From a party project, we have left two big foam “things” with holes in it. See the picture included. They measure 108 by 47 by 18 (in centimeters). The holes are large enough to hold a winebottle. But the foam is quite soft, so it’s not safe enough to make it into a hanging wine rack.

I thought about it being playing items for the kids in the garden, but any better ideas are more than welcome.

The bright colour, softness and chunkiness make them feel very much like something for kids – one of those things that if we’d had it as a kids, we’d have come up with a thousand different play uses for it. If you have a few, another kid-related thing might be to string them up as hanging dividers in a bedroom – such as between the sleeping area and the playing area, or to give kids a little privacy/sense of their own space in a shared room.

Aside from that, if you could find boxes big enough to hold them (under bed storage boxes maybe?), they might be useful for keeping glasses or bottles safe during a house move (if you’re not moving, someone on Freecycle probably will be!).

They also could be useful in the garden if you’re growing a lot of seedlings – holding plant pots upright when they start to get a bit top heavy or if it’s windy.

Any other suggestions?

I was on the verge of buying a soda siphon to make my own sparkling water at home – surely much more ecologically sound than buying bottled sparkling water, right? But my husband raised a concern about the used CO2 cartridges? Are they recyclable?

A not-so-quick Google around suggests that they’re metal (typically steel) so can be recycled with normal metal recycling. Anyone know for sure?

When we posted about water filter cartridges three years ago (cor! that’s ages!), we had a number of people making reuse suggestions – how to clean them to get more life out of the filters – are there any tricks like that for soda syphon cartridges?

Even if they couldn’t be reused or recycled though, it still might be worth considering the syphon route because of the amount of energy wasted shipping heavy bottles of water around the place.

Any other suggestions?

Last week, during our lunch themed week, I asked about alternatives to plastic bags & film wraps for packed lunches and it made me think about reusable alternatives to disposable cling film/foil in the kitchen general.

We’ve not really used film for years – a combination of deliberately wanting to avoid using it and being burned buying a couple of rolls of really not clingy clingfilm. I occasionally, when I’m in a rush, use a bit of tin foil as a temporary lid but mostly I use proper lids – we’ve got a selection of random lids which largely fit our standard eating bowls, and we’ve got some plastic can covers.

The downside with the plastic can covers is they only work for cans that are precisely standard size. That’s why I like these homemade reusable bowl covers. They’re elasticated so can be used on a range of sizes of cans, bowls and assorted tubs. A great, simple idea!

What have you done to reduce the use of disposable covers/wraps like cling film/saran wrap in your kitchen?

Like clear plastic muffin/cake boxes, plastic clamshell-ish tubs from salad bars or pre-packed pastas/salads are frustrating – they’re *almost* strong enough and *almost* resealable enough to be reused but not quite.

As with many things of this nature, it’s best to just avoid them when possible so you don’t have to worry about disposing of the tub afterwards – but if you do pick one up, what can you do with it?

I believe most of them are plastic identification number 5 so can be recycled in some places. They can also be used as mini-greenhouses/cloches for very small seedlings.

Any other suggestions?

We buy a lot of stuff online – secondhand stuff from eBay, homemade things from Etsy/Folksy, computer bits, craft supplies, clothes for us and the bajillion small people exploding from the loins of our friends etc etc – and as a result, always have a large amount of packaging lying around our office. A lot of online shops have made improvements over the last few years – crinkled brown paper or air bags instead of polystyrene packaging nuggets, and I’ve received stuff from eBay in all sorts of reused cardboard boxes – but the pile still grows. I reuse it where I can (see below for related reuses) but I’d rather reduce the amount of stuff I receive in the first place if possible.

The most obvious answer to the question is “stop ordering so much stuff online and support your local shops instead”, which is fair enough for some things but other things are harder to come by in real life.

Has anyone ever asked an online shop to reduce the amount of packaging they use? Has anyone sent it back for them to deal with? I’d love to hear your experiences.

If you sell stuff online, what do you do to keep packaging minimum? Got any suggestions for others in the same position?

Post packaging reuses

• How can I reuse or recycle envelopes?
• How can I reuse or recycle padded envelopes?
• How can I reuse or recycle plastic post bags?
• How can I reuse or recycle bubble wrap?
• How can I reuse or recycle packaging cushions?
• How can I reuse or recycle brown paper

• How to reuse or recycle dried fresh flowers – such as roses?
• How to reuse or recycle chalky candy hearts?
• How to reuse or recycle the plastic wrapping from a bouquet?
• How to reuse or recycle gift bags
• How to make your own gifts bags/recycled wrapping from waste materials
• How to reuse or recycle a wedding dress?
• How to make a photo frame/mirror frame reusing recycled materials
• How to reuse or recycle greetings cards?
• How to reuse or recycle wrapping paper?
• How to reuse or recycle chocolate boxes?
• How to reuse or recycle wrappers from individual chocolates?

