We’ve had an email from Jennie:

Can you recycle swim caps?

It’ll depend on what the caps are made from but the answer to actual recycling is probably no. According to Wikipedia, they can be made from latex, silicone or lycra: silicone is recyclable, but not collected widely for recycling while latex and lycra (spandex) aren’t recyclable on a large scale yet.

If they’re still in good, usable condition, the best thing to do would be able pass them on to someone else who can use them for their original purpose – through a charity/thrift shop maybe, or through your local pool.

And what about reuses?

(Photo by coudron)

We’ve had an email from Am about bottle caps:

As we have a lot of plastic water bottles, and they are easy enough to recycle/reuse… but what about the screw-on bottle tops?

When they are recycled the council insist the lids are not included…and I hate to waste all those little lids.

I always keep a few spare ones in case I lose/drop-somewhere-rank the lid of a bottle I’m re-using. I’ve also used them (usually in pairs for stability) to add height when a plant pot sits too low in the planter – water bottle caps add about 1cm while milk bottle ones are a little wide and not as tall.

Anyone got any other suggestions?