20 September 2011

Reusing and recycling - a trail of great ideas

Few of us have reached the point of buying nothing at all - complete self sufficiency. We will never be self-sufficient here and I'm not aiming for that, but I am very serious about self-reliance, reducing what we buy and reusing and recycling what we own. I have written about this subject many times but the message needs to be constantly reinforced - to myself as much as anyone else. This is where we can make a big contribution towards waste reduction, and therefore the flow-on affects of less air, water and land pollution and fewer rubbish dumps emitting invisible gasses in our own local communities. Some of us here believe global warming is a real concern, some don't, but most people would agree that sensible and correct waste disposal is everyone's responsibility.

Before we go anywhere near the subject of reusing and recycling, our first aim should be to reduce the number of products we buy and bring home, and the amount of packaging on those products. Almost all packaging goes straight to the rubbish bin. Reducing what we buy makes sense on so many levels - we save money, we have less to care for, we don't get caught up in fashion and fads and simply by not bringing more into our homes, we reduce pollution that will result from it. I know that I am responsible for everything I buy, but I always try to remember that I'm also responsible for the packaging that comes with it. It's easy enough to think that paper, plastic, cardboard and polystyrene - all common packaging materials - can be compressed and sent to the dump with our rubbish. However, just sending it there doesn't mean the materials magically disappear. They will go there and depending on what it is, if it is a natural material or a synthetic one, it will increase the size of your local landfill and add more gasses to your local area. Just sending it to the dump doesn't get rid of the problem, it just moves it from one location to another.

Don't start me off on jar recycling. I think it's the ultimate madness to package so many products in one-use glass jars. I recycle glass jam jars and use them for homemade jams, and Cornwell's vinegar bottles for my cordials and vinegars.

This is an old meat safe - made originally to store meat in, before the days of refrigeration. I found this one at a second hand shop and after a good scrubbing now use it to store my bread and scones. Here is a step-by-step guide to making a meat safe from wood and wire. Recycled wood, of course.

A reused old spice and herb rack serves us well now to store Hanno's pills, vitamins, emu oil and tea tree oil.
I wonder if you recognise this.  It's our old satellite dish, drilled to create drainage holes and planted with succulents. It's now sitting on top of that tree stump we created when the old camphor laurel was cut down.

In the backyard, we're using an old stone bird bath top as a water container for the chooks. It's on the ground, just near their favourite summer resting place, so they can stand in it if they get too hot in summer.

This is our chook house. Apart from the concrete floor and the roosts, the entire structure and nesting boxes were made with recycled materials. That includes the guttering on the roof and down-pipe that allows us to collect rainwater from the roof.

This plastic container was recycled from being a one-use strawberry punnet to being a seed box for some of my heirloom tomato seedlings. It already contained ample drainage holes and when I first planted the seeds, I used the top of the box to create a propagation-greenhouse box. Now the seedlings are up and growing, the top remains open.

Hanno made this garden seat, and it's brother which sits on the front verandah, after finding them in a decayed state sitting on the footpath, waiting to be picked up by the council dump truck. He stripped off the old timbers, sanded back the metal, primed and painted them, put on recycled boards and sealed the entire bench. Now it's sitting in front of the elder tree looking into the vegetable garden. It's the perfect place to sit in the early morning or late afternoon.

The garden is the place to find recycled steel reinforcement grids now used for climbing frames.

These steel star pickets have been reused for hundreds of tasks over the years. Now they're rammed into the earth at the corners of each garden bed to prevent the hose being dragged over the beds.

And here we have the ultimate in food recycling - the worm farm.

We're always working on reducing our waste, sometimes we're more successful at it than at other times but recycling and reusing are built into our lives now and are a part of what we do. Before anything is "thrown away" in the rubbish bin, we think if it can be reused for another purpose. Often the answer is yes.