I wanted to make a gift bag in a hurry the other day out of some old brown paper. A quick search pointed me towards a number of tutorials which used existing boxes as templates – either intact boxes or as nets – but I wondered if anyone else had any other designs?

Another idea I had was to make a quick pouch out of a pretty fabric – or even just fold the fabric furoshiki style.

Any other suggestions?

I teach art in Glasgow and I’m trying to find some way of punching disc of various diameters (eg.10mm 15mm 22mm 30mm) out of recycled plastic, fabric, paper etc. to make jewellery. Any suggestions?

The ring-binder size metal ones, like one in the picture, work fine for small circles, but only small discs about 5mm in diameter. I tried using fancier shaped/bigger hole punches with thin plastic but because the ones I had were designed for thick paper/card, the plastic kept gumming them up. Alison Bailey Smith has more luck than me with that sort of thing though and recommends a particular brand of hole punch – X Cut.

Are there any alternatives to using punches? What are the options for bigger circles? Anything quicker/more accurate than just cutting them out with scissors?

Punching holes in fabric other than felt (and the like) may cause a fraying problem, which might ruin/reduce the lifespan of the garment. Any ways around that or other advice?

• Lynsey from SwirlyArts has been in touch to tell us about two of her recent reusing projects – turning a unwanted old diary into an expenses notebook and how to make pretty padded envelopes out of old books & bubblewrap, as an alternative to boring Jiffy bags.
• The Cottage Smallholder is having a reusing/recycling gardening competition this month – how are you reusing/recycling things to get ready for the next growing season?
• Speaking of getting organised, check out My Tiny Plot for a great idea for keeping up with seed sowing – it’s not strictly a reuse but it could be — an old floppy disk box/card file would be great for this.
• Mrs Green on My Zero Waste has written about a new initiative to recycle crisp packets in the UK.
• I really like the aesthetic of cardboard for home decor so love this idea of making wall art using toilet roll/kitchen roll tubes.
• Julie on Crafting a Green World has written a great round-up of baby projects made from old tshirts.
• And finally, make a feature wall at home a bit different – don’t use generic feature wall wallpaper, use old books (or music scores) instead. As a booklover, I don’t know if I could take apart a still-could-be-read book for such a purpose but it’s a great idea for books that are falling apart.

Hi. I saw everyone’s great ideas about bread bags the other week but we don’t get sliced bread, we get baguettes and the stuff baked in the shop which come in film rather than plastic bread bags. Can that be recycled too?

Ooh, good question. I’m not 100% sure what type of plastic that is – I’ve sent emails to a couple of supermarkets to see if they know so can advise further. It’s maybe cellophane – and if it is, it’s biodegradable. Anyone know?

As for reuses though, it’s not as smooth and, for what of a better word, floppy as the LDPE/number 4 plastic used for pre-packed bread – but because of that, it would be better to use as a lightweight packaging material (it would scrunch, not crush flat). It’s not as pretty as the plastic wrap used on bouquets but there might be some overlap in the reuses.

Any other suggestions?

Our wonderful family and friends brought a selection of home made cakes to our Christmas party and I’ve been left with 5 cake boards. They’re card so I won’t be able to wash them to use them again but I don’t want to just throw them out. What can I do with them?

Actually recycling them might be a problem if they’re mixed materials – cardboard topped with foil or the like. You can rip the foil off and recycle the card but it’ll be better to reuse them if possible.

I’ve seen a pinboard made from cardboard cake boards – stick a couple together if you want them to be thicker/stronger. An alternative to that might be sticking a bulldog clip or the like to the top and using it as a clipboard for shopping lists. The thinner square/rectangular ones might also work as covers for a notebook – perhaps for all your favourite cake recipes? :)

It’s hard to reduce waste when items come as a gift but perhaps you could encourage the cake bakers in your life to use washable alternatives in the future – either a purpose-made acrylic or wooden board, or a large pretty plate — I find charity shops a good source for the latter.

Any other reuse suggestions – or alternatives for future cakes?

