How can I reuse or recycle jerry cans?
We’ve had an email from Lieze:
how can i recycle an old jerry can in a creative way ?
Lieze doesn’t say whether it’s an old school pressed steel one or a newfangled plastic one – or whether it’s been used as a fuel container or a water one.
My first thought for anything container shaped at the moment is “plant pot” (has anyone else had a scarily successful germination rate for their seedlings this year?!) but I think I’d be hesitant to use an old fuel canister for that, even if I could work out a way to make the opening bigger. Anyway, that’s not particularly creative so … I don’t know – maybe if you can slice off the front off a metal one, you could attach hinges and make it into a fun storage cabinet. (I love the idea of it being painted bright pink for the juxtaposition with the cold, industrial metal ;) )
Any other suggestions?
My dad used to fill them with water,cut the upper half off and hang them on tree branches,so that birds would use them as bird bath tubs.
My first thought for anything container shaped at the moment is “could I make my own Bike Bin out of that?”
http://www.bikebins.com/product-details.html
Obviously they’d need the top completely sliced off first, you’d need to scrub them out well and then make a hinged lid, then attach hooks for the bike…
Funnily enough, when I was looking into the construction of jerry cans, I noticed the three handle format on the top (for easy carrying by one or two people) and remarked to John that it looked like a bike parcel rack (or whatever those bits at the back are called). If you could make it into a bike bin, you could have a double width parcel shelf thing for extra carrying potential.
Jerrycans, especially if really old (e.g. 1940s/50s) are collectable and go for good money on Ebay.