Bits and Pieces...The reduce/reuse/recycle thread

[sweetiepea]

Does anyone make their own newspaper bricks for fires these days?

There used to be a machine to compress the pulp into brickettes to burn?

Is this a viable option please? We also have a lot of newspaper waste to dispose of.

I make my own fire blocks using a little ‘machine’. Mainly a summer activity as it can take the blocks a while to dry. I think I have a spare machine in the shed (brand new) if you would like it Johnny Appleseed. Send me a PM if you do.

I also use newspaper to make paper pots, and lay thick layers under weed control fabric and gravel around my raised beds, and under bark elsewhere.

Old Cooking Pots and Other Containers: Use to collect rainwater. Rainwater is particularly good for softening newspapers to be made into bricks.

Cardboard Milk Cartons: 1 Litre milk cartons are great for growing carrots and roots – particularly if you have limited space. The best one are the smaller, squat shaped ones, as these can be folded flat for storage, and to have the top edge trimmed to make a neat opening. Fill with compost, plant seeds, and before long you’ll have lovely straight carrots. Great for growing baby carrots too.

Plastic Bottles: Litre Bottles – Cut the bottoms off, remove lids and insert into beds, pots or tubs for direct watering to the roots. Small Bottles – As above, but use in hanging baskets. Remove lids and use as cane toppers.

Plastic Trays: Flat trays – Dishes to feed the cats! Seed trays. For holding paper pots when filled. Cat litter trays – old but clean! Strong enough to hold 24 filled and sprouting paper pots.

Mini Greenhouse: When the plastic cover is torn to tatters, use the frame for greenhouse staging, or for storing plant pots etc outside.

Old Guttering: Great for starting peas.

Old Colanders: Compost sieve.

Old Windows: To make a cold frame. Place on top of bricks or wood. If glass has been removed, tack on some strong, clear polythene.

[NOG]

Keep the Brown Paper bags from Nero/Starbucks/Costas. Put them in the compost caddy under the sink. Add some shredded paper to absorbe the moisture. When full pull it and bung the lot bag and all in to the Compost bin,
Cut down Milk Bottles to make Plant Lables.
Go behind the Cafe and grab the blue plastic Mushroom trays great for moving pots.

[BFG]

I use marge tubs and the like for pots and cutting up into labels.

Ice cream tubs or biscuit tins for seeds.

[rana]

Plastic meet trays for watering trays and seed trays.

Computer disk box (with dividers) for seed packet storage/organiser.

A cut off inverted pop bottle makes a good funnel for watering directly into soil.

Old cotton T-shirts cut to shape as hanging basket liners.

Cotton rags/clothes will rot down in the compost heap.

Domestic cleaner trigger spray bottles for herbicide/insecticide sprayers.

Plastic fence/paint tubs as general garden buckets and compost mix containers.

[kiwirach]

i've been using those clear plastic tubs the grapes come in to sow seeds....they are a good depth and you can get lots of seeds in one tub.

[SarzWix]

Thought I'd just bump this thread

[Jeanied]

Sorry folks I just gotta add the use of old duvets and pillows here or old sleeping bags- I have just made my 3rd compost bin duvet and lifted it to find steam rising below! So you take one old duvet or several pillows and a folded sheet of black plastic off the roll at the garden centre and one roll of black duct tape from the diy store. Create a small duvet to fit - folding the old duvet or splitting up the fibre in the pillows - fill the black plastic rectangle and seal off the edges with the tape. Give your compost bin a dose of water and then pop the duvet over - weight down if the heap is taller than the surroundings and wait for it to shrink down double fast!

[annacruachan]

The containers that roofing tiles come in make excellent supports for waist-high gardening. One container, with a couple of extra lengths of 2 x 4 added strategically, will hold 4 fishboxes at a comfortable height for working.

The fishboxes that are washed up all around the coast here are marvellous for growing in. I have about 18 of them in use, plus pots and tubs made from sea-scoured oil drums, buckets, cracked sheep feeder bowls and various other pot-shaped items.

[too many weeds]

Local co-op buckets

Hiya all I tried to search to see if this has been posted buy couldn’t find any mention about this. The local co-op’s have these black plastic buckets that they keep the cut flowers in and once empty of the flowers they tend to just chuck them away. They aren’t the most beautiful buckets but they are fee and quite deep and being black aren’t exactly offensive either. I believe that Morrisons and another chain do exactly the same thing and they are both willing to keep them for you (I pick them up weekly from the local co-op).
Anywho just an idea

TMW

[grannymem]

I use the plastic tags that tie children's plastic toys to their incredibly difficult-to-open packaging - they're usually quite long, flexible and very strong and make great plant ties. Christmas is coming and I bet there will be plenty about.

[Eco-Chic]

I decant sand, grit and gravel into the 6 pint (3.4L) milk containers. Easier to pour for mixing up compost and top dressing pots and saves lugging big bags around.

I also leave 3 or 4 around the garden to reach the ambient day time temperature and to top up the watering can instead of going back to the tap.

The smaller bottles are used for worm tea, compost tea etc.

[Eco-Chic]

Sorry folks I just gotta add the use of old duvets and pillows here or old sleeping bags- I have just made my 3rd compost bin duvet and lifted it to find steam rising below! So you take one old duvet or several pillows and a folded sheet of black plastic off the roll at the garden centre and one roll of black duct tape from the diy store. Create a small duvet to fit - folding the old duvet or splitting up the fibre in the pillows - fill the black plastic rectangle and seal off the edges with the tape. Give your compost bin a dose of water and then pop the duvet over - weight down if the heap is taller than the surroundings and wait for it to shrink down double fast!

Marvellous Thank you so much. I was just wondering what to do with the dogs bedding of chewed up pillows and cushions. They look terrible and stink but would gum up the washing machine if I attempted to launder them.

[Hothouse]

I`ve been collecting the metal tops of glass jars, lined with circles of kitchen roll,they are ideal for drying saved seed. Write the name on the seed on the liner.

you can make mini propagators from plastic meat containers: for the base two coloured trays one with holes one with out. for the lid a similar clear tray . sow seeds or put cuttings into the holed tray, it sits inside the other one, ( no drips on the windowsill) then place a similar clear tray as a lid . I made holes near the edges through all three and use a curtain hook or clip to hold them together.
When the seed sprout, or the cuttings have rooted remove inner tray and it`s ready for another .

[Bigmallly]

Thought this thread was worth another bump.....My biggest problem is watering when on holiday so I am collecting plastic drinks bottles, cutting a 1" slot down one length so that I can fill the bottle without lifting it, then opposite the slot, I am putting 4/5 pin holes to act as a as a drip feed. I'm gonna lay these flat in my raised beds & see how long it is before the bottles run out of water. If I can get them to last for 2 weeks by reducing the number of holes then I'll be laughing. Has anyone tried this?........If you cannot picture this, I'll upload a pic.

[grannymem]

Just before I throw it out, can anyone think of a good use for a small stainless steel saucepan with no handle?
Before you ask, I can't mend the handle - it's disintegrated (the pan was given to us 36 years ago as a wedding present and apart from no handle looks nearly good as new.)