How about ribbons? I always nab ribbon from shop bought cake and the slightly more upmarket clothes tags thinking ‘That’ll come in handy’ but I never seem to find a use for it – especially ones with brand names written across them. Thanks!

I also add them to my craft stash too – but I doubt I’ll be using the branded ones in anything decorative any time soon. So suggestions?

The thin ribbons from new clothes are another challenge – they’re not long enough to use for many “tying up” tasks but are still useful for some things.

Anne says:

They make great gift labels along with old birthday cards.

And Alison Bailey Smith also uses them in her work:

I roll them with wire and then coils them or recently I have used them to wrap around combs when making fascinators with wire used to hold toys in place and flowers made from toothpaste tubes.

They also make great cat toys – tied together, they were just long enough to hang to cat-height from the door handles of our old house and just about every door had one for ongoing cat amusement.

What do you do with them?

We currently recycle around 37% of our waste – up from just 11% in 2001 – but still lagging behind other European countries, who recycle up to 70% of their waste. The new targets will have us recycling 50% of our waste within five years (2015) and recycling 60% by 2020.

Recycling provision has grown immensely over the last decade – hence that 26% jump – and most people, certainly in urban/suburb areas, do most of their recycling through regular kerbside pickups. But what do you think would improve the doorstep recycling most in your area? What would allow you to recycle more? What do you think would encourage less green-focused people to make the effort too?

I’ve put a poll together to make it easy for people to contribute but feel free to add your own suggestions in the poll or in the comments below.

How can I recycle the little foil tins that mince pies and jam tarts come in??? I have a large stack this year and I just know they must have some amazing crafty type useage.

(Apologises that I’ve only picked it up a little late – after mince pie season has finished for another year…)

Foil tins can often be recycled alongside cans in metal recycling bins/kerbside – and sometimes (although less so now recycling is widely available) to raise money for charity.

Like foil cat food trays, they can be used as a mould for making soaps or for little tealight-shaped candles.

Any other suggestions?

Most pre-wrapped loaves (in the UK at least) come in LDPE bags – low-density polyethylene, ie, plastic number 4. They can be doorstep recycled in some places (check your local guidelines) and can be included with carrier bags at some collection spots.

But how can they be reused first? The most simple reuse is, of course, as a sandwich bag – but anything more interesting or creative?

(Photo by Richard George)

Parmesan rinds. Why am I keeping them? Dim recollection that Jamie Oliver has some use for them. Must find out soon or they’re for the bin.

Apparently, like broccoli stalks, it’s one of those things that some people ALWAYS cook and they don’t understand why the rest of us don’t use them all the time. What do you use them for? Away from the dinner plate, would they be ok to add to a bird feeder fat mix, or would they be too salty?

Away from parmesan, the biggest thing holding me back is when the rind feels a little fabric-y, like the cheesecloth is part of the rind. I presume – possibly wrongly – that that sort of rind isn’t edible – so what else can be done with it?

Price tags on clothes from highstreet shops seem to be multiplying – one piece of card for the brand/sub-brand, one for the price, one for care instructions… True, most are card so widely recyclable but increasingly I’ve spotted fabric ones on brands attempting to make themselves look more upmarket – held on with a piece of string or ribbon, instead of those little plastic things. A lot of waste that’s just usually pulled off and thrown in the bin straight away.

Anyone got any suggestions for reuses – rather than just recycling – of the card ones? And what about the fabric ones?

(There is, of course, a reduce case here – stop buying excessively tagged highstreet clothes but even the charity shops I go to usually have a couple of big card tags on their garments now.)

(And speaking of highstreet shops and their wasteful antics, this story came to light last week but in case you’ve not seen it – H&M have admitted deliberately destroying brand new clothes rather than giving them to charity. Another attempt by big chains to discourage freegans/scavengers and resulting in more senseless waste. Sigh.)

I know for legal reasons etc you might not be able to mention the product name, but every year the ambassador spoils my family with masses of trays of various sized ferrero rocher boxes. I am just looking for suggestions of what these could be used for.

They seem a waste to just bin, obviously, but i have about 5 and all i can think of is some form of cultivation tray. The boxes are sturdy but don’t particularly seal well, i was going to use one as a sandwich box, but they don’t fasten well.

Any tips on how to make an easily accessible hinge and locking mechanism for these would be great.

As Roger says, the flat single layer ones would be useful as seed trays – or underneath seed trays/planters to stop water draining all over the place. They’re a good shape for using as sprouting trays but my experience of them is that they tend to shatter quite easily if you try to cut into them/drill holes in them so drainage might be an issue.

