We’ve had an email from Diana Meyrick-Thomas asking if there are any recycling schemes for false teeth – anyone got any ideas? Are there any groups collecting them for redistribution overseas?

And what about reuses? As a veteran humourologist, I’d be tempted to make them into gag items for around the home (bottle opener? cookie cutter? biting doorbell cover?) but has anyone else got any more sensible suggestions?

(Photo by Fugue)

We had our leaky roof fixed last week and needed to replaster the leak-damaged part of the ceiling in the attic room. Our plasterer could only find giant bags of plaster for sale but it was only a small bit that needed fixing, so we’ve got about 20kg of powdered plaster left.

The plasterer said he won’t be able to use it before it went solid so he left it with us: we figured we’d be able to get rid of it one way or another.

I’ve put it on our local Freecycle group with the hope that someone can use it but if it doesn’t disappear down that route, anyone got any suggestions on how we can reuse or recycle it in the next few weeks? Or does anyone know any way to stop it going solid – will an airtight container suffice?

According to the bag, it’s “one coat plaster” that is “suitable for most internal surfaces” but we have no internal surfaces that need plastering. Can it be used for craft things or is that a whole different type of plaster?

For my birthday last year, my friend Katherine bought me some little organic jams and chutneys in sample size jars. They were yummy. Even the cat agreed.

But now we’ve got the little jam jars left over. We’ve also got a couple of those hotel-breakfast-room ones lying around too.

The glass could be recycled in the usual way but I’d try to re-use them if possible. Any suggestions that could utilise their tiny proportions to full advantage? The range from being about 2cm (an inch) in height and diameter, to the hexagonal ones that Sili is sniffing (about 4cm tall by 2cm wide).

Robert Adler, one of the guys that co-invented the remote control, died last week.

I suspect when a piece of remote-controlled equipment dies, people just sling out the remote too but are there any way to reuse them? Let’s assuming getting the equipment fixed isn’t possible or feasible, are there any uses for the now-redundant remote control?

Or are there any places that re-sell them? We lost our tv remote control a few years ago and after searching everywhere, bought a replacement – but the replacement was brand new, when a second-hand one would have sufficed. Then, because life is just like that, we found the original and so now have a spare – is there any way for us to pass it on?

After the post the other week about umbrella covers, it made me think about the umbrellas themselves.

I have repaired my current umbrella on a number of occasions whenever the cover become detached from the spikes but the fabric at the tips is getting weak now from its frequent visits from the sewing kit. I’ve also had to throw them away in the past because they’ve done that inverting in the wind thing, snapped a prong and refused to close properly from then on.

So any suggestions on how the mechanism or the (cute, strong, water-resistant) fabric could be reused? Any tips for fixing them would also be appreciated!

(Photo by neza)