I like seeing photos of the ways other people deal with their "rubbish" and seeing a photo often makes me remember it better than just reading about it. I particularly love seeing photos of ingenious ideas that make me think: "I wish I'd thought of that!" or "What a great idea!".  So I decided to start the ball rolling on this and show a few of the things we're doing here to reuse and recycle rather than send our rubbish to land fill. I hope you will add your own photos on your blog and link to here. If you add your link in your comment, I'm am absolutely sure that we can build a very useful and motivational trail of reusing and recycling ideas that have the power to change how people deal with their rubbish.

I hope you involve yourself with this. I know when I see great ideas being implemented in everyday homes, it makes me believe I can do it too. By sharing our photos and the idea of recycling and reusing, we recognise it as being important  enough to think about, talk about and do, not just today and tomorrow, but as a permanent part of our simple lives. These small steps are what make a difference.

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52 comments

  1. Great post! I especially liked the new use for a satellite dish!

    I don't have a blog to post a photo but I do have a book suggestion: Re/Uses by Carolyn Jabs. It's an old book but if you can find it in the library it has lots of good ideas for reusing things you'd throw away.

    Susan

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  2. I do love to reuse and recycle! I save all my glass containers and plastic grocery store punnets. The punnets are great little greenhouses for seeds in spring!

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  3. What a great idea Rhonda! I am sure there will be a lot of people responsing and I am more sure to find a great variaty of re-use ideas.

    We save our toiletrolls, fill them up with potting soil and use them to let our vegetable-seeds grow. One seed per roll. When the young plants are ready to go outside, they can put into the ground. With the roll! This one will dissapear.

    Thanks for this great call!

    Love from Holland

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  4. I don't have a blog, but I do have a few ideas for recycling:

    1. Old towels are great for rags...particularly for dusters...If you sew them in an open loop, you increase the surfaces you have for dusting.

    2. When my towels start to get bad or in most cases are bad, I make them into washcloths. I cut the towel into smaller squares and serge around the edges. Voila, New washcloths (flannels)! Without a serger, then just use a zigzag stitch.

    3. Cutting the plastic bottom off of a 2 liter Coke bottles makes a great container to raise seedlings. Cutting the top off the bottle makes a great mini-greenhouse when putting delicate seedlings out in the garden.

    4. Stick labels over the address so you can reuse envelopes. Old envelopes can be used as scrap paper to make notes on.

    5. Make your own Christmas wrapping paper out of brown paper bags...use potato stamps or rubber stamps in green or red ink to make a design. You also can use the comics pages from newspapers as gift wrap.

    6. Do you have old bread? Don't throw it out. Make croutons out of it, or grate into bed crumbs for recipes.

    7. Buy a supply of inexpensive cloth napkins to use every day, the initial cost will be quickly offset by your reduced need to buy disposable paper ones. I usually get mine on ebay, going for used linens, which are often beautifully embroidered. Many were part of a trousseau that went unused.

    Hope these help.

    AM of the Bread

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  5. Now that I am getting more involved in growing from seed I had that exact thought as a plastic strawberry punnet passed through my hands on the weekend. Its in the potting shed waiting :) Thanks for sharing some of the ways you reuse and recycle.

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  6. Folger's coffee comes in big black-lidded red tubs. When empty, these make great little canisters, especially for storing dry mixes, like homemade hot cocoa mix. Also, I slip the thin used vegetable bags into one of the tubs as a place to store my vegetable scraps until they can be taken out to the compost. If the scraps aren't "juicy", the liner bag can be reused.

    Love the pictures and ideas you share.

    brenda from arkansas

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  7. Wonderful ideas! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Boy oh Boy! would Iove to have that Bench for my yard, I've got a couple of places it would look good in :o) and Iike the idea of using old jars for my own jelly and jams..jars are getting hard to come by these days..

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  9. Rhonda, you are so right - the recycling message does constantly need reinforcing...... It is very easy to forget where all our 'rubbish' goes when it leaves our place on the back of the tip truck. Also we live in such a consumer oriented society that sees nothing wrong with buy buy buy, throw throw throw, that reminders are always welcome - thank you!
    We already re-use a lot because I love repurposing old things but I know there is room for improvement - in fact your yoghurt post yesterday and todays post have come together nicely to remind me that I could be making my own yoghurt. Although we re-use or recycle the containers we buy, I could be cutting back and eating fresher yoghurt and using less plastic !! Win WIn!!!

