We’ve had an email from Elaine:

You’ve got lots of suggestions for things I can use as plantpots but what can I do with damaged ones? Cleaning out my greenhouse last weekend I found about thirty that had either cracked right down the side or on the bottom. I just want to recycle them really.

I’m not an expert on identifying plastic when it’s not in the standard milk bottle, water bottle or carrier bag categories but I think the plant pots I’ve got are mostly made of Polypropylene (Type 5) – a quick spot check of the bottom of pots in our living room confirms this. Type 5 plastics can be doorstep recycled in some places – check your local council’s advice on what you can or can’t include in your green bin.

Any suggestions about what Elaine could do if she can’t recycle them like that? Any bulk reuse suggestions?

It’s International Women’s Day on Sunday (8th March) and over at Things To Do Today today, I’ve linked to a number of posts about green sanitary protection alternatives.

We’ve featured what do to with unused but unwanted sanitary towels and tampons on here before and there were lots of good suggestions including keeping towels around to use as bandages in emergencies and making tampons into art/a Thanksgiving centrepiece ;)

But what can be done with expired menstrual cups?

Manufacturers such as Diva Cup and Mooncup recommend they’re replaced every year because of government advice on silicone and because of the “personal, hygienic nature” of the product. I know some people keep using them anyway if the silicone is still in good condition because it seems such as waste to just fling them out – but I wonder if there are any ways to reuse it for other purposes instead.

And what about recycling? Silicone is recyclable, just not particularly widely – are there are programmes to recycle these cups in particular?

(Photo by Jip 26)

We’ve had another email to Compost This which I’m pulling over here instead. This is from Joann:

Can I compost the mushy leftover veg after I’ve made stock?

Like I said regarding Weetabix, one of the general rules for a basic compost heap is to avoid putting things in there which will attract vermin. Just about all food stuff will rot down to compost, the key is to avoid the heap or non-sealed bin becoming a nuisance in the meantime.

In terms of those stock veggies, I would say a big giant no if they’ve been cooked with any meat, fish, bones or animal fat: the scent will probably cling to them and might cause a problem. If it’s just a veg stock though, it’ll be less of an issue so I’d probably compost them.

Before flinging them though, can they be put to any other ultra-thrifty/non-wasteful culinary uses?

I’ve heard some people keeping back starchy things to use as a thickener for soups or stews. I’ve also heard about people using them as a bulking agent – alongside plenty of meat/fish and grains – when making homemade pet food.

Any other suggestions?

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

We’ve had a query from Alison Bailey Smith:

Can we have suggestions for what to do with divided yoghurt pots, you know the kind that have muesli in a small triangular pot with larger triangular pot for yoghurt? I mean beyond using as paint and water pots…

I have used them for the basis for papier mache. We go through tonnes of them and give them to school and playgroup but wondered if anyone had converted them into anything unusual.

We’ve covered the single pot type of yogurt pots before but these ones are quite different – so any ideas?

We’ve had an email from Natalie:

We’ve been buying little cheese from our local farmers’ market which are covered in wax like Edam or Babybell, except they’re all different colours.

Can we use the wax to make candles?

I’ve never made candles so I’m not 100% sure but my research (reading Wikipedia) tells me that cheese wax is typically paraffin wax and that can be used for candle making (although some people prefer to avoid it…)

Apparently it can also be used for sealing jars, bottles and the like so that might be an option if you make your own preserves or pickles.

Anyone else know anything more about making it into candles? And what about other reuses?

• How can I reuse or recycle … old candles?