I remember having one of the smaller/taller ones as a misc bits box as a kid and they would be useful for similar general misc storage as an adult too – they’d be perfect for nails, screws & random bits for the DIYer or buttons & beads for the crafter – they’re clear so it would be super easy to find things.

Any other suggestions?

What can I do with the plastic pots my moisturizers and hand creams come in? They’re round plastic with screw lids but because they’ve had chemical creams in them, I don’t want to use them for food.

Why not check if you can bulk buy your favourite moisturiser/hand cream and refill the existing pots rather than buying new ones each time?

You could also make your own creams – or give them (possibly via Freecycle/Freegle) to someone who does.

As for other reuses, they’d be perfect for storing small things like beads/button or nails/screws — and would give you an instant maraca-type instrument too ;) . They’re also pretty water tight so might be useful for small emergency kits – you could probably fit a pack of matches, a few tea lights and maybe a mini LED torch/flashlight in there.

Other suggestions?

The kibble I get my dog has switched from being in paper bags to plastic ones. What can I do with them now?

You may still be able to recycle them – the plastic cat food bags we’ve got are labelled as recyclable (although not actually saying what type of plastic they are, just that “most councils accept them for recycling” – a great example of the unhelpful lack of information that Simon was complaining about the other day – I suspect they’ll be LDPE, ie number 4 plastic). Check the packaging for similar (although hopefully more helpful) recycling marks.

As for reuses, they’re pretty strong plastic and sometimes with a zip lock seal at the top so can be used for a range of airtight/waterproof storage purposes. An idea for smaller bags might be to decant washing powder from cardboard boxes into the bags to stop it absorbing moisture from the atmosphere. Bigger, dog food size bags, could be used in the garden – a seasonal idea might be to use them for leaf mulch. Staying in the garden, the bags could also be sliced open to use as plastic sheeting to protect crops over winter/discourage weed growth (although with the usual caveat that plastic that isn’t specifically designed for outdoor use tends to break down in the sunshine).

Other ideas?

John threw this one-piece plastic reel at me the other day after he finished wiring up some speakers. I’ve also ones with a little metal (aluminium?) core and cardboard flanges (if that’s the right word, I mean the sticky out bits at the top and the bottom), and really giant ones made from wood.

So any suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Jo:

Hi. Got a question for you. Is it better to buy pop in big bottles or cans from a packaging point of view? Big bottles seem like less waste for the amount of liquid but are plastic. Your thoughts?

Neither are great for a number of reasons. Aside from the actual waste from the packaging, it’s really resource-intensive to ship around liquid in anything other than pipes – and the production tends to be pretty bad for the environment too, let’s not forget about the production.

But to the question in hand, both the plastic and metal are non-renewable resources, the creation of which is very destructive to the environment, but both can be recycled and are widely collected. If though, you can only recycle one or the other in your local area, that might sway you one way or the other.

The easiest way to reduce the waste is, of course, to reduce consumption of the drinks in the first place. Or make them at home – either getting the fizz through a natural process (like making homemade ginger beer) or a less natural one.

I usually prefer bottles – we don’t drink much fizzy stuff at all and when we do have it, prefer little amounts rather than full cans – and even though we no longer have doorstep recycling of plastics, plastic bottles have more reuses around the home and garden.

Anyone else got any input? What about suggestions for reducing the amount of fizzy drinks drunk – what are similar but better alternatives?

How can I reuse or recycle one-cup filter coffee packs?

I think Steve means these – little plastic pots that you put on the top of your cup/mug and fill with boiling water. The water then seeps through the filter-coffee-filter sandwich at the bottom et voila!, a cup of filter coffee without needing a machine.

I think the first thing to suggestion here, as in many cases, is see if you can stop or reduce using them. I realise they’re a handy substitute for offices where there aren’t machines or anything like that, but you can get reusable one-cup filter things and cafetieres/plungers aren’t expensive either. Both of those option cut down your waste by loads and it’s also easier to reuse the coffee grounds from them too.

If you do have to use them though, it’s of course better to reuse them or recycle them instead of just binning them. I wonder if it would be possible to refill them – you might have to replace the upper filter as well as the coffee though – and that would probably be so much faff that it wouldn’t be worth it.

As for other reuses, like nearly everything vaguely pot shaped, you could use it as a small plant pot – the filter at the the bottom would allow drainage. Any other suggestions?

If they’re neatly opened with scissors near the original seal, they can be reused as a slightly smaller mailing bag. Or you can use them instead of bin liners in small waste bins, or cut them into strips to make plastic “yarn” for repurposing projects.