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  10. We also reuse a loy of stuff, at the moment we are using milking containers to pot up our tomatoes. Then when we plant them out we can lift the container up and leave it around the seedling to protect it until it settles in. I love your idea of starwberry container seedling trays. I will post photos of my tomato pots later today. So much to do in spring.

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  11. I love your blog and all your recipes! I plan to start by getting all the ingredients together and making laundry detergent. Thanks for the many ideas~

    Dawn from Tennessee
    vermont66@yahoo.com
    www.dawnscomfycorner.blogspot.com

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  12. Hi Rhonda, Recycling is one of my favourite hobbies! My business www.rummagestyle.com is totally based on recycling. I design and handmake a women's clothing range completely from recycled materials. I stock a handfull of shops and sell at a market each Sunday. I love the fact that I earn a living from recycling and the way that I make money doesn't add any waste but in fact takes some out of landfill!

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  13. I recently did a post about a chalkboard my husband made for the children, made entirely from leftovers we had lying around the house (except for the paint), you can check it out at
    http://asimplygoodlife.blogspot.com/

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  14. Morning Rhonda, I reuse in many ways similar to you...seeds in plastic strawberry punnets, I reuse toilet roll cylinders the same way, and I had a clever local man build me a day bed for my deck from the old stumps and timbers of my house when I renovated. The last of these is going into the new chookpen. Most of these wonderful hardwood timbers are close to 100 yrs old and I hated to think of them going to landfill.

    My latest recycling effort has been to use the old clothes airer that was rusted and falling apart as a trellis for beans..it's doing a fine job. I don't have a blog, so no photos, sorry.
    Nanette

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  15. Like you Rhonda I recycle any glass jars for preserving and jam making. I also reuse plastic bags washing them every time. I have a worm farm, a compost bin and a bokashi bucket so no food scraps go into the rubbish collection. Have a woodburner so paper is burnt as fuel - roll newspapers into cylinders and use to start fire; shred paper, soak in water and detergent and compress into brick maker. All this helps. Also use old wooden boxes for planting out seeds that need repotting. Like you I am trying to use everything I can.
    Also when I go to the shop I take my own bags, and if I require veges or fruit (try not to buy too many), I use paper bags and/or net bags to put the produce in. Had some strange looks when I first started this, but that did not worry me at all.
    Love all the ideas keep them coming.

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  16. Thank you as I have learned some new things which is always great.

    I had a quiet laugh when my daughter accused me of being lazy when the bin was not full on collection day. I saw it as a good sign that we were creating less waste.

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  17. I love your garden on a tree stump Rhonda! I am definitely going to use that idea. I recently posted about the old ladders that now hang in my kitchen. One is a drying rack, the other a pot rack above my stove. The link is eightacresofeden.com/2011/08/new-uses-for-vintage-ladders-in-home.html. The post that follows it is about new uses for old wardrobes - the ones that have the pullout drawers. One is my craft cupboard, the other a lego closet.
    I recently joined pinterest which allows you to create your own virtual pinboards of pictures that link back to the original source. There are a tonne of creative ideas being pinned up on there for recycling and upcycling.
    One of the most ingenious ideas I saw was a baby's cot turned into a desk for a child. It had a board placed over the slats, a chalk board on one end and clips for holding paintings on the rail. An old spice rack was attached to hold art supplies. Also an old tv entertainment unit turned into a play kitchen with a stainless steel mixing bowl inserted for a sink. It looked amazing and so much nicer than those plastic ones they sell in the stores.

