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

[Nat22]

My grandad would use jars to keep his screws etc in and so he could always find them and to save cluttering the shelves of his out-house or shed he would attach the lids to the ceiling of the out-house/shed and then screw the jars back onto their lids.

[Newton]

Norty step.......immediately.

[Munch]

I have found the perfect thing to keep my seeds in - up to now they have been in a small plastic tool/hobby box which had two dividers giving three sections for filing the seed packets.

At the car boot this morning, I spotted an old Mothercare baby box (not for keeping babies in). It is bigger and deeper than my old box and has the addition of a cantilever divided tray which I can keep labels, pens, mini-dibber etc in. I have put several supemarket thin plastic punnets in the bottom so I can stand up my seed packets and now I am ready to go. £1.50 - bargain!

Now, what can I use the smaller box for?

At last.. I have a use for my Johnsons baby boxes...... I have 2 and I have been keeping them "as they will come in useful one day" but have never thought of a use .......... Pink or Purple for seeds?

Thanks Singleseeder

[singleseeder]

Many of us use poly-bottles for mini cloches, but I also keep the bottom 1/2" that has been cut off for saucers for small pots in the greenhouse.

Also to sit on top of a small pot after sowing seeds to keep in moisture and warmth whilst waiting for germination. If you cut further up the bottle, you have individual mini cloches to go on top of pots.

Another thing I have recycled recently is the protective container that Costco 12"(?) cakes are sold in. The plastic top is circular and the straight sides are approx 5" high. Just great for putting Morrison's buckets in. Water a given amount into the container and none is wasted and the greenhouse floor is kept clean. The aluminium bases are useful too for saucers. I hope that peeps in the office keep on having birthdays.

[lottie dolly]

i picked up some trays that hold yugurts,cream ext,in place on display in the chillers of the supermarket,they ideal to hold any clean yogurt pots with plants in as they have a reccess to support the pots,the one's i got hold 12 each,and just stack inside one another when not in use,a lot easier to move little pots around.

[VirginVegGrower]

Nutjob reported

[hippychick253]

I reused the drum out of a washing machine- dug a whole in the ground, sunk the drum into it and then planted my fig tree in the drum. It keeps the roots restricted so the tree stays at a size I can manage, and it has produced fruit every year.

Old paving slabs make up the sides of my raised beds.

Old metal bed frames make dog proof fences (to keep the dogs in!) and act as supports to grow sweetpeas etc up.

Old tights make great plant ties and don't harm the stems of the plants.

We have a ceramic urinal we found under the brambles when we were clearing, it's secured to a wall and has trailing plants growing in it in the summer :-)

Empty yoghurt pots used to make fat balls for the birds...remember to put the hanging string in place before leaving to set hard, then cut the pot away to leave your fat 'ball'.

Bird feeders made out of old pop bottles

A Soda Bottle Bird Feeder You Can Build

I also screw a small plastic tray to the lid of the pop bottle (like the kind you stand a plant in) this catches any seed that fall out and has helped me stop feeding the rats :-)

[taff]

I reused the drum out of a washing machine- dug a whole in the ground, sunk the drum into it and then planted my fig tree in the drum. It keeps the roots restricted so the tree stays at a size I can manage, and it has produced fruit every year.

brilliant idea!

[Dynamo]

I used the paper sacks that contained Cat Litter Fullers Earth to store my Dalia roots, Lily bulbs and Gladioli corms. I also used shreddings from the paper shredder inside the bags to keep them seperate and dry.

[marchogaeth]

The cook in work is saving the really big tins they use. I'm going to take the bottoms out and use them for cucumbers and tomatoes sitting on the bed and then water at the bottom on to the bed.

I keep acquiring large plastic sweet jars, they are useful for mixws of soapy water and bicarbonate sprays but haven't worked out a really good use for them yet. I don't want to put holes in them to make cloches and have my old water bottles for that any way (they have to be sticked to stop them blowing away.




Ideas for the sweet jars anyone??

[di]

I've started to keep a small sturdy cardboard box in the kitchen,by the bin. Wrapped peelings, coffee grounds and any card/paper rubbish (reciepts/junkmail etc) and floor sweepings get thrown in and are all neat and tidy and together, ready for the compost

I find I'm more likely to compost as opposed to just throw in the bin if the box is right there.

[di]

I've got loads of penny sweetie tubs Marchogaeth, I'm collecting them in the hope of a bountiful soft fruit harvest. I also used them to pop the kitchen leftovers in, that I obviously don't give to my chickens.

[di]

Used up the last loo roll tube and still had two sprouted peas left (I know I've got a big stash somewhere), anyway, had a little panic but then had to upen a new toothpaste. The box it came in has been cut in half and being used for the last two peas.

[binley100]

Polystyrene packaging ......looks like a load of mini seed trays ( the sort you get some bedding plants in) joined together . Guess what ???

[di]

Non GYO mates...guess what??? They often have veg peelings, dog hair, grass cuttings, hoover bags, loo rolls, junk mail, etc etc....don't let them throw them away!!!