We’ve had an email from Christina Albertsen:

My colleages and I throw away loads of used staples every day where we work, and I was just wondering if there’s a way of recycling them somehow!

If you have any ideas (apart from buying one of those stapless staplers, which I will be doing) that would be great!

They seem so small but I remember reading in a book a few years ago that a colossal amount of steel is used to make staples. Unfortunately I can’t find the book just at the moment so I can’t find the exact figure but it was a very big number for what seem to be small and insignificant bits of bent metal.

The book recommended using paper clips or treasury tags instead since they’re reusable – and of course there is Christina’s stapleless stapler idea – but aside from that, as Christina asks, are there any ways to recycle (or reuse) staples once they’ve been squished?

When I was a kid, I used to make chains of them for fun but it was fiddly and they had sharp ends so couldn’t be used for much – or could they?

When he can be bothered, John writes a hideously geeky webcomic and we sell tshirts based on the “characters”. To ease the whole packaging and posting process, I use laser-printed mailing labels and while I try to minimise waste by only printing in full sheets of 21 labels at a time (I always need return address stickers), there is always a sheet of A4 ‘waxed’ paper left after I peel off the labels.

I doubt it’s properly waxed paper but it’s got a kinda non-stick coating on it so the labels peel off easily. My betting is that said ‘wax’ is more than likely to be plastic-based so potentially throws up some issues for recycling.

Does anyone know if these spent sheets can be recycled with normal printer paper? And either way, does anyone have any ideas for how these sheets could be re-used around the home or office? I also end up with loads of small ‘waxed’ sheets from customs and Airmails stickers so any suggestions for smaller sizes would be great too.

This is another of those that I can’t believe we haven’t thought about yet: printer/photocopier paper.

It can, obviously, be recycled: as far as I know, most doorstep recycling schemes offer paper recycling and in all the places I’ve worked, there has been a green bin in the office for at least recycling white paper products, if not all different types like brown envelopes and newspaper.

However, I know not all offices are so green-focused without prompting – does anyone have any good strategies for getting employers to starting caring about this type of thing? Or know of any companies that offer recycling services to business?

And what about ideas for reuse? If something had only had printing on one side, I would either use the other side for printing drafts or make the blank side into scrap notepads (held together at the top with a bulldog clip). But what about other suggestions for reuses, including for when both sides have been printed on? And what confidential matter that can’t spend the next three months on the back of a notepad?

(Oh, and we got mentioned in the Guardian yesterday – if you’re here after reading that mini-article, hello! And if you want to know how to recycle said copy of the Guardian, we’ve plenty of ideas for recycling and reusing old newspapers.)

In a completely un-me moment of organised and forward planning, I was looking for a pen the other day to write something on shopping list. I turned to the pot of random pens that I put together in another completely un-me moment of organised and forward planning. Unfortunately given the long time-lapse between those two periods, all the ink in all those pens had completely dried up. I ended up scratching letter-shaped holes in the shopping list instead. Useful.

So what can I do with all those old pens? Can I rescue them? Can I reuse their skins? Most of them are cheap (usually promotional) biros but there are also some felt tip types. Any suggestions?

(Photo by nazreth)

It’s John’s birthday today and while between the two of us, we’re not big gift givers, he’s sure to receive presents from family and friends.

Back when John and I first met and still gave gifts, he once wrapped my birthday present in newspapers and elastic bands, with a spoon for a “bow”, but his friends and family are more traditional when it comes to gift wrapping.

So what can we do with the gift wrap once its cast aside? Even with careful opening, it might not be in big enough pieces to use for any substantial present wrapping in the future so what are the alternatives?

And with Christmas around the corner too, any special ideas for reusing or recycling festive Christmas wrapping paper?

(Photo by shanii)