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  18. I have absolutely loved this post. I like anything that helps me to think outside the square. Your punnet/hot houses are a great idea. I'm not posting at the moment so will not be able to add photos but here are some recycling bits I have going on at the moment: a $15 cot from the oppy topped with a recycled piece of mdf from my shed makes a great cutting table - just the right height for me; an old cane lounge from the curb, used for about 2 years by a big Rottweiler we were minding for friends, has now been repainted for use as seating in our lounge; the seat of a aluminium-but-cast-iron-look chair again from the curb turned into a clock; an old flip down writing desk (the sort with lots of little pigeon holes and shelves) bought for $5 at a garage sale, washed with fresh paint is now being used to house our shoes at the front door.
    On the subject of packaging: I have recently been very upset while searching for the cheapest rolled oats to find that the expensive ones come in cardboard boxes but Woolworths sells the cheap ones in a huge, waste of space, plastic bottle. Aldi only sells the quick oats but finally found that Coles still sells brandless oats in the old plastic bag style which makes for heaps less rubbish. Perhaps Woolies thinks we want more containers but personally I wouldn't want plastic ones and they only become lumpy landfill. Cherrie

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  19. Hi Rhonda, this is right up my alley! We try to be as creative as possible with our re use of everyday items. I recently posted a tutorial on how to make baby bibs from old towels or terry towelling pants on my blog: Joyfoolery
    http://joyfoolery.blogspot.com/2011/08/bib-tutorial.html
    Thanks for keeping us inspired!

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  20. Great ideas, everyone. Keep them coming!

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  21. Hallo Rhonda,

    I've just blogged some of the ways I re-use various items around the house and home. You're right in that we do need a gentle reminder now and then to keep us on the straight and narrow!

    http://coffeee2001.blogspot.com/2011/09/joining-trail-of-recycling-and-re-using.html

    Love from Sue
    xxx

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  22. Hi Rhonda
    I find it interesting that a mere 25-30 years ago every household had only one of those smallish plastic or metal garbage bins and the collection was only once a week. It always seemed to be enough. I wonder what has changed? Now every house has 2, sometimes 3 very large council wheely bins and they are often packed to overflowing. There are houses in my street where there is only a couple living and their lids cannot be closed for the amount of garbage. It really makes me wonder.

    Last year when our council rates increased they offered residents the option of having a much smaller wheely bin for a smaller fee. I took up the offer as I find that it not even half full most collection days. Most of our green waste is put in the compost nowadays and any glass and cardboard goes to the recycling, it really leaves very little to put in the ordinary bin.

    I'm not being judgemental of the people with overflowing bins, merely curious and wondering what has changed?

    Kindest Regards, Miki

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  23. Rhonda, thank you so much for this post and your ideas. I don't have many new ideas to add, but I'll give it a go. Jars and plastic tubs can be used as rain gauges or sprinkler gauges. Many jars and bottle make nice vases, especially when you're just bringing a small arrangement to a friend or want many arrangements for a party. I haven't tried this one yet, but couldn't jars be reused as bell jars over seedlings?

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  24. Hi Rhonda, I use all my jars for my jams and my glass bottles for sauce or to give to a friend who makes their own chilli sauce. We reuse all containers and anything we dont want is recycled through friends and family. Even pantry stuffs that I am sure we will not use is taken to my workplace and one of the girls there will take them home and they do the same.
    This is a picture of our old wheelbarrow. http://athomeatlisas.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-gardening.html

    Can't wait for your book!

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  25. Hi Rhonda,
    I think everyone has this one covered, I could'nt help thinking as I was looking at the photos of what a great back yard it will be for the boys! There is everything there for learning,fun, experimenting, playing, just being quiet or noisy. And with you and Hano to watch they will have the sustainable life embedded in their subconscious. Two lucky little boys. Hano is so crafty, love the seat.
    Vickixx

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  26. HI, I' get a lot of inspiration from your blog. I made my second batch of liquid detergent on Sunday and it is as good as ever. I want to make a compost and am trying to get it organised. After reading all the great comment I resolved to reduce the waste my household is creating at the moment. Compost is the first step.
    This recycling idea is something I saw while passing on the road. If you cut up a large (1.5L) plastic bottle 1/3rd of its height from th top you can use it as a make shift funnel. Hope it helps someone :-)
    Dhilma
    p.s going to make yohurt come weekend. Your yoghurt loos thick and creamy Rhonda! My son would love it!

