Mon 24 Apr 2006
Oh lovely pistachio nuts. How sweet and salty your squishy insides are. How tough and protective your hard outsides are.
We’ve got a whole bowlful of the pistachio nut shells with no idea what to do with them.
We’re reluctant to just throw them on the compost heap because it seems such a waste to just ask them to rot down again (and they’ll probably take ages anyway) but that’s a last resort I guess.
Any ideas?





john
April 24th, 2006 at 11:49 am
Helmets for snails?
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Xochi
April 28th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
lol
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sarar
April 24th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
How about drilling little holes in them and threading them onto some elastic for a shell-like chunky bracelet?
SaraR
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caroline
April 24th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Draw faces on them! So cute!
See these ones: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_home_accessories/article/0,1789,HGTV_3255_3811142,00.html
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Mike
April 24th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
You can make percussion instruments with them. Just seal them inside a dried coconut shell or in a toilet roll tube with the ends stopped up.
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louisa
April 27th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Oooh, yes, rattle rattle.
You could use empty food cans - two of them, cleaned then taped together at the open ends - too. That would probably make a louder noise than cardboard (if loudness was your aim).
-louisa
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john
April 24th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Apparently pistachio nut shells can be used to remove mercury emissions from power plants! Some researchers found that pistachio carbons had nearly five times larger capacity for the adsorption of mercuric chloride than their coal-derived counterparts.
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=3062
I doubt that many recyclethis.co.uk readers own their own power plants but something for the future I guess.
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Rony
April 26th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
accordign to this site - http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Pistachio_20Shell_20Construction - you can compress them into briquetts for a bbq
i dont know if it would work because i would have thought they would splinter but just burning them on a bbq might be an idea
i dont know if its any better than composting them tho
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Alex
April 27th, 2006 at 11:52 am
Maybe you could collect enough to use as the filling for a bean bag or cushion. They are not sharp and strong enough to take a distributed load..
I recommend you fill your partners pillow one night and see if they notice.
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bev
April 28th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
you could use them at the bottom of plant pots with drainage holes in the bottom - the sheels would stop the soil falling out but would let excess water drain away.
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Farina
May 4th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I tried this, but the pistachio shells were too salty and affected the growth of the plant. I think they need to be thoroughly washed first!
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Jesse
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:43 am
Yes! That is what I use my pistachio shells for, I also use them on the top of pot that need to retain moisture. I put a layer, just like you would with bark. It keeps the moisture in and is a unique and light colored accent to a pot. I worried about the salt, but nothing seemed to happen. I think it washed away over time, and may have been beneficial. However, I did harm one plant because the shells did SUCH a good job keeping moisture in, that a plant that I later found out DIDN’T want moisture, died. oops :) live and learn, right?
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Tomdo
April 29th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
You could use them as chips or game pieces when gambling.
You if you wanted to get really adventurous, you could paint half of them black and use them as Go pieces.
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Emanla Eraton
July 26th, 2006 at 2:59 am
My sister used to use them as fake nails.
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Emanla Eraton
September 1st, 2006 at 2:51 am
She was only 5 at the time.
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kaoss
August 25th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
You can use them as slug deterrents for new plants. They’re salty and sharpish neither of which slugs can cope with. My parsley, beans, caulis etc all survived this year when surrounded with these shells which have now softened up and will be dug in. If you’ve got pot/containers, you could cover the surface to stop the algae & fungus they sometimes get.
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Cadan ap Tomos
September 27th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Put them on the fire
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shannon
September 29th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
I know this sounds “nuts” (haha) but I love the sound that these shells make hitting each other so I think a wind chime made of these would be great!
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dragonlady
December 1st, 2006 at 1:19 am
they can be used for traction if one gets their auto stuck in ice or snow…
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barbara
December 7th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
I use them on Christmas wreaths. They look like
snowball flowers. I drill each one and string 30 of them on a wire. When I get four bunches, I twist them together. Everyone I made a wreath for loves them.
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Katie
January 7th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Along the same lines as “kaoss” (above), they’re good garden mulch. Here in Australia where we’re in serious drought, mulch may be a bigger issue than it is in the UK, so perhaps for you compost is just as good. But I like them as mulch because they take a long time to break down.
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suz
November 27th, 2007 at 5:01 am
Someone once told me that they’re too salty to use as mulch on the garden, not very good for the soil. I’ve never tried so I don’t know for sure but keep that in mind.
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marcsi
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:29 am
Glue them onto a pair of insoles and put them in your shoes/slippers for a foot massage while walking around!
Alternatively glue them onto a board and put it under your feet while sitting at your computer!
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njtomboy
August 18th, 2007 at 1:38 am
earrings… jewelry!
just paint add a little bling , drill a small hole, add findings & voila! You are the talk of the town!!! LOL…
Can’t believe I went through your whole archive.. backwards! Great blog!
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Ben Dover
October 12th, 2007 at 2:02 am
jesus christ. just throw them away or into your compost.
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Coral
October 15th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
on a trip to the Canadian Rockies a few years ago I saw pine cones used as mulch in public garden beds. So following this thought I would say you could use the pistachio nut shells for mulch.
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jenny
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
spray them gold and use them in popourri
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kevin
November 27th, 2007 at 3:45 am
Use them in your corn or pellet stove they are very good for heat. They also clean the clinker in the corn burners. i would like to buy some if they are clean and bagged??
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Elouise
November 27th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I saw somebody once use umpteen thousand peach pips instead of tar or gravel in their driveway. I guess you’d have to eat a lot of pistachio nuts, but you could use them instead of pebbles for a pathway in the garden or for your driveway.
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stella howell
November 27th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
50 kg bags of sawdust available.
Would anyone like to start a bid for approx 50 x 50 bags
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jeff
November 28th, 2007 at 3:00 am
just for fun ,i added shells to my corn furnance,and what a hot flame came from the pistachio shells , there are cherry pits , corn ,rye ,wheat ,are all combustable if moisture content is correct .
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az1
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:09 am
Hummm…funny..think I will
add some to my pellet stove.
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Rani
December 4th, 2007 at 5:42 am
Hi,
I have used them create artworks. You can visit my “home craft ideas” Blog.
Rani
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Rani
December 4th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Hi,
oops…my blog: http://homecraftideas.blogspot.com/2007/12/wall-hanging.html
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renee
February 9th, 2008 at 8:00 am
I dye them with food coloring, pierce them and string them together to make awesome decorations for party’s/holidays
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How can I reuse or recycle plastic food wrapping/bags? » How can I recycle this?
March 19th, 2008 at 11:05 am
[…] by sritenou - and if you’re interested in pistachios, check out the post that started this whole website nearly two years ago :) […]
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Andy
May 8th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Give them to small dogs to lick the salt off them. keeps them quite for a few hours.
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money muffin bagel
June 1st, 2008 at 3:35 pm
They are great to paint on. You can paint a little flower on it, with a message carefully written inside of the shell. Its just takes practice and someone to give them to.
Aside from that, they are the new Ivory! shave them down into straight pieces and use them for inlay pieces in your antique style furniture.
Or turn them into bug houses. Drill a little door and plant it on a nice sandy surface.
They also make great fake nails. The only trouble is in the application. I no longer recommend the use of crazy glue. And FYI; hot glue is just painful.
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robbie
July 29th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
send them to me i want as many as i can get my hands on www.herc@live.co.uk
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