We covered candles and their wax about a year ago but Chris Petescia has emailled with a more specific query about paraffin-based candles:

I understand that they are not good to burn for health and environmental reasons, and have switched to beeswax and soy. However, I have a decent stock of what MAY be paraffin candles (they do not say what they are made from). I don’t want to give them/sell them to anyone, because I don’t want anyone else to have the negative elements affect them in any way. IS there any use for them? I’d hate to just trash them…

On the other post, Rene makes a possible suggestion about making them into wax pucks for skateboarders and the like – but anyone else got any other non-candle related suggestions for Chris?

(Photo by jilted)

We’ve had an email from Estelle, asking us if we could promote the mooncup: an environmentally friendly alternative to sanitary towels & tampons. She says: “I’ve had one for three years and am really pleased not to be dumping ‘feminine hygiene’ products into the environment. I’m also happy not to be spending money on them either.”

I’ve heard a lot about them from a number of different sources and the general consensus seems to be they’re fantastic once you get the hang of them.

Estelle’s email reminded me about the stash of towels & tampons I have in my bathroom cupboard. I stopped having periods about five years ago but used to buy-one-get-one-free quite a bit, so collected quite a stock before they became redundant. I thought about giving them away to friends but none of my friends have periods either for one reason or another (the most common reason being that they’re mostly male).

So what can be done with them? Does anyone know of any charities that collect them for redistribution in developing countries or the like? What about reuses – surely their liquid-absorbing qualities must be good for something around the home?

This is possibly a bit like the sponge cleaner thing post but I thought it might be worth doing anyway.

Whenever we have (not sea sponge) bath sponges, they seem to be fine for a while then pretty suddenly go “soggy” in the middle – and the sog just won’t dry or wring out. Any suggestions for how to solve that problem?

And if not, what about suggestions for re-uses?

(Photo by lusi)

We’ve had an email from Uta Bauer asking about recycling old photographs and negatives.

We covered pictures that back on the site earlier in the year but didn’t really include negatives in that.

So how about those negatives? I’m sure they could be used in some really fun craft projects using light but don’t have any specific suggestions – anyone else made anything cool with them?

We’ve covered the toner/ink cartridges in the past but have now had an email from Wendy Johnson Houghton about the machines themselves:

I have recently purchased a new printer for my personal use.

I now have a printer which sort of works, but not brilliant – and I want to know whether it is recyclable?

If it’s still working – as you say it is, someone else might prefer to take a chance on refilling the existing cartridges or replacing them with cheaper ones – so it might be worth offering it on your local Freecycle group.

Any other suggestions?

(Photo by brokenarts)