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  27. Thank you Rhonda for your continuing inspiration. I read daily but I think this is my first comment. Just wanted to share with you two pictures from my last blog post that contained recycled materials.
    The first is an old pot belly stove that we found on the road side that is now a strawberry planter and a new off the ground rack for growing more strawberries built from old fence palings.
    We even have an old sink as a frog pond. I think these elements are not only functional and environmentally friendly but add character to your home and garden.

    you can find the photos at
    ordinaryeco.blogspot.com

    Fay

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  28. Couldn't be better timing come see me and my son recycling the concrete paver bits..its looking fab

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  29. Opps heres the link http://farmgirl67.blogspot.com/

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  30. We've used the same cut-off 2 litre coke bottles for years as a windbreak candle holder when having 'sundowner' summer picnics at Clifton Beach (bury the bottles part-way in the sand)....quite a lovely sight to have candles flickering by the beach on warm evenings.

    All junk mail & school notices that have any blank space are used for telephone messages, then recycled as paper waste or burned in our fireplace in winter.

    I turned a toddler child's game that had wooden pegs spaced apart on a wooden board into a necklace holder on the wall so as to de-tangle jewellery for my daughter.

    I give toilet rolls, wine bottle corks & bottle tops to pre-schools/kindergartens for their craft corner....toilet rolls are made into "Christmas crackers" (British style) by the children filled with sweets, jokes & a toy and covered with homemade paper. Some crafts they give-away to other pre-schools in poorer communities.

    I cover little empty matchboxes with paper and tie with yarn to hang on the Christmas tree as a reminder that God gave us the "gift" of Jesus.

    We wash & re-use foil and plastic sandwich bags many, many times. Line-dry.

    We've used spare glass jars as candle holders (drip wax in bottom to afix candle first)....have been useful when we've had seasons of electricity power-cuts lasting several hours at a time. The jars can be placed safely around the house, even on stairs, without fear of them toppling over starting fires.

    Cape Town
    South Africa

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  31. Fabulous post, Rhonda! I don't have a link, but we're in the process of repurposing an old trampoline frame as a chicken tractor. We're hoping not to have to buy anything new for it other than the netting and probably some more fasteners. A polypipe chook dome wouldn't work here as we need something really heavy and low to the ground to withstand the wind, so the heavy tramp frame is just the ticket. We found it at the bottom of the house yard when we bought this place, it's good to think that we can give it a new life rather than it continuing as junk in our paddock or hauled to the tip.

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  32. Wow I think loads have been covered here and Rhonda I am inspired by your use for those plastic strawberry punnet tubs (and grapes, blueberries et al) - I will definitely be re-using mine next spring. Here is my two penn'orth http://simplemissp.blogspot.com/2011/09/reusing-recycling.html

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  33. I really enjoyed this post. My favourite saying is "waste not, want not" and I love to see things repurposed! We try constantly to reduce waste but it's an ongoing process. I put up a couple of photos of things we've done.
    http://greenhavengoodlife.blogspot.com/2011/09/create-less-waste.html

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  34. Great idea, Rhonda, to share our recycling thoughts and tips. I try, as much as possible to refuse and reduce packaging so I don't have a lot of that type of thing. However, I have have done a post showing some of the things we have recycled at our place. Here is the link http://organisedcastle.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/the-recycling-trail/

    I will add more in another post. I am off to look at some of the other ideas.

    Thanks again for starting this.

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  35. Like you, I'm thinking of ways to recycle ALL the time. I often go to our local recycling drop-off to pick up things I can use in the garden. Sadly, too many people put things that are not recyclable in the bins, or unwashed things and I am often disgusted by what I see when I'm there. But I do what I can to help out. Here's my blogpost on "Redneck Gardening Tools and Supplies", but I post on reusing things allllll the time. http://rockwhisperer.blogspot.com/2011/06/redneck-gardening-tools-and-supplies.html
    Thanks for your blog, I've been reading it for quite some time. I'm in the USA in Oklahoma and though we do not have access to the same products (and we call them by different names when we do), I still, very often, find good tips I can use in my corner of the world. Keep up the good work! -- Ilene

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  36. Rhonda

    I love anything to do with recycling, as it saves goodness knows how much from landing in landfill. Unless you're lucky enough to be part of a recycling project within your municipality...

