make some holes to let the excess water out :)

[Nife180]

^ cool..

i do the same thing with poly boxes, i have some basil growing.. hope you didn't forget to make some holes to let the excess water out :)
Just a warning styrene from Polystyrene can leak into the soil and weaken plants or even get into your edibles, although it leaks in very minute amounts, if you reuse soil in long-term then you should watch out.

It's not really that you shouldn't use them as planters, many people do. I'll do It myself, as current research shows that it's not harmful to humans, but I don't know about plants.

[TRUREL]

I also use broken polystyrene at the bottom of pots instead of stones.

[TRUREL]

^ cool..

i do the same thing with poly boxes, i have some basil growing.. hope you didnt forget to make some holes to let the excess water out :)

There are a few holes but maybe I should nip out again as its....:sky11:

[~Obsidian~]

Good idea! Turning bottles into mini-cloches is already in this thread, right?

[GuitarCrazyo]

Can someone please list or direct me to information on the recycling points in Macau - I am looking for specific addresses and the type of material each collection point will accept.

Any information will be greatly appreciated

thank you