Archive for the "kitchen" category

How can I reuse or recycle … old mop heads?

Mop head against red brick wallSince there was such a positive response to Em’s sponge scourer query, I’ll post about something I’d also worried about the gackness level: mop heads.

We’re not ardent moppers but have to change the mop heads themselves quite a lot because the coarse and often dirty nature of our floors means that after a couple of uses, they look really quite sad and/or not the type of thing you want to use when ‘cleaning’. We swap and change between using cloth mops, string mops and those new-fangled-super-dooper-cost-£3-a-time mopheads but none of them seem to be particularly hard wearing.

Any suggestions on what we can do when with them once they’ve been relegated from their rightful role?


How can I reuse or recycle … big squash bottles?

Orange squash bottlesMmm, orange squash. I go through a litre of it a week. I just can’t get enough of the water, orange fruit from concentrate (12%), Glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, citric acid, acidity regulator (Sodium Citrate), Preservatives (Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Metabisulphite), Sweeteners (Aspartame, Saccharin), Flavourings, Stabliser (E466), Vitamins (Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, B6, B12) and Colour (Beta-Carotene). Plus, a source of Phenylalanine? Mmmm-mmm.

The plastic bottles though, they’re not so tasty. I realise we’ve already brainstormed plastic milk bottles and water bottles but anything specially in mind for these babies, given they’re bigger and tougher?


How can I reuse or recycle … sponge cleaner things?

Spounge scourerAnother suggestion from Em:

Thanks for the light bulb ideas – really great.

Here’s one that I have been considering for a while……how to reuse/recycle those spongy washing up scourer pad thingies. They are the ones that come in different colours of spongy rectangles with a scoury bit on the top layer. We use ours until they are really dead – any suggestions?

Cheers, Em

We use them until they’re dead too and I worry about reusing them if they’re food gacky – but any suggestions anyway, particularly if the gack level is low?

(Oh, and I’ve also had an email from a chap called Antony who wants to find a company that makes cardboard boxes from recycled cardboard – if anyone has any ideas, leave a comment below or email me and I’ll forward along the message)


How can I reuse or recycle plastic cups?

Plastic cupsA suggestion from Franto:

My office has a water cooler with a supply of plastic cups. I don’t go anywhere near it and fill my glass from the tap but my work colleagues seem to use a new cup for each sip of water they take, the bin is always over following with the damn things. I want to rescue them but don’t know what to do with them.

These people seem to collect plastic cups from workplaces in bulk so that might be an idea – but has anyone got any reuse suggestions?

(photo by reemreem)


How can I reuse or recycle … pizza boxes?

Pizza in a box
It’s Friday and it’s been a busy week at Recycle This Mansions so we are, I very much suspect, going to be dialling in for food tonight.

We’re lucky that we’ve got a few good pizza places in the vicinity so will be on cheese-highs by bedtime (weee, cheese dreams!) but we’ll wake up remorseful tomorrow, after our binge tonight, because we won’t know what to do with the cardboard pizza boxes that will be covering the living room floor.

We usually just fling them in the cardboard-recycling bin but any other suggestions?