Continuing our week of water themed posts, we’ve had an email from Chris:

Being a good green hippy, I’ve got two waterbutts in my garden, which I use to collect water for my garden. But now it’s winter my garden doesn’t need watering and the butts are nearly full even though it’s only November. I imagine I could use all the water now and they’d fill up again within a couple of weeks. Can you or your readers make any suggestions?

One answer might be to plumb in the water butts to feed your households non-drinking water needs such as toilet flushing and perhaps even laundry – not just for this time of year, but for use all year around when you’ve got the water to supply it. I really want to set up a greywater system, including rainwater, to feed the toilet cistern if nothing else but I suspect it would too problematic in this awkwardly tall house as the water would have to be stored two storeys below the bathroom – but if we have another toilet put in lower down in the house, I’ll definitely look into it.

I remember someone telling me at some point that rainwater is also good for cleaning windows as it typically has less mineral deposits in it than tap water (so will leave less residue) – but Googling doesn’t seem to confirm or deny that — anyone know?

Staying outside, you could use the water if you need to clean paths of stuck-on leaf mulch or cleaning out the greenhouse ready to shut it down for winter.

Any other suggestions?

We had a water week – a week of water themed posts – in honour of World Water Day back in March but I’ve had a run of water-related questions recently so I thought we’d have another wet week. “Water Week 2: This time it’s personal damp.”

A couple of weeks ago, Tyler asked a question on a random old post:

What should I do with the water I use to wash of my paint brushes?

It’s a good question because it uses a surprisingly large amount of water to get paintbrushes clean – and even more if you’ve been using a roller for large scale decorating.

Can anything be done with the very, very watered down paint – particularly the first rinse which is really quite paint-y?

Do you have any tips for reducing the amount of water used to clean them? I try to squeeze out as much paint as possible before washing – old newspaper works well as a wrapping material but quickly gets soaked, plastic bags is less absorbent but you’ll be able to squeeze it for longer.

(Picture by basheertome)

We’ve had an email from Ben, asking what he can do with some old chipboard/particleboard furniture:

The shelves have sagged in the middle so I doubt anyone else would want it.

Most people probably wouldn’t want a saggy bookshelf as a feature in their living room but don’t write it off just yet — it might be fine for shelving in a store room or a garage, particularly if a baton or two can be fitted underneath the warped shelves for extra strength. Offer it on Freecycle/Freegle, describing the condition and see if there are any takers.

Aside from that or if some of the shelves are too far gone, it could possibly be stripped for parts – the uprights could be used for shelves elsewhere – just make sure to use plenty of support so they aren’t as likely to sag.

At the end of its life as furniture/shelving, chipboard can be composted but as it’s held together with synthetic resin, often including formaldehyde, organic gardeners might want to avoid adding it to compost piles destined for veg plots.

For the same reason, chipboard shouldn’t be used on a woodburner or, topically, a bonfire – the formaldehyde and other chemicals used in its production can release toxic gases on burning.

Any other suggestions on things that could be done with old chipboard shelving or bigger pieces of the same? Any more pointers on things not to do with it?

(Picture by Rotor DB)

This week’s quick link round-up:

• Amber of Berlin’s Whimsy has a tutorial for making washable covers for Swiffer-style floor sweepers out of old towels
• If our soggy garden is anything to go by, it’s possibly a little late for this now but if you’ve still got pretty dry leaves, you can make them into a bouquet of “roses”
• Crafting a Green World has some useful documentation on calculating the fabric yardage from old bedding
• Make candles from old cooking oil/fat – two methods: one using salt, the other using a wire coil to support the wick
• Finally something that both is and isn’t recycling – how to save seeds from this year’s soft veg to plant next year.

It’s Halloween this weekend and the crafting world has been a’flutter with costumes and decorating ideas for the last few weeks – some reusing or recycling stuff from around the home.

• Make a trick-or-treat swag bag out of an old tshirt/vest top
• Make a ghost lantern from an old plastic bottle and a sheet
• Make an owl costume out of old clothes/fabric straps
• Other recycling/reusing Halloween ideas

Don’t forget that while “carving pumpkins” aren’t that tasty for us to eat, chickens (and compost heaps!) still love them — just make sure you remove any dripped wax etc first.