We’ve had an email from Toni:

Do you know of any charities that collect used body piercing jewellery? Everyone seems to want gold and these aren’t gold they’re steel. Your earring suggestions don’t apply either because they’re ring and bars.

Marie Curie’s jewellery recycling scheme claims to accept anything – real or costume, broken or working – so I would have thought from a melt-it-down-for-scrap point of view, they’d accept them.

I’ve heard of some body piercers reusing barbells – they have to sterilised them anyway before use and some items are only used for a couple of weeks before being replaced (for example, borrowing from my own experience, the longer bars used for the few swollen weeks after tongue piercings). But I’d be dubious about that, even sterilised, because of how even small nicks & scratches on the jewellery can increase the risk of infection.

Any better reuses or definite recycling ideas for barbells and CBRs (captive bead rings)? What about plugs and tunnels? Anyone done any fun upcycling/repurposing with them?

We’ve had an email from Andi:

Can I Compost vitamin tablets? I have two jars in date but have gone moist from the air. What can I do with the bottles?

We’ve covered pill bottles already on the site but the vitamin question is a good one – and I’m not sure of the answer. I suspect it might be “best not”. We’re instructed to always dispose of expired medicines very carefully to avoid risk to the public/wild animals, and to avoid contamination of the environment/water supply. While dietary supplements are generally a lot more benign, there is still some risk, for example, iron can be surprisingly toxic to children, and presumably small animals. I’m not suggesting that many children will hunt around in your compost bin for a feast of pills but the payoff doesn’t really seem worth the risk. I may be wrong though.

I’m also not sure if there will be many reuses for them…

Any suggestions for stopping them going soggy in the first place?

After reading last week’s barbecue themed posts, Ali got in touch to ask about repairing a rusted up bbq:

The grill is rusty pretty much all over and there is a rust hole in the base too. My husband wants to throw it out and get another but I’d like to try fixing it first. Please give me some hope that the effort with a wire scrubber will be worth it!

A lot of barbecues at the cheaper end of the market have chrome-plated steel grills and once the chrome gets scratched or otherwise damaged, the exposed steel rusts really quickly. You might get all the rust off now but I’m not sure you’ll be able to keep it off in the future – anyone know any heat/food friendly way to protect it again? If it’s a cast iron grill – most expensive but not uncommon – then you should be able to de-rust it and protect it again like any cast iron pan/appliance.

As for the base, it depends on the size/location of the hole – a small one low down could be turned into a fat trap. Assuming it’s a kettle/barrel type bbq, you could strip it right back to metal (possibly worth doing all over in one go) and repaint it with a heat-proof metal paint (like stove paint) to reduce further rusting. However as someone who has spent far too long stripping metal recently, let me warn you, it’s not exactly a fun pastime.

If you don’t think it’s worth the effort to save this one, learn from this one’s untimely demise when you buy/care for your next one — look for one with a better grill or if it’s already a good one, protect it better in the first place, and don’t leave bbqs outside and uncovered in wet/moist weather.

Any further advice/suggestions?

The wonderful John B got in touch with my John the other day to ask if we could use a couple of sheep fleeces: someone he knows has been given the fleeces by a farmer client.

As I’ve just started spinning wool/yarn, the idea of a full fleece was appealing but also somewhat overwhelming – we said we’d take them if he’d been lumbered with them but otherwise it would be probably best to pass them onto someone else. Aside from spinning, we couldn’t really think of anything to do with them – then he suggested I ask on here for other uses.

We’ve covered man-made fleece jackets on here before but not the from-a-sheep variety. Apparently some people wash them and use them for insulation but there is a problem with moth-attacks.

What else can be done with them?

(mmm, alliteration)

• I love this simple but cute idea for baked gifts – using an old food can as a baking container and gift packaging in one. I first thought it was biscuits/cookies in the can – it would work well for those too, protecting them from getting crushed.
• These lamps from old piping are great – straddling the line between being industrial and looking like strange bulb-headed creatures!
• Notes from the Frugal Trenches is part way through a “100 Simple Ways to Save” round-up – lots of great ideas that aren’t just frugal, they encourage reducing too (part one; part two; part three; part four)
• As someone currently seeking out baskets, this basket from blue jeans tutorial is definitely going on my to-try list.
• Finally, check out this table runner make by fixing together old doilies – very pretty work.

(Photo by ChasingFireflies)