How can I reuse or recycle … broken crockery?

Broken plateWe have a stone floor in the kitchen; a very hard, very cold, stone floor. In the summer, when it’s hot, it’s fantastic but in the winter, it becomes a game how we can step on it the least (I’ve cooked dinner kneeling on a stool on more than one occasion).

As much as we dislike it then, there is one collective entity that hates it more: our crockery. One slip when we’re washing up and – smash! It has no chance really.

When saucers or shallow dishes break cleanly, into just a couple of pieces, we glue them back together to use under plant pots and handle-less mugs are collected in the under-sink cupboard to be used for “bits” – but are there any other ways we could re-use them? What about stuff that can’t be glued back together?

Or should we just bury them deep down in the soil for future archeologists to find and give them final proof that our society worshipped a God named “Microwave safe”?

(Photo by acerin)

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15 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle … broken crockery?”


  1. bev says:

    As long as they bits aren’t too sharp, broken crochery is great for putting at the bottom of plant pots for drainage.

  2. Cadan ap Tomos says:

    Glue them back together. It usually works…

  3. dancing girl says:

    If you are into gardening I would smash them into smaller pieces and use them as a decorative mulch around pot plants. It looks so cute around my spring bulbs at the moment. Just like mosaic but without the hassle. Group the colours into complementary shades. I have also used many decorative shards in mosaic work. I have made myself a beautiful fruit bowl on the base of a terracotta plant pot. It is alot simpler than you think once you organise your pattern.

  4. aware says:

    make a mosaic… anything. if you want more colors and textures, break more stuff!

  5. Crys says:

    My grandmother used to collect broken pieces of glass from the same situation and she put them in a jar with a lid. After a while, with different colors and what-not, you wind up with a decoration. Just make sure you don’t set it somewhere that it would fall and break all over again! :)

  6. J. James says:

    Research is going into ways in which broken glass can be recovered, soon you may be able to stick that broken glass in the recycle bin!!

    http://www.consrv.ca.gov/index/news/2004%20News%20Releases/NR2004-10_Market_Development_Recycling_Grants.htm

  7. James says:

    I use my broken plates and what-not as decor for the bottom of my fish bowls. It look likes ruins of Atlantis!

  8. artsiecl says:

    How about making stepping stones for the garden and using small pieces at random in them for a real art look ….and for fun…..
    carol

  9. Patricia Mckane says:

    I want to use broken cups etc. to decorate my flowers pots, some are plastic, what adhesive can i use so that they will stick and not fall off in wet and cold weather.

  10. Bertie says:

    Carrying on from the mosaic theme – Save all the pieces up, sort into similar colours & re-tile a floor area by pressing your design into wet concrete. Finish off with tile grout.

  11. Saachi says:

    You can make a cute candle stand out of broken crockery. Here is the tutorial: http://goo.gl/qxlHsk


Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. How can I reuse or recycle … a broken glass? » How can I recycle this? 18 04 07
  2. How can I reuse or recycle … mugs with broken handles? » How can I recycle this? 06 08 07
  3. How can I reuse or recycle random bits of china/crockery? » How can I recycle this? Creative ideas for reusing and recycling random stuff 06 04 09

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