    I have loads of recycling idea's on my blog - so, hopefully, it's OK with you, that I just add the link to my recycling label:

    http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.com/search/label/recycling

    My latest post of yesterday was about recycling containers - large and small, into raised beds. But I have also written about:

    recycling plastic milk bottles into seedling pots, mini greenhouses, storage closures
    foil bags into freezer blocks
    loo rolls and egg shells into seedling planters
    old CD covers into plant protectors / mini greenhouses

    Love reading about everyone else's ideas- thank you for asking them to write about them :)

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  37. Oh, and I forgot to tell you Rhonda, the best way to recycle is to join Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org/ and type in the area in which you live).

    I, VERY gratefully, scored burglar bars for our little farmhouse which we are building, stainless steel prep bowls which have become lettuce / herb pots

    (P.S. when you enter the http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.com/search/label/recycling please note that there are two pages of ideas - 18 ideas in all.)

    :)

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  38. Wow, what a bunch of wonderful ideas! I use the boxes from cereal and cracker boxes for templates for quilts or other items I'm making multiples of. I also cut the bottom portion of the box into different heights to make storage containers for craft supplies so the drawers don't look like a big mess. It keeps small items separated. I use envelopes sent to me as shopping lists, nice and long. When I print out recipes or craft instructions I use the backside of paper that would be thrown away. It saves the landfill and saves money on purchasing more paper. I could keep thinking of small ways that I save money and help the environment, but I think I'll quit for now.
    Thanks for the opportunity to share my ideas.
    Yvette

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  39. Your home is such an inspiration!! This is a great idea, Rhonda, thank you for initiating it. I'm having a blast looking through everyone's comments and blog posts, and finding it so so useful. I'll definitely need to be writing a lot of this stuff down so I don't forget.

    Here's a peek into my home, and how I find new life for old things:
    http://www.graceandgusto.com/2011/09/three-rs.html

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  40. I think that once you get into it recycling and reusing it becomes a way of life. We don't buy many things 'new' and we have always made or adapted things throughout our life. We hate to throw anything away if it still has some use either for us or for others. Here's a link to one of my posts and I have a label on my blog - reuse - which will show other ways I recycle and reuse unwanted items.
    http://mumssimplylivingblogat.blogspot.com/2011/03/start-of-vegetable-growing-year.html
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  41. We had to get some new appliances. Thus had large cardboard boxes. We used them to cover the garden boxes not being used at the moment. We use them between the garden boxes to keep grass and weeds down. As mulch cut up with grass clippings over them or even all alone put on top of the beds to keep the just raked and ready to plant {later} bed clean till planting. In time they deteriorate and end up in the compost bin or in the garden soil. We have recycle bins that are picked up weekly for city recycling. Before putting anything in it though we rethink if it can be used by us or anyone else. Sarah

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  42. I found your blog because I was looking for inspiration in making my own detergent free dishwash (my daughter is allergic to detergent, but I found so much more! My experience of frustration in diagnosing the cause of Ruby's severe eczema gave me a new understanding of how simple chemicals and pollutants in the products we buy can have a profound effect on our bodies. I really feel passionate now about leaving the lifestyle of blind trust in the companies selling the 'buy buy buy' lifestyle we all take for granted. A much simpler life is needed for the earth and our childrens health. Thanks so much for your inspiring blog I will be using your wise posts to guide me in this transition.

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  43. Dear Rhonda

    We recently moved from a 1/4 acre suburban block with chooks and veggies to an inner-city single-fronted cottage. Strange?
    We just wanted to reduce our ecological footprint further!

