We’ve had a message from Roxi on our old yoghurt pots post, saying:

I have been wondering what I can use a big yogurt can for. I can’t seem to find anything that I need storing in a container like that, so does anyone have any ideas?

The phrase “a big yogurt can” confuses me as I’ve never seen yoghurt for sale in cans – I’m presuming she means the bigger plastic tubs (please correct me if I’m wrong) because while we’ve covered those little yoghurt pots and the triangular ones, we’ve not covered the big ones.

The pots I’m thinking of are about 18-20cm (7-8inches) tall and 8cm (3inches) in diameter at the top. There are some other ones that are similar but a bit more squat. Like other yoghurt pots though, they tend to be made of a flexible, not-too-heavyweight plastic and have a plastic lid – or a foil lid with sometimes a plastic lid to go on top of that for resealing.

The ones with the resealable lids are ripe for reusing as storage in the kitchen because they’re resealable – but the plastic isn’t *that* sturdy so it doesn’t feel like a permanent container.

So any specific reuse suggestions for in the kitchen or elsewhere? And what about pots missing that resealable lid?

Travis left a comment on the ‘Suggest An Item‘ page asking:

What can I do with baby food jars?

We’ve featured bigger jars and littler jars in the past but not specifically baby food jars.

Any reuse suggestions then? In particular, any suggestions that will use them en masse (since some families could be getting through a few a day) or baby-related reuses?

Some ideas to get us started: baby food jar candles; very cute baby food jar pincushion-topped sewing kits; and this month’s craft craze, terrariums in jars (mine, when I get around to making it, will star some little dinosaurs).

• How can I reuse or recycle other baby related stuff?

We’ve been going through a lot of tomato puree recently and I’ve been cutting open, cleaning and keeping the metal tubes when I’m done with them. Once the top section is cut off, they open up to be a square of thin, flexible (but easily punctured) metal that’s a bright brassy gold colour on the inside.

But what can I do with them?

I got into the habit of keeping them after attending a great recycling workshop last year – Alison Bailey Smith, who ran the class, uses them as part of her wonderful wire work.

I like the idea of some tin work with them – perhaps making little tiny boxes like Atomic Shrimp – but any other suggestions? Any practical ideas for how the little sheets of metal?

We’ve had an email from Lizzy asking about teabag boxes:

They’re cardboard so I can put them in my green bin but can anyone suggest any reuses for them?

I imagine they’d be good for any general dry storage – as drawer dividers for little things, for recipe cards in the kitchen, or the bigger boxes for keeping packets – of sauces or seeds – organised and upright.

Aside from that, I bet creative kids could use the boxes in a number of ways – an already constructed building block.

Any other suggestions?

(Photo from Lizzy, thanks Lizzy!)

We’ve had a query from Alison Bailey Smith:

Can we have suggestions for what to do with divided yoghurt pots, you know the kind that have muesli in a small triangular pot with larger triangular pot for yoghurt? I mean beyond using as paint and water pots…

I have used them for the basis for papier mache. We go through tonnes of them and give them to school and playgroup but wondered if anyone had converted them into anything unusual.

We’ve covered the single pot type of yogurt pots before but these ones are quite different – so any ideas?