We’ve had an email from Jack:

Probably a long shot but i was wondering if anybody could think of any uses for old bits of worn-out sandpaper (i.e. once that have passed their optimum sanding potential). I’m a carpenter and go through loads of the stuff!

A good question and for once I’m completely stumped – I can’t think of anything. Recycling is probably a troublesome too.

Any suggestions?

(Photo by Simon Eugster)

We’ve had an email from Caren:

I’m moving out of halls next week and getting rid of the posters I bought at the start of the year, am sick of looking at them!!

I could just put them in our green bin but wondered if you had any better suggestions?

If they’re still in good condition, you might want to see if your student union has a furniture recycling programme and if they’d accept them in that. I don’t know how widely spread the practise is but (my local uni) Leeds University Union has a scheme to collect unwanted furniture, crockery, pans and other homeware etc at the end of the year instead of it just been dumped in the rubbish in the rush to clear out for the summer. The stuff is then redistributed to those in need in the local community – while posters aren’t as critical as having a pan to cook your dinner in, they might help cheer up a depressing room for someone. Or you could just pass them on to someone directly using Freecycle.

Aside from that, most proper posters I’ve come across tend to be pretty heavy paper so could be used for all sorts of papercrafts. You could use a couple which are either similar or pleasantly contrasting to make a paper basket like I featured on Things To Do Today last week. They could also be used as heavy-duty wrapping paper or made into gift bags/envelopes.

Any other ideas?

(Oh, and we’ve covered laminated posters too.)

We’ve had an email from Kaye:

I’ve got a bamboo blind that I no longer need. What can I do with it?

If it’s still in good, usable condition, I’d suggest trying to eBay it or better still, put it on your local Freecycle group – someone else might be able to use it as a window shade, save them buying a new one.

Aside from that, if it’s the thin type of blind (the stuff that’s a bit thinner than the one in the picture), you could remove any blind fittings and roll it up to use as a picnic/beach mat, or could cut it down into being a table cover or placemats – a good pair of scissors will probably cut through it.

Heavier stuff can be used as screening in the garden – it can be used to make nice curves around paths and the like if you lie it on its side.

Any other suggestions?

(By the way, we’ve already covered slatted window blinds.)

We’ve had an email from Catelin:

I misfired with a bag of pasta yesterday and it went all over the floor instead of into the pan! With our dogs, the ten second rule definitely does not apply so we can’t eat it now but I can’t bring myself to just throw it away either.

What can I do with it? Can I compost it?

It’s probably ok to go on the compost heap – because our compost heap is very close to our house, I’m overly cautious and I usually say don’t compost cooked pasta in an open heap or bin in case it (or rather stuff it’s been cooked with) attracts vermin, but not-cooked stuff should be fine.

Aside from that, you might be able to reuse it in a non-culinary situation. We’ve used dry pasta in place of poker chips (worked fine until John started eating his pieces) and of course kids can use it to make art – macaroni being the most common for that but other shapes like bows (farfalle), shells (conchiglie), and twists (fusilli) would work just as well. Kids could also use tubular pasta – like penne and tortiglioni – for threading practise (be warned: you might end up with a billion pasta necklaces…).

Any other suggestions?

We’ve had another suggestion from Leigh of the scarves and name-tags. She wonders what she can do with

those hideous foam things that are supposed to keep drinks cold.

I have like 8 of them but i never drink pop or beer.

They’re one of those annoying promotional things like bottle openers which tend to appear in your possession before you have a chance to say “no, thanks” to the person giving them out.

I’d keep one or two around to use for their insulating properties – keeping a bottle of water in your bag cold (and not leaking condensation everywhere) or if they’re big enough, using around too-hot coffee cups. But what can Leigh do with the rest?

Any ideas?