How can I reuse or recycle 35mm film canisters?
I know digital cameras are usurping their existence now but we’ve still got a large number of these little pots lying around the house.
I also vaguely remember that these little items were subjected to months of discussion on the Guardian letters page a year or so ago – but I can’t remember any of the suggestions other than using them for salt and pepper for camping trips.
So can anyone else remember any of the suggestions or does you have wonderful ideas of your own?
Best Suggestions
- Reduce: Moving to digital cameras obviously cuts down a lot of waste – these canisters, the films themselves, the chemicals used for developing and printing every single photo, good and bad – but they do have their own resource costs – particularly if you upgrade often.
- Reuse: Because they’re small and tightly sealed, a lot of people use them when travelling or camping – use them for vitamins & prescription tablets (although take your prescription too if you’re going overseas because they sometimes ask), small amounts of toiletries, jewellery, or even food condiments.
- Recycle: Lots of schools and other organisations use them in art classes and the like – see below for specific people collecting them or offer them to teachers locally.
- See the comments below for more suggestions and ideas
(Original photo by Underdog80)
Storage container for small items: e.g. small screws, nails, washers, nuts, needles, button, beads etc.
If the tubs are clear or have a clear lid you can see what is contained within, if they are the black type you can glue or stich an example of the content to the lid.
I used mine to make some kids stamps
http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=673
If you are feeling generous you could even donate them to the local school
Other than that they make great Lip Balm holders for home made lip balm.
I go walking in the countryside a lot with my husband. I like a drink of coffee when we are out, but I don’t like coffee which has been kept in a flask for a long time.
So what I do is take a flask containing only boiling water and add the coffee which I keep in a film canister, and is pre-measured.
Jill.
They good holders for fishing hooks and keep them safely away from fingers… label as to size and type.
Aslo good for storing lead shot ..used for weights.
And lets not forget the flies that fishermen use!
Rosie:)
can i have them lol i really need some and cant find any cheers
if anyone has large numbers of these pots to get rid of donations would be nice cheers col
brovagolin@hotmail.com
they are actually really handy to keep small things dry in…
my favourite use is to store my salt (or other herbs) for when I’m travelling. no more lumpy salt, and it’s always in a handy travel portion too!
Science:
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/06/how_to_film_can_cannon.html
We can use them for Emergency Message in a Bottle / Data Link scheme
They are a great and unique gift wrapping for small gifts. You could dress them up with some ribbon around the canister and a bow on top.
I use them to hold my earrings when I travel, and they also make a good travel pill holder.
These can be used as forms for soil pellets.
You’ll need a plunger to push the soil out – easily done like so:
http://toppertwo.tripod.com/soil_blocks.htm
If you’re a smoker, keep one in your pockets to put your butts in, rather than dropping them on the pavement/beach/grass.
Check your local church. If they do any outreach to the homeless, they often use these containers to dispense things like laundry soap or shampoo to street people.
store jewelry when traveling.
store vitamins in them for travel
poke holes in the top, salt and pepper shaker for camping. Great for storing herbs for trips too.
perfect for holding quarters. (great for college students who to the laundromat.)
great container for the “tooth fairy”
kids always find fun things with them (beware, choking)
paint them, they’re beads, play people, logs, alphabets.. etc
store craft beads
you’re supposed to keep any ticks you find on your body for a certain time to test for lyme disease if you get sick… i guess they could work.
These film canisters make great containers to start indoor seed growing in.
Hot water – about 1/2 fill the cannister.
1/2 alka-seltser blue-tacked to the inside of the lid.
Put on lid.
Turn upside down & place on table.
Run away.
I use them to store beads and buttons. I glue one an example of that bead or button to the top and am able to see at a glance the types of bead / button that I have to work with. An added bonus is if the container is clear!
