We’ve had an email from Brett, saying:

Hi, I saw your lip balm story last week and it reminded me about something. We go through loads of Pritt Stick at work. What can we do with those empty tubes?

I’ve contacted the company that makes Pritt Stick about the recycling side of things but until they get back to me, does anyone have any reusing ideas?

Office or school related ideas would be best as I suspect that’s where they’re used in the largest quantities but any ideas would be welcome. :)

(Photo by gradient)

(By the way, would it make me sound like a wannabe glue sniffer if I mention how much I’m now craving a smell of UHU magic glue sticks after seeing pictures of them in my picture search? ;)

We’ve had an email from Jenni:

I have loads of little plastic SMA baby milk spoons from when my first child was a baby. I have now started making up bottles for my second child and realise the house will be full by the time we move on to cows milk. I can’t bring myself to throw them out. Any ideas?

I’m not exactly an expert with any baby related but I think Jenni means the little measuring scoop things that come inside formula tubs. Like IKEA allen keys, it’s a shame you get a new one with every repeat purchase when one or two is all you’ll ever need (or if you’ve got your own measuring spoon set, you won’t even need that) – but logistically it’s easier for them to include them than having to send them out separately or whatever.

I guess you could keep one around the kitchen for future measuring purposes – but that’s just one and Jenni sounds like she’s got loads. So any other suggestions?

(On a related topic, we covered mixed material baby milk powder containers about a year ago.)

• How can I reuse or recycle other baby related stuff?

We’ve had another email from our good friend Am (aka Delusion):

Me again, just wondering how can I recycle / reuse empty lipbalm tubes? I use the twisty lipbalm sticks and admit I use them a lot. I have a stash of small tubes with their lid casings and no ideas on how to re-use them.

I emailed the company that I got them from to ask for any suggestions / ideas on if they could be re-used by the company or recycled and surprise, no response! Anyone else help?

I’m also a bit of a balmaholic, particularly in the winter, and seem to have about a half a dozen sticks on the go at the moment in various bags and pockets around the place. I think I might move onto little pots – since they’re been easier to refill/reuse – for some of my balming needs but since I don’t always carry a bag, I’ll have to stick to tubes for those slip-in-the-pocket moments.

So any suggestions?

Apparently you can use Chapstick ones to hide microphones when you want to take down a president but, personally, I think those wires give it away a bit.

If there are any balm-makers out there, can you tell us if it’s possible to make homemade balm solid enough to refill the tubes?

(Photo by asolario)

Renee, from Friday’s glue/tape cartridge question, also asked about bottle cap liners.

Again, I wasn’t sure what she meant but thankfully she included a picture —>

I don’t see them used that much over here (or at least not in the things I buy) but I think they’re basically a washer to help the seal between the cap and the top of the bottle (??).

I think I’ve seen some waxed card ones (which usually get soggy so are good for little else after their intended task) but these ones that Renee are asking about look to be circles of plastic.

In searching for more information about them, I found this very cool bowl made out of 100 of them and I guess they could be used for oversizedtiddlywinks too. But what else can be done with them?

(If you’re interested in other bottle cap related stuff – we’ve covered plastic screw-tops and metal caps elsewhere on the site.)

We’ve had an email from Renee, saying:

I use a lot of glue runner, and I want to know how I can reuse the cartridges/tape.

I’m more of a textile-based crafter than a paper one so I didn’t know what “glue runner” is – but after looking at the picture Renee sent over and a little of investigation around the web, I think it’s double-sided sticky tape on a cartridge for easy use (because double-sided tape is usually a right pain to work with) — please correct me if I’m wrong.

(I also wonder if this is what Jen was asking about back in February…)

So any suggestions?