We’ve had an email from Kate:

i want to make a pair of slippers for my boyfriend for his birthday. he’s really into green stuff and i’m broke (back at uni!) so i thought i’d make them but don’t know where to start. any ideas?!

After making booties for our niece Mia a few years ago, I got excited about making supersized booties for us but never got around to it, and that’s more knitting than recycling anyway (unless you’ve reclaimed the wool). (On that topic, I also have this “dorm boots” pattern in my “growing and eating and making” bookmarks folder from when I was looking for a pattern for Mia.)

Away from knitting, you can make them out of towels or misc woollen fabric (like a blanket or an old jumper).

John also made himself some “outside slippers” from a pair of old comfortable but battered trainers – we wear socks around the house but he needed something he could slip-on for running out to the bin or going into the sometimes-damp cellar. He just chopped the back out of the shoes to make mules and sewed up the rough edge.

Any other suggestions? Or hints on how to get started?

(Photo by prototype7)

Lyndall’s second (well, third) query is about festival wrist bands.

particularly the plastic ones for i would have thought the cloth and paper ones could go into a compost bin.

In my festival going days, at this point in the “summer”, I’d have a wristful of bands and I’d wear them until they got too grimy or fell off of their own accord (back in those days, the Reading Festival bands were the best – understated cool – I wore those for months). But once they’d left my wrists, I just dumped them in my “memories” suitcase because I’m too lazy to scrap book.

Nowadays similar wrist bands seem to be handed out for every little thing, just as a longer-lasting hand stamp thing – at conferences, fairgrounds and last week, I saw them being used on a city tour pub crawl thing in Berlin.

So aside from scrapbooking the memory, what else can be done with them? If you had a big stash – perhaps collected off your friends – could you weave them into something?

(Oh, and re: composting the cloth and paper ones – only natural fabrics (such as cotton or silk) should be composted and I suspect bands would more likely be synthetic for durability/cost reasons. Heavily printed paper can cause problems too (the ink can be toxic) so don’t compost them if they’re all inked-up or coated in plastic.)

(Photo by hakore)

We’ve had an email from Brett, saying:

Hi, I saw your lip balm story last week and it reminded me about something. We go through loads of Pritt Stick at work. What can we do with those empty tubes?

I’ve contacted the company that makes Pritt Stick about the recycling side of things but until they get back to me, does anyone have any reusing ideas?

Office or school related ideas would be best as I suspect that’s where they’re used in the largest quantities but any ideas would be welcome. :)

(Photo by gradient)

(By the way, would it make me sound like a wannabe glue sniffer if I mention how much I’m now craving a smell of UHU magic glue sticks after seeing pictures of them in my picture search? ;)

We’ve had an email from Simon:

Any ideas on how to recycle squash balls? I play squash 4-5 times a week so end up with loads that are past their best. I’m sure there must be something better I can do than just throw them away? Suggestions I’ve had were to use them in the washing machine (?), in the cistern to save water, cover them in glitter to make xmas decs or make my own lottery / bingo set ….

I think the washing machine thing is like part of the idea behind washing balls (Ecoballs etc) – they bang against the clothes and the friction helps remove the grim and dirt, or something. That’s an awful explanation – sorry. Can anyone explain it better?

The lottery/bingo idea may seem a bit of a joke but if a local school fair or church fete may be able to use a whole stack of them for just that purpose – so it may be worth offering on your local Freecycle group just in case.

Any other suggestions? Am I right in thinking they’re made from rubber – and if so, what are the recycling options? Anyone know?

(Photo by wizard)

We’ve had an email from Vicky, saying:

I live in Southport and the Open Golf Championship here the other week made everyone golf crazy. I walk my dog on the beach and every day since then she’s brought me golf balls that she’s found on the sands. I don’t play so I don’t know what to do with them but I don’t just want to leave them on the beach to get washed away. Any ideas?

First things first, let me wave excitedly at you, Vicky and request that you give my fondest regards to my hometown. I lived in Southport for the first 18 years of my life – my mum and dad still live there – and remember two Opens (I worked at the last one in 1998; watched, utterly bored, at the one before that in 1991) so know what an impact it makes on the town.

As for the golf ball situation, I guess the most obvious solution is pass them along to someone who will use them – but after time on the beach/in a dog’s mouth, they might not be pristine enough for Royal Birkdale.

Any other ideas?

(Photo by myles)