Hi,
I though some of you may be interested in seeing what Kodak have to say about the use of those canisters for other purpose than storing film. In a nutshell, there is no risk whatsoever with toxic leakage from the plastic, it seems to be pretty safe, altough they explain the plastic use is not FDA approved for food (this is in the States), there has never been any problems reported to the compagny.
You can find the complete information here:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=4205&pq-locale=en_US
I use them to keep my foreign coins and very folded up notes in. A bit of masking tape on the outside for writing the country name on. Handy if you think you’ll go back!
Hi,
These are extremely useful to the Tarantula keeping Community for spiderlings when they hatch into the 1000’s from various eggsacs.
If you have lots to get rid of email me on Hamster_Blender@Hotmail.com.
I’ve used them for storing advil or aleve in a travel bag, in my car and work bag. You could store small things like safety pins, sewing needles, etc.
You can make a air horn with one of them :)
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/352175/how_to_free_air_horn/
These film canisters are great for tablets – if you’re going away for afew days you can take just what you need with you.
Or if you take alot in a day, get 7 or so and put what you need in each one for each day – you can just chuck the contents in your mouth.
Or if you can never get your hand into anything, put the contents into one of these and you’ll be able to get it easily.
I actually used them to store my seeds from my vegetable garden. Since the containers are dark, light can not get in. (It is best to store seeds a dark cool place.) I placed the containers in the refrigerator for next year’s use. Hope this helps. anna http://www.green-talk.com
I made a mini first aid kit with one of those.. lol
Just decorate it on the outside, the put half a q-tip, some first aid cream in a small baggie (cut it) some bandaids and maybe some gauze. On the outside paint a red cross or “First Aid Kit” I even hot glued some dental floss as a handle! I even saw some people use them as keychains (attaching them with a key ring)
Switch to a digital camera
Feeling ambitious… How about a room divider:
http://tinyurl.com/yt53zu
You can keep your eraser nice and clean in one of these tubs inside your pencil case – especially useful if you have lots of very soft pencils/ carbon sticks/ charcoal/ chalks etc in your pencilcase.
I am a teaching assistant at a primary school and would appreciate any of these as I use one with each pupil for them to keep their sight words in, a valuable aid to reading, very important I am sure you will all agree.
Many thanks in anticipation.
PS I used to get them from our local chemist but they no longer develop films and so am really desperate.
Lesley, do you still need film canisters?
Hi Lesley,
I have some of these for you if you can still use them…
lesley webster wrote:
Do you have an address to mail canisters?
Hi Lesley, we have about 30 I could send now and could send a dozen or so every few months. Please send your address if you still need them, thanks
Janet
Hi, I saw your post and I know its an old one but I was wondering if you have any film canisters left. Im looking for black preferably but as long as its opaque I’m not too fussed about the colour. I will reimburse your postage costs. Thanks
USE THEM TO MAKE MINI ROCKETS WITH BAKING SODA AND VINIGER AS FUEL
WE USED THESE TO RAISE MONEY AT OUR PLAYGROUP, 2P S (ENGLISH ) FIT NICELY IN TO THEM AND YOU CAN GET ABOUT 22P IN IF I REMEBER RIGHTLY THE CHILDREN BROUGHT THEM IN AND BALANCED THEM ON A PILE EACH DAY. EVEN THOSE WITH LITTLE MONEY COULD JOIN IN WE MADE OVER 120.00 IN A FORTNIGHT MORE THAN WE MADE FROM MOST OTHER FUNDRAISERS AND WE REUSED THE POTS THE NEXT YEAR.
We also use these pots in our secondary school electronics lessons. They are perfect for holding an individual quantity of solder for the pupils. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to last too long due to the close proximity of a soldering iron!
Any spare cannisters will be greatly appreciated by our pupils (and the teachers!)
Hi Janet
I am desperate for these for the children at my primary school – we use them loads in science lessons. Please please please save some for us!!!!!
