It’s World Water Day on Sunday so this week’s Recycle This is water themed.

Following on from Monday’s post on reusing bath water or water from a shower, I thought it would be good to get some reuses for misc CLEAN hot water.

As good citizens of the world, we only try to heat as much water as we need when we use the kettle but sometimes someone changes their mind over a cup of tea or we just simple misjudge how small a container is, and there is freshly boiled clean water leftover. It would be a waste of both power and water to just let it cool again then tip it away.

I also had sinusitis for most of last year and the best way to get temporary relief was to steam open my block cavities with a bowl of boiling water and a towel over my head. The water was always still super hot when I was done so again, it was a shame to just throw it down the drain.

I mostly use our leftover hot water for pre-washing pans or other cleaning tasks around the kitchen – at the very least, it gets swooshed down the dish-draining rack on its way to the plughole.

Away from the kitchen, I have half a memory of very hot water in a spray can being good for getting rid of aphids or something. And crafters could use it for hand felting small objects like felt balls.

Any other suggestions to make the most of it?

Next Sunday is World Water Day so I thought we’d run with that theme here on Recycle This this week.

Hopefully we’re all already doing what we can to reduce our water consumption – low-flush toilets, taking showers rather than baths, turning the tap off between rinses when cleaning our teeth, a water butt or two in the garden, etc – but what about reusing greywater from around the house – from that shower or bath, for example?

Proper greywater systems, which recycle washing water to flush toilets, can be expensive (in terms of set-up and space) to fit but drop household water usage by around 30%.

I know other people with showers-over baths take care with their soap use and save the water to use on their gardens, or use the still pretty-clean water to pre-soak heavily soiled clothes. (I take muddy clothes into the shower with me and stomp about on them to get the muck out before washing them as normal, saves needing a second run through the machine.)

Any other practical ways to reuse that water?

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 an email from Elaine:

You’ve got lots of suggestions for things I can use as plantpots but what can I do with damaged ones? Cleaning out my greenhouse last weekend I found about thirty that had either cracked right down the side or on the bottom. I just want to recycle them really.

I’m not an expert on identifying plastic when it’s not in the standard milk bottle, water bottle or carrier bag categories but I think the plant pots I’ve got are mostly made of Polypropylene (Type 5) – a quick spot check of the bottom of pots in our living room confirms this. Type 5 plastics can be doorstep recycled in some places – check your local council’s advice on what you can or can’t include in your green bin.

Any suggestions about what Elaine could do if she can’t recycle them like that? Any bulk reuse suggestions?