Practical recycling tips

[ysb33r]

My practical guide to recycling non-organic household waste. I cannot take this for my own as a number of these titems are items that I have got from elsewhere including the GYO forums:

• 2lt Plastic Milkbottles: Remove the sticker or plastic band. Fill with water and use as a weight (instead of a brick) to hold down weed cover or fleece. You calways reuse the water later again to water your plants.
  
• Newspaper: Combined with a paper potter it is useful to create biodegradable paperpots. Some vegetable benefit from being started off in paper pots as this eliminates the need for transplanting and minimises root disturbance.
  
• Toilet rolls: Some vegetables benefit from being sown in toilet rolls as this acts as a root trainer. Some people like sowing leeks this way. I think it is easier to sow leeks in a pot and then plant them out in the traditional way. At this point however I push the toilet roll in to the dibbered hole, to prevent soil falling in
  
• Yoghurt pots (especially the Müller-lite ones): Push a little raining hole into the bottom at it works well for potting on small seedlings.
  
• Small plastic drinking yoghurts and soft drink bottles: Place over canes to rattle in the wind and more importantly to prevent injuries to eyes etc.
  
• Plastic compost bags: Cut the top off and invest so that the black is on the outside. Use as a potato grow bag. Top up with soil as necessary.

[Snadger]

You can also cut the white plastic milk bottles into strips to be used as plant labels!

[starwatcher]

I started my broad beans of in toilet rolls with great success, no root disturbance when transplanting. had a fantastic crop this year.

[Sue]

More uses for 2 litre milk bottles
Cut into a scoop shape and use, surprise, surprise, as a scoop
use them to transport liquids to the allotment, and label them if you're going to reuse as I would suggest for drinking water, soup for heating up on shed stove, grey water and pee....
Cut in half for useful storage pots for seed labels etc
Cut in half and use for paint pots for doing shed or for mixing up greenhouse white paint. Use another one to clean brushes.
Cut in half, put a hole in the bottom and use as a plant pot.
Use as storage for worm wee from COW
But if you've got mice problems don't use them to store seed etc they can chew through them in no time.
Use the milk bottle tops as drainage crocks in the bottom of pots.
Sue

[lainey lou]

don,t forget cut in half bottles make free cloches

[skegblade]

We had a new bed and kept the heavy duty plastic it came in to use as cold frame glazing and when work a had new fridge delivered I claimed the polystyrene sheets that protected it to insulate the cold frame; much to the amusement of my work mates

Phil

[clareg]

Just remember if you are using old milk cartons/drink bottles to store or transport any other liquid make sure you label it!

My Dad made the mistake of drinking from a Coke bottle that had antifreeze in it! Let's just say he was lucky to only be in hospital for 2 days. And yes, it does make you hot!

Clareg

[Two_Sheds]

Use the milk bottle tops as drainage crocks in the bottom of pots.

that's a good one I hadn't thought of. You can't put them in the recycling, they're the wrong type of plastic.
Apparently you can only recycle types 1, 2 and 3 in your green/blue bin. (the number should be printed/embossed on the item somewhere)

[lainey lou]

I save my milk bottle tops for the local hospice who somehow get money for them- dunno how!

[Flummery]

Only a quilter would think of this, but you can recycle cotton garments into quilts. You have to be quite careful in label reading or you get mixtures of cotton/polyester. I also cut off the buttons of any garment too shot to be recycled or sent to a charity shop. (I know, tight as a fishes bum!)

[Two_Sheds]

I made a quilt cover out of men's shirt, £1 each from Charity Shop, cut up into squares then stitched together. Its really nice and I'm ever so proud.

[Birdie Wife]

Cut plastic milk cartons in half and put the bottom half in your lavatory cistern. As the cistern flushes, water drains out but remains in the cut carton. This means that when the cistern fills again, it doesn't take so much water. Same as putting a brick in the cistern really.

[Two_Sheds]

Or fill a milk carton with water, put lid on and drop in the cistern.

[muckdiva]

Wire coat hangers snipped in half (excluding the curvy hanger bit) make most excellent staple type pegs to hold down fleece, black plastic etc.

[bazzaboy]

Great thread! I'm not particularly "organic" but I am something of a recycling nut... I love Sue's "scoop" - presumably you have to keep the cap on or whatever you're scooping ends up up your sleeve?

Junk mail - if a see-through wrap, don't dump or tear open but use scissors down one side and you have a lightweight poly bag ideal for cuttings etc (not food) - better than freezer bags coz lighter and no print. (You still end up with too many...) I never quite know what to do with the catalogue, partic if glossy colour....

Paper envelopes (if not used as such) and ordinary paper, shred for compost, worms etc. Bubblewrap, polystyrene strips and balls, keep for protecting etc.

Plastic bottles of various sizes with the bottoms chopped off make excellent watering receptacles. You can of course get spikes that make them even easier though if they empty too quickly a handful of gritty soil slows the process. For tomatoes I've tried the bottomless "tomato pot" technique but reckon a large inverted waterbottle with the base chopped off works just as well.

Foil - if you use root-trainers (or that technique) when you get to the raising stage foil underneath helps persuade additional roots.
Jars.... jars!
Sugar bags.... bonfire firelighters.
Tins... best if designer rusty (not difficult) grouped together as flower pots (except I got fed up with watering 'em...); you perhaps saw in a recent mag the ornamental flowerbed made of coke-cans filled with sand? (note to self, must start drinking coke...).

Larger scale, brick fireplaces - paths; wooden gates - drying/storage racks; old wooden step ladder... raised bed! (Not so much "square foot gardening" more 18" x 7" )

Yup, you guessed right, my house and garden (not to mention my posts) are full of cr*p

bb