We’ve had an email from Simon:

Any ideas on how to recycle squash balls? I play squash 4-5 times a week so end up with loads that are past their best. I’m sure there must be something better I can do than just throw them away? Suggestions I’ve had were to use them in the washing machine (?), in the cistern to save water, cover them in glitter to make xmas decs or make my own lottery / bingo set ….

I think the washing machine thing is like part of the idea behind washing balls (Ecoballs etc) – they bang against the clothes and the friction helps remove the grim and dirt, or something. That’s an awful explanation – sorry. Can anyone explain it better?

The lottery/bingo idea may seem a bit of a joke but if a local school fair or church fete may be able to use a whole stack of them for just that purpose – so it may be worth offering on your local Freecycle group just in case.

Any other suggestions? Am I right in thinking they’re made from rubber – and if so, what are the recycling options? Anyone know?

(Photo by wizard)

We’ve had an email from Sara:

I am in charge of stationery orders at work, and I have recently been asked to order “rubber thimbles” because we have worn them out. So I looked at all these little rubber thimbles, and thought, do these all have to go to waste? Other than being jaunty little hats for stuffed toys around the office, what else can I do with these things?

Everyone has agreed before I order new ones we have to think of something to do with the current ones!

Hehe, I like the jaunty hat idea – I also love that your colleagues have agreed to holding off on reordering new things until the old ones have been dealt with.

Rubber can be recycled but I don’t know if m/any recycling companies would be interested in such small items. Anyone know?

And any other suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Kit:

how can I reuse a broken step ladder? the rungs are alright, it’s the support bit at the top that hold it in the upside down v shape that is broken. i could just give it away for scrap metal but i wondered if there was anything i could do with it instead.

I’m presuming it can’t be fixed or at least not fixed well enough to be trust-worthy (an important quality when you’re 8ft off the ground) – might be worth Freecycling it in case someone is a step ladder fixing expert though.

Aside from that, could the rungs be used as a shelving unit maybe?

Any other suggestions?

(Photo by hortongrou)

We’ve covered old jeans before – and again when speaking specifically about making bags out of them – but these are a bit different.

I was sorting through my “in storage” clothing last week – stuff that’s in limbo, I don’t really think I’ll be wearing it again but can’t bring myself to take it to the charity shop/fabric recycling bin just yet – and I found my favourite work trousers from back in the day when I actually wore trousers for work. These were THE BEST WORK PANTS IN THE WORLD. They fitted me perfectly – hanging low, with long wide legs just as I like, had deep pockets at just the right place/angle and given the heavy, woolliness of them, they looked suitably work-y even when teamed with a never-ironed black shirt. I remember being really quite distraught when the fabric wore through at the bum. *nostalgic sob*.

So, anyway, I found these trousers last week and it was fun remembering all the good times we had together – all the time we ran up the stairs together, or sat at my desk together, or even those times when we soaked up puddles together – so it felt heartless to just send them off to be recycled.

Even with the worn/holey bum being out of action, there is quite a lot of good fabric because of the wide legs. I thought they might make a fun clutch purse or something – but wanted to run it by you crafty people first, in case you had any more awesome ideas. I am thinking crafty stuff primarily but any reuse suggestions would be great.

So ideas?

Last week, the incredibly eloquent “matheus” left a question in the comment section on our of our posts:

how the f*ck do i recycle chalk?

As someone with a penchant for using 100 words when three will do, I like his succinctness.

So suggestions?

(Photo by Zela)