We’ve had an email from Emily, asking about “wax paper/ parchment paper / aluminum foil boxes”:

It seems like they would be good for doing something more with, considering the long jagged edge / blade and all.

Funnily enough – and proof that everyone out there is READING MY MIND – I was thinking about this just the other week. My grease-proof paper box has plastic coating on the jagged edge, which makes it better for tearing but worse for recycling. Grr.

So any suggestions for reusing them – whether metal or plastic, or just a cardboard box?

And what about reducing them in the first place – anyone know of any particular companies that make refill rolls to save getting the whole new box each time? I seem to recall that some supermarket value brand in the UK is box-less but I can’t remember which one – and suspect that’s just wrapped in plastic instead anyway.

(Photo by Ilmari Karonen, c/o Wikipedia)

We’ve had an email from Abby:

got lots of ice cube trays. don’t know where they all came from since we hardly ever make ice! ideas?

To speak like a marketeer for a moment, you have to think outside the box. Or outside the cube as it is in this case.

Don’t just think about freezing water, lots of other things freeze well and are useful in cube size quantities. I’ve made frozen grated fresh ginger in the past – to stop it going off before we could use it and also because it’s useful for dropping in stuff – and I know other people make concentrated stock cubes too. Any other cool things to freeze in cube shapes?

Other than that, the little compartments would be great for sorting beads, or small screws or the like. Novelty shapes could be fun jelly moulds too. Ooh, the square ones could make jelly bricks and imagine the construction fun!

Any other ideas?

(Photo by Prattflora

Blooming heck, it’s chilly. I’m knitting as fast as I can at the moment to keep us decked out in snuggy socks, hats and scarves – and hoping the needle-on-needle friction will create a bit of warmth too.

(I know in the UK we don’t get really cold winters like in Central/Eastern Europe or in parts of the US/Canada – by those standards, it’s tropical here right now – but because of that, we’re not prepared for it. Two hundred schools were closed in West and North Yorkshire yesterday but we only had 2 inches of snow on the ground. Also: the worst bit about working from home: you can’t use the “there are no buses running” excuse for a day off. Bah.)

Anyway, despite the new woollies and the fact I’ve got a blanket, two cats and laptop on top of me while I write this, I’m still chilly so have been gulping down more than my fair share of hot drinks. John and I have a leaning tower of teabags in the kitchen at the moment (it’s too cold to go to the compost bin after every cup) and our collection of hot chocolate tubs is growing daily.

We’ve got a few of the plastic screw-top jars in the cellar – perfect for our ever-growing random fixings collection, or random allen keys and packets of veg seeds. In the kitchen, they’re too big for spices really but perfect for pulses or dried beans (most of the jars we use are semi-transparent once you remove the label so you can just about make out what’s what and how much is in there).

But what else can we use them for?

Amongst our friends, mushrooms are a bit like Marmite: people either LOVE them or hate them to the point of inventing fake allergies about them. John and I are firmly in the “love” category but have a bit of a problem with the plastic tubs they often come in because we go through so many – we try to buy loose mushrooms (preferably in a paper bag) wherever possible but still go through one or two of these boxes a week.

I used to use them under plants or to hold seedlings in the greenhouse, but the greenhouse is now used by a local stray cat as a home and I’ve got better saucers/pots around the house.

We also used to use them as a pre-compost-bin counter top bin in the kitchen – ideal for tea bags and the like – but now we’ve got a proper little bin with a lid for that sort of thing.

So what can we do with them instead?

The tubs – deep trays really – are quite thin plastic so not heavy duty for most reusing-as-storage purposes. I guess they could be used as dividers in drawers but we have a severe lack of drawers in this house (none in the kitchen, two in the living room, none in the bathroom, and just a chest of drawers in the bedroom) so everything is already in boxes on shelves.

Other suggestions?

(As for recycling, none of the tubs I’ve checked over the years have had a recognisable identification mark on the bottom – sigh – anyone know what they tend to be?)

We buy all our tea and coffee from Just Coffee People. Contrary to one interpretation of their name, they don’t just sell coffee – they sell tea (black and herbal), sugar and hot chocolate/cocoa – and it is all AWESOME. The Tanzanian tea is the best we’ve ever tasted – it’s spoilt us for every other type of tea – and I’ve heard the same thing said about the coffee by other caffeine fiends. Plus, as well as helping growers overseas through the Fairtrade programme, it’s a socially inclusive company focused on community regeneration, providing trading and employment for people with all sorts of disabilities.

(Unfortunately it’s a Yorkshire-only operation at the moment – they’ll either deliver your stash to your door or you can buy it at various places around Leeds.)

Anyway, the reason I’m mentioning it here is because of the packaging: like lots of fresh coffee these days, everything comes in plastic bags. Whatever can be done with them?

I know my favourite wire woman Alison Bailey Smith uses coffee bags (as well as other random packaging) in her work – and the Just Coffee People ones are a lovely dull gold so crafty ideas are a definite possibility – any other ideas?

(Some details about the type of coffee bags I’m talking about in case you’re unsure: they’re quite a thick but flexible, heavy duty opaque plastic. Most are gusset type bags, around 8-10cm (3-4inches) in width, just less than that deep and about 15cm (6inches) or so tall. Most of the ones I’ve seen aren’t ready resealable – we just use a peg on ours.)