A couple of weeks ago on the “Suggest an Item” page, Fishcake_Random asked:

How can I recycle the little foil tins that mince pies and jam tarts come in??? I have a large stack this year and I just know they must have some amazing crafty type useage.

(Apologises that I’ve only picked it up a little late – after mince pie season has finished for another year…)

Foil tins can often be recycled alongside cans in metal recycling bins/kerbside – and sometimes (although less so now recycling is widely available) to raise money for charity.

Like foil cat food trays, they can be used as a mould for making soaps or for little tealight-shaped candles.

Any other suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Bob:

I have lots of tea light candles…metal container as I use a lot of them.

I love those little candles but I hate the waste they produce…so I’d love to get some help with reusing them =)

The ones I’ve seen tend to be thick aluminium foil so they could probably be recycled along with your other aluminium products – we can doorstep recycle them here.

But I hear you Bob: reusing rocks!

I’ve seen them used countless times as miniature ashtrays – but ones that are thrown away after use, so that’s not exactly much better than throwing them away in the first place.

So any suggestions?

(Photo by kix)

We’ve had another email from Lyndall, asking:

i was wondering if you knew what i could do with the foil top of milk bottles?

I remember a Blue Peter fundraising appeal from circa 1985 that involved us collecting them for charity but now charities – like Southampton’s Gift of Sight appeal – seem to collect plastic ones instead.

Since they’re just foil, they can be recycled along with other foil products – we can include it in our doorstep recycling.

But what about reuses?

(Photo by LHMike)

We’ve had an email from Lesley, asking:

Has anyone got any suggestions for re-using the “bladders” from the inside of wine boxes? Being both airtight and water-tight, there must be an alternative use for them.

Given the springing of spring this weekend and the fact it’ll probably be hard enough to get it clean (ie, un-wine sceneted) enough to re-use as a drinking liquid container, I’m tempted to come up with garden suggestions.

My first thought was for brewing a liquid fertiliser using nettles but then I realised, duh, you can’t really get nettles in that little neck hole so that wasn’t a particularly useful thought. Thanks there brain.

So any actually feasible suggestions for Lesley instead?

We’ve had an email from Rob Williams:

I collected silver foil/aluminium foil for a lady at work and she gave it to a charity. She has now retired and I still have a growing pile of foil. Does anyone know of a charity that wants this? I’m told it is a ‘valuable’ commodity.

Our doorstep recycling includes aluminium foil so it can easily be recycled – but as Rob asks, does anyone know of any charities that collect it?

And since we’re all about reusing, while we’re on the topic – any re-use suggestions?

(Related items: we’ve already covered foil pet food trays and foil chocolate/sweet/biscuit wrappers.)

(Photo by nlHarri)