For reasons that seemed fun at the time, a few of years ago we halved and scooped out some coconuts. We clip-clopped up and down the street and around the house Monty Python style for a bit then the shells went in the cellar. There they stayed for a year or so then we found them, clip-clopped some more and then cellared them again.

Now, after a third bout of clip-clopping for the amusement of local children, the empty shells are now living in the garden and are really begging to be reused to save them from involvement in more repeat attempts at “humour”.

Any suggestions of things to do with them?

(Wonderful picture by minmax, c/o sxc.hu – because ours were too soggy to photograph well)

A few years ago, when everyone and their auntie was trying their luck during the ISP goldrush, we couldn’t open the front door for the amount of AOL cds coming through the letter box each morning.

Thankfully, it’s all slackened off a bit now but we still have stacks of old CDs to get rid of: data ones that have burnt wrong, ones that have been scratched and, on the rare occasion we still get them, those damn AOL-et-al cds.

The myriad of coasters we already own (3 different sets, 4 in each set) far exceeds the amount of coasters we use on a day-to-day basis (zero), so employing CDs to do the job – which is often the suggestion – isn’t really going to be that useful to us.

So any other ideas? What other uses are there for them?
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I was feeling a little poorly the other day so we had the standard unwell tea: chucky eggs and soldiers*.

The military men and their ovoid shaped compadres did their work and by the next day, I was up and around again – wondering what to do with the remaining egg shells.

I have used broken eggs shells in the garden in the past, to try to deter slugs and snails from my seedlings but I don’t know if it was worth it since the molluscs seemed to get through anyway. So does that actually work?

And are there any better uses for them?

(* boiled eggs and toast sliced thinly so that it can be dunked in the aforementioned eggs if the yolks are soft enough)
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Every day, you’re there, waiting for me on the door mat. With your too-well-stuck-down-flap and your usually pointless contents. And most of the time, you have a little shiny plastic window too, which makes me worry about putting you in the paper recycling bin.

Why do you torment me so, envelopes?

What can I possibly do with you that would make me hate and resent you less?
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Ok, so obviously it’s far greener to use public or human-powered transport but if you have to drive, what’s better: to drive a more-energy-efficient new car (I’m thinking a standard petrol/diesel car, not an electric or hybrid one) or fix up and use an old car instead?

I suspect it’s a balance of unnecessary consumption and waste versus ongoing inefficiency – but does anyone have any details about which is the better option? Are there any other benefits to a new car than that?

Does the amount of miles you do make a difference? And what about the electric or hybrid cars – do they swing the balance in the favour of a new car, despite the resources it takes to make them?

I would love to hear what everyone thinks about this.

(Photo by cwcav, c/o sxc.hu)