A fellow Wright,
Nicki
Tape several together in a round form. Label a number in each canister with the center as the highest. Think of it like a dart board but then, at a distance you try to shoot a marble to aim the highest (bullseye) score.
You could also donate them to your local Girl Scout/Guide troop. We use them to make SWAPS when we go camping.
Our art teacher uses them for paint. They hold just the right amount for student art work. You can send them to us (I’ll personally re-imburse the postage). Please contact me at mmitchell@ssfusd.org
They make good “micro” size containers for geocaching.
http://www.geocaching.com
I’m almost embarrassed to mention how I use them. Oh well, honesty is best, right? I stuff one of the “thin” sanitary pads in one for emergencies and carry it in my purse. That way the pad doesn’t slide out of my purse and make me turn very red. lol
you can use them to make a film canister cannon instructions are at http://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Film-Can-Cannon!-Advanced-Version!/
Use 35mm canisters as important insulating element in DIY solar lights (best nearer the equator):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/world/21geneva.html?_r=2&ref=global-home
If you have clear ones, you can send them to me. I use them to store coins for my collection. (I started using them while I was in Berlin during the early ’90s…scarfing them up from photo labs…and now have several thousand). rneeper@verizon.net
Container for:
Coffee
Hair gel
Vitamins
Nuts, bolts
Coins
Earrings
Beads
Mini-First aid kit (Band-Aids etc.)
Salt+Pepper
If you paint and label them, they can be a pill organizer
Candies
Herbs, Spices
Barbie shoes
Buttons, pins, etc
Clay
That marble-dart-board thing
Party favors
Little rockets
Not-so Nerdy pocket protecters
Hair Pins/ties
Batteries
cat toy
Christmas decorations
Just carry an empty one around in case you need to store small objects
Stuff a plastic or thin fabric bag in there
Some more ideas: http://www.makingfriends.com/readers_film_canister.htm
Give them to the military we us them for apexes in our tool boxes. Any support section would love to have them.
I am an avid gardener for orver 40 years (am 72). I always carry several of these and empty medication vials in the trunk. I never know where I can pick up extra seeds and have a container for them instead of a kleenes tissue which I might later discard unintentionally. They have a label on them and I can query the donor with details, such as when to plant, how to take care of them etc.
I’ll take any clear cases going free and am happy to pay P&P costs, I use them for storing crafts bits and bobs and want to use them for dividing up beads for classes, email me at kimbishopp@gmail.com for an address! Would be very very grateful!
As a photography student who adores 35mm film i use tons of these and only recently have started to recycle them into pinhole cames for extra long exposures, called Solargraphs. using only a drinks can, needle and photographic paper [ i use ILFORD RC black and white paper, 5×7 sheets will do
Here is how to make a pinhole camera out of a 35mm canister:
http://home.mchsi.com/~pinholecamera47/pincam_1.html
[take no notice of the development stage, you just need a dark room, or bag to put your photographic paper in the tub]
Here is the info on Solargraphy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_exposure_photography [scroll down to solargraphy part]
and Here is the result of my first ever solargraph:
this is the negative, which is how the photographic paper looked staright out of the can: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amii_roarr/5397910746/in/photostream
This is after digitally scanning in and inverting on photoshop.
I attached my pinhole to a lampost, or anything that stays still, using cable ties [zip lock ties], and left it out for 2 weeks, with the pinhole looking straighht at the sun, the paper wil record the paths of the if left out for long enough, and the best thing about it is that there is no development needed, once the paper has been exposing for a few days the image begins to burn into the paper.
have fun :)
if you need any more information email me at amy_rolo@hotmail.com
:)
If your a painter like I am they are the best for storing paint. It keeps it from drying out. I also just made a scuplture out of them!!
The most obvious use is for storage, and ideally utilising their canisters built-in airtight qualities (keeping things dry). To that end there are a number of small electronic items that could benifit from being stored in such as USB sticks, electronic components (capacitors, resisters, diodes), and particularily small items that are prone to rusting.