Rosie has emailed:

My partner brought home 3 brand new fibre glass baths (minus handles) which were going to be thrown in the skip. Any suggestions for use and does anyone want them?

That’s just the type of thing I’d want to bring home too – they seem so useful (and so new!) that I’d struggle to resist ;)

They’re bigger than a lot of the things we feature on here so I think the reuses are going to be limited, unless you have a lot of space. Old baths are regularly reused by people with horses or livestock in a field as drinkers, or buried by people wanting a quick and basic pond. I know also some people with large gardens/allotments use them as deep “no dig” raised beds or for containing crops that have a tendency to be invasive (like mint). I’ve also long been interested in aquaponics – I wonder if a bathtub could be used for the water bit of that…

Away from animals and growing, I sometimes play the “what I would do if I had loads of workshop space” game (all crafters do that, right?) and one of the things that would probably feature on my list is a really big dye bath so I could dye long lengths of fabric etc in one go. It’s a will-never-happen thing for me, but I’d probably find a bathtub if I ever did have the space.

If you don’t have room or the need for those type of reuses, someone on your local Freecycle/Freegle group might want them instead. Due to so many people having bath renovations these days, there are a lot of old baths knocking around – but it certainly doesn’t hurt to offer them on there.

Any other suggestions for Rosie either for reusing/recycling ideas or for ways to pass it along?

We’ve had an email from Martyn:

Can solid pond liners be recycled? If so, where please?

As far as I can see, rigid pond liners tend to be made from fibreglass and as we discovered last time we had a fibreglass item on here, fibreglass can be recycled but isn’t widely done so.

A better idea would be to reuse the pond liner. They apparently have a 20 year lifespan as ponds but after that they, presumably, begin to leak. (No one mentions what happens after that 20 years – I hope it’s start to leak and not explode violently killing everyone in a 50m radius. Because that would be bad.) If you don’t need it as a pond any more, offer it on Freecycle/Freegle to someone who wants one. Or if it’s started to leak and is beyond repair, you (or someone else) might want to use it as a planter or the like.

Any other ideas?

And what about reuse ideas for flexible PVC pond liners that have been damaged or are leaking?

We’ve had an email from Lauren, who is year 8 (age 12) in New Zealand.

She explains:

In class we are currently working on science projects. I have chosen to investigate the difference between plaster and fibreglass casts. My project looks at environmental issues and disposals.

Could you please help me with the following questions? Can plaster and fibreglass casts be recycled? What type of product could these be made into?

I meant to feature casts on the site a few months ago when Estelle asked about her plaster feet models but then forgot.

As I mentioned when talking about fibreglass in general in May, it seems that it can be recycled but I couldn’t find any details of schemes or companies doing it.

And apparently plaster can be recycled almost indefinitely – although most places are thinking of it in terms of plasterboard, not orthopedic casts so getting an individual leg pot back into the plaster system might be easier said than done. (Having said that, this page gives instructions on how to reclaim the plaster in casts for kids to reuse making models.)

Anyone know of any schemes to recycle either fibreglass or plaster ones, either through hospitals or for individuals?

Or other reuses for the old casts?

(Photo of a cast removal by central)

Following on in our impromptu series of all things water-y, I have a bit of a random query about a canoe/kayak.

Because of the wonders of wireless, I am currently sat our (still not paved) garden enjoying the fact it’s not raining for once and watching with bemusement as our neighbour Jason tries out his new homemade canoe trailer for his bike.

I’ve mentioned Jason’s love of creatively building trailers before but the difference this time is that he’s fixed up the canoe too. He has a habit of acquiring random things in a broken state and either fixing them (as he did with the canoe – although he’s yet to water test it – that’s why he built the trailer, to take it down to the river) or cannibalising them for bits. The previously cracked (fibreglass?) canoe has been fixed, the trailer built from salvaged planks and pram wheels.

But if he hadn’t fixed the canoe, what else could he have done with it?

I guess it could be used as a fun, feature pot for the garden – but a very big one that – if mostly covered like this one – doesn’t offer much room for the plants to surface. Any other suggestions?

(Photo by gundolf)

We’ve had an email from Kate about a pretty specific thing but the bigger question might be more generally useful:

Can anyone tell me if you can recycle fibre glass? Have 20 fibreglass units used to house the scoring screens in a tenpin bowling centre. Units are old and not resellable but would like to get rid of. Also tubes from the monitors need to go as well?

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

A random bit of Googling suggests that fibreglass can be recycled but I haven’t found any thing definite or any specific companies that do it. Anyone know any details?

As for the tubes, I don’t know if they’re similar but we’ve discussed standard tube lighting before – but the general idea there seems to be safe disposal rather than recycling. Any other thoughts about that?