    We are now surrounded by parkland, we still grow our own herbs and some veggies, we ride our bikes nearly everywhere, we ride to the Queen Vic Market and farmer's markets, and continue to reduce/reuse/recycle, and compost!

    Yummy, yummy!
    http://the3rdquarter.com/2011/08/04/i-love-the-smell-of-compost-in-the-morning/

    All the best


    Richard Monfries

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  44. Great post, and lots of good comments...

    Reusing bits and pieces that others have discarded is practially one of the things we do best here! My husband LOVES working with old timber and other materials and scours second hand building material yards as often as he can, as well as sites where old buildings are being demolished.

    We have made the following almost completely out of pre-loved materials except for nails, screws, bolts, and wire for the fences mentioned: multi-roomed chook sheds, chook yards, mobile chook pens, vegie garden fences and beds, huge farm and business storage shed, cubby house, our main garage and storage shed on which our solar panels sit, and more.

    That's quite a list so I must do a blog post on it one day soon, with lots of photographs!

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  45. I save all food scraps [ except onions and grapes ] keep it all in the freezer, then use it in my homemade dog food. Unbelievable how much we were throwing out. The dogs love their new food and they look much healthier now, I can also breathe better ! Thanks Rhonda for your dog food recipe.

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  46. Rhoda, brilliant post. We have similar looking jar cupboards. Living on an island hones the recycling skills too. I was going to do a new post about recycling and you've inspired me to do that. Brilliant ideas on here. Our life is practically powered by recycling. Infect apart from the children and the dog, most of our life IS recycled.

    An old post about a quick easy way for recycling wellies into garden shoes I hope anyone wanting to recycle bust wellies has a look!

    http://orkneyflowers.blogspot.com/2010/11/hen-dinnae-chuck-yer-wellies-in-bin.html

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  47. I just wanted to thank you and the readers who left comments and links. I went through and read all the ideas and looked at all the links that were added...they left me with some great plans...some that my husband will shake his head at.

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  48. I am always intrigued about how people reuse & recycle things around the home/garden - and interested in finding out more ways to reuse & recycle stuff myself. Inspired by that, and a bowl of pistachio nut shells, I started a blog asking "how can I recycle this?" about five years ago.

    Since 2006, we've asked "how can I recycle this?" about more than 1000 different items, from the common place to the obscure, and had more than 20,000 suggestions in reply. Every day I'm surprised by the creativity of suggestions & ideas :)

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  49. I did a proper recycling post about all we do at home, well some of it.

    Thank you, I'm sorry in my blog I've spelt your name wrong, I'll correct it in a mo, I'm dyslexic and often do that, I'm sorry, I don't mean to look sloppy!

    http://orkneyflowers.blogspot.com/2011/09/wombling.html

    My post about wombling, in the UK (wombles recycle and helped us to learn) x
    Fay

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  50. I know I'm a bit late to the party here, but does anyone have a good reason why I can't reuse a huge upright (dead) freezer as a worm farm or a pond?

    contact AT dancingwithfrogs DOT com

    I had to pay $200 for the people at Whirlpool to look at it but it can't be saved... so they're kindly dumping it back to me. I'd rather use it than just throw it away.

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  51. I have repurposed:
    -my Dad's old Vinyl record unit now holds all my baking hardware (upright in the narrow LP slots) and the microwave sits neatly on top
    -my daughters' IKEA child wardrobe is now a great bathroom cabinet
    -big old wooden box now holds firewood
    -old wooden wine crate now holding oil and vinegar bottles in the kitchen (saves sticky shelf space)
    -plastic baskets from collapsed veg rack now doing a great job organising the freezer
    -cardboard egg boxes filled with wine corks do a fine job of starting the fire in the winter
    -deli containers get filled with cookies or cakes for visiting kids (no worries about non-returning tupperware)
    -glass yogurt pots used for more home-made yogurt, or mini vases, or mini jars of jam for singletons
    Your blog (and your commenters) are very inspiring but I'm a bit of a lurker - nice to be able to comment for once

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