Posts tagged "packaging"

How can I reuse or recycle plastic pet food bags?

We’ve had an email from Alana:

The kibble I get my dog has switched from being in paper bags to plastic ones. What can I do with them now?

You may still be able to recycle them – the plastic cat food bags we’ve got are labelled as recyclable (although not actually saying what type of plastic they are, just that “most councils accept them for recycling” – a great example of the unhelpful lack of information that Simon was complaining about the other day – I suspect they’ll be LDPE, ie number 4 plastic). Check the packaging for similar (although hopefully more helpful) recycling marks.

As for reuses, they’re pretty strong plastic and sometimes with a zip lock seal at the top so can be used for a range of airtight/waterproof storage purposes. An idea for smaller bags might be to decant washing powder from cardboard boxes into the bags to stop it absorbing moisture from the atmosphere. Bigger, dog food size bags, could be used in the garden – a seasonal idea might be to use them for leaf mulch. Staying in the garden, the bags could also be sliced open to use as plastic sheeting to protect crops over winter/discourage weed growth (although with the usual caveat that plastic that isn’t specifically designed for outdoor use tends to break down in the sunshine).

Other ideas?

How can I reuse or recycle big reels/bobbins?

00004We’ve already covered cotton bobbins – they were one of the first things we featured on the site – but how about ones that are quite a bit bigger?

John threw this one-piece plastic reel at me the other day after he finished wiring up some speakers. I’ve also ones with a little metal (aluminium?) core and cardboard flanges (if that’s the right word, I mean the sticky out bits at the top and the bottom), and really giant ones made from wood.

So any suggestions?

Interesting Reducing, Reusing & Recycling links

maya-made-coffee-pincushionI’m *finally* getting back on top of my email Inbox & feed reader after a few mad weeks of juggling work and house moves – here’s some super-interesting links I’ve been sent/read about.

How can I reuse or recycle single-cup coffee filters?

individual-filter-coffeeWe’ve had an email from Steve asking:

How can I reuse or recycle one-cup filter coffee packs?

I think Steve means these – little plastic pots that you put on the top of your cup/mug and fill with boiling water. The water then seeps through the filter-coffee-filter sandwich at the bottom et voila!, a cup of filter coffee without needing a machine.

I think the first thing to suggestion here, as in many cases, is see if you can stop or reduce using them. I realise they’re a handy substitute for offices where there aren’t machines or anything like that, but you can get reusable one-cup filter things and cafetieres/plungers aren’t expensive either. Both of those option cut down your waste by loads and it’s also easier to reuse the coffee grounds from them too.

If you do have to use them though, it’s of course better to reuse them or recycle them instead of just binning them. I wonder if it would be possible to refill them – you might have to replace the upper filter as well as the coffee though – and that would probably be so much faff that it wouldn’t be worth it.

As for other reuses, like nearly everything vaguely pot shaped, you could use it as a small plant pot – the filter at the the bottom would allow drainage. Any other suggestions?

How can I reduce the amount of toiletries I use?

showeringWe’ve had an email from Di:

Every week I have to buy more shampoo, more conditioner, more shower gel… for my family and want it to stop. It’s so expensive, all the bottles are such a waste and I hate the idea of all those chemicals. I don’t know if we’re brave enough to go no ‘poo but want to reduce our use all the same. Any ideas?

I’ve heard lots of good things about going down the no (sham)poo route but it does take some perseverance – the first few weeks are usually pretty horrible while the hair/scalp adjusts from being regularly doused in chemicals to managing itself. For some people, it quickly settles down and is better than it was before, for other people it takes ages to work itself out and sometimes never does.

There is plenty of middle ground though – try reducing the amount of times you wash your hair. I think we’ve been convinced that hair needs washing regularly by shampoo producers – I’ve spoken to older people about the issue and they think it’s madness that we wash our hair so often – they go for shampoo-and-sets once a week or even less frequently and that’s more than enough. (I suspect we also generally have a somewhat broken notion about what smells clean because we’re so used to perfumed soaps and the like.) After leaving my job to work for myself a few years ago, I halved the amount of times I wash my hair and I think there is scope to scale it back even further.

Cut down the waste produced by the toiletries by buying bigger containers of things – bulk-buy if you can and decant it into smaller, old bottles for ease of use – and consider swapping to solid shampoo & soaps instead – less bulk to be transported around. Of course, you can make your own shampoo, liquid soap and bar soap too – then you know exactly what’s it in and don’t need tons of packaging.

Any other suggestions? What have you done to cut back? What works? What doesn’t? Any particular shampoos that aid infrequent washing?