They’re usually made from polythene, the same material as most plastic carrier bags, so can be recycled in the same places as those but you know me, I prefer to reuse than just recycle.

What else can we do with them?

Here’s a selection of creations by three wonderful women, who are, coincidentally, all currently based in the north-west of England – sometimes I’m think I’m living on the wrong side of the Pennines… :)

First up, Recycle This’s favourite wire-woman Alison Bailey Smith has been making pins, brooches and fascinators from assorted plastic packaging and the like (above) – I particularly like the way she’s used bottle lids and the lids as centre pieces.

Next, Ann Ellis sent over these necklaces/bracelets (above) she makes out of plastic bottles, bags and cans – gorgeous stuff and again, like Alison’s things, not something you’d immediately guess what it was made from.

Finally, Lynsey from SwirlyArts has been making brooches out of old buttons (right) – and badges out of old maps and other vintage papers.

Great stuff.

I’ve been using old washing powder boxes instead of box files. I get the big flip top lid boxes and they’re really sturdy and stackable. Much better than recycling the cardboard and buying new boxes!

Great idea, Terri.

Some powders are very perfumed or smell strongly of chemicals so you’d probably have to be careful about storing certain things in there but they’ll be perfect for things .. you won’t be licking ;)

We’ve asked about reducing the amount of washing powder packaging used but anyone got any other ideas for reusing the boxes?

I have some old perfume bottles, they are so pretty they shouldn’t just be thrown in the normal glass recycling.

Is there anything I can do with them, other that just display as an ornament. I don’t want to do this, as I hate clutter. Any ideas?

For starters, some of the Tabasco sauce bottle ideas might apply here too – since both are small, pretty glass bottles with a tiny-teeny neck.

For sprays, I also like DJ’s idea on the pump action spray bottle page – fill the bottle with water to use as a cooling spray mist on hot days. Taking that a step further, you could refill the bottles by making your own scented body or room sprays using essential oils – if that’s not your sort of thing, you could maybe offer the empty, clean bottles on Freecycle to someone in your area who would like to do that.

Any other ideas?

I try to cut back, it’s true, but I love Doritos, so not having chips ever wasn’t an option. I did find a way which is perhaps a little easier on my health and the environment by baking some tortillas instead. We buy those tall stacks of 6 inch corn totillas, cut them up with a pizza slicer, and spread them out on sheets to bake them. we eat them with salsa, and you can find recipes online.

It helps me get the crunch I want, and one stack comes in a soft plastic bag, recyclable the same was as a bag on a loaf of bread, and contains enough to make quite a few batches. Yes, I still get Doritos occasionally, but I am weaning myself off them and those strange bags they come in.

That’s a great compromise – I love ideas that provide an alternative without feeling like a punishment.

For people that prefer potato-based crisps/chips, you can make them out of sweet potato in the microwave without needing tons of fat and packaging.

Any other suggestions for cutting back on snack waste?

• How can I reuse or recycle crisp packets?

Several brands of tea I buy come in little waxy paper packets with a foil lining. Do you know if this can go straight into the recycling bin?

I think it’ll be a no regarding the recycling bin. Mixed materials – such as paper & plastic, plastic & metal, and paper & foil – tend to be a bit of a nightmare when it comes to recycling — and waxed paper can also be problematic to recycle as well (apparently it can be recycled alongside tetrapak but not regular paper).

It might be worth contacting the manufacturers to see if they have any suggestions or have any method of recycling their offcuts – if they do, they might be able to take back packaging and recycle it at the same time.

Any suggestions for reuses?

I buy eco friendly washing powder but it always comes in tiny boxes unlike the bigger brands which come in huge boxes. I don’t want to start buying the ‘normal’ brands of washing powder with less packaging but am concerned that I am buying lots of the smaller boxes.

I know that Ecover do larger boxes of washing powder but I tend to buy the supermarket brand of eco friendly washing powder. The boxes do get recycled but I want to try and reduce the number of boxes I buy.

From my experience, big boxes of Ecover are difficult to find – it’s strange they don’t do refill like the do with liquid cleaning products… They can be ordered online though (I’ve seen places offering 10kg sacks) and depending where you get them from, it might be comparable in cost to supermarket brand products – but of course then you have to think about the delivery footprint…

Anyone got any suggestions or ideas?

(On the subject of washing powders, Ethical Consumer have reviewed a range of laundry detergents on the market in terms of their environmental impact – interesting reading.)