We’ve had a message from Lindsay, wondering what she can do with an old radiator.

She’s posted it on Freecycle but hasn’t had any interested in it – so has anyone got any ideas about how she can recycle or reuse it?

She hasn’t said whether it’s a cool old one like in the picture or a more modern one but suggestions for either would be appreciated.

(Photo by bzride)

Last week, I wrote a bit of a rant about how much I hate it when pencil leads are broken (HATE) and asked what I could do with the formerly-useful pencils.

But I didn’t think about the resultant sharpenings.

If the pencil is wood, I guess they can be composted – right?

But what about previously-foam-cup pencils that can’t be composted?

I know it seems a really small thing and almost isn’t worth caring about, but any suggestions?

I suspect this is another recycle rather than reuse thing but again, I’m not sure how to go about recycling them.

Until recently, we didn’t have a printer at home and when I was at work, there was a helpful box in reception or the photocopying room that mystically took away my old ink/toner cartridges and turned them into money or unicorns or something.

As my description of the work-recycling process might indicate, I don’t know where those cartridges ended up so now we have a printer at home, I have a couple of cartridges and don’t know what to do with them. We’ve got a HP black and white laser printer and an Epson colour one (both second- or third- hand, I might add).

A quick search turns up a variety of options but aside from Oxfam who I suspect aren’t lying, I don’t know if the companies do with the money/cartridges as they say they will. And what about the Epson ink cartridges that Oxfam can’t take?

Any suggestions?

(Photo by aarenyes)

Aside from formal social functions, frogs and the general state of the world, I don’t get stressed out by many things these days. My work is pretty enjoyable and if my colleagues (the cats) annoy me, I can just stroke them to calm me back down again.

But one thing that still manages to really get my goat is pencils with broken leads.

I love writing in pencil and get bizarrely attached to them sometimes (I had one when I worked at the uni that I kept through two jobs and three office moves) but sharpen, sharpen, lead snaps, sharpen, sharpen, lead snaps, sharpen, sharpen, lead snaps – then I snap. Said pencil is thrown across the room, therefore shattering its lead even further and making it throughly redundant as a pencil.

But if you’ve been reading this site for a while, you’ll probably have guessed by now that I don’t like throwing stuff away. So as was sung about in that old sea shanty, what shall we do with the broken pencils, what shall we do with the broken pencils, what shall we do with the broken pencils, early in the morning?

(Photo by lusi)

John has an new liquid obsession – coconut flavoured soya milk – but we can only find it in little single-serving drinking cartons.

While he looks cute supping down on his carton, we’re left with quite a bit of rubbish at the end of it.

We’ve already posted an article for the tetrapak cartons but what about the drinking straws he gets with them? What can they be reused for?

And what about full length straws like certain (icky) fast food establishments give away?

Any suggestions?