• Craftzine linked to Christopher Paul’s painted plates – giving chintzy old plates a new lease of life (presumably just as artwork but still). A very fun idea!
• The Greenists ran a tutorial by Mudnessa on turning wide leg jeans into skinny ones – perfect if you fancy a change.
• Alison pointed us in the direction of this news story about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill – how hairdressers and transvestites are recycling stuff together to help soak up the oil
• Leo sent us an email to alert us to the RSPB’s second-hand binocular collection scheme – if you’ve got any old binoculars, telescopes or tripods lying around your house, you can donate them to the RSPB and they’ll use them in a conservation or educational project.
• And Joris sent us an email about Gumdropbins – fun bins to collect chewing gum – which are made from old chewing gum.
• It should be a bit late in the year for this type of thing but since the heating’s off & I’m thinking summery thoughts, the nights can still get pretty chilly – and that’s when hot water bottles with super snuggy recycled covers are just perfect.
• Finally, Alex from Just Cook It has been blogging about cooking with nettles recently – and the recipes sound fantastic. A great way to “reuse” those weeds from the garden!

Cor, I worked hard in the garden yesterday – I was ill all last week so was a week behind on everything, and gardens don’t tolerate being a week behind at this time of year, especially since I’m already a couple of months behind on some things!

I think though, aside from a few things for successive planting or winter crops, I’ve planted just about everything I want to try this year – a new garden so lots of experimenting — and lots of empty seed packets in my seed box.

Obviously they’re just paper so could go in our recycling bin but I thought it might be interesting to hear if anyone uses them for anything creative – or to help garden organisation/labelling.

Any suggestions?

(CCA photo by LollyKnit)

We’ve had an email from Julia, who work for the British High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria.

She explained “I hate throwing away those clear plastic tops from crisp tubes… so started thinking” – and she came up with some reuses for her regional recycling newsletter:

– Use to cover a glass to prevent insects flying in
– Cover a glass for storage in a fridge
– Find the right sized cup and use as an air-tight top
– Punch holes in it, fit over cup and use as a shaker
– Use as a coaster
– Decorate with coloured markers and hang as sun catches

Great reuse ideas – anyone got any more suggestions? I’ve used them under plant pots before now but the lip is so shallow that they’re more like coasters rather than water-catching saucers.

What can you do with the tubes themselves? Any recycling ideas?

(Btw, I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for four years and not featured Pringles tubes yet!)
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We talk a lot about upcycling, reusing or recycling old clothes and textiles but Louis wants help passing them on:

A couple of years ago our company produced some clothing (hooded sweatshirts and t-shirts for men and women).

We still have quite a substantial amount of this clothing, which we plan to donate to charity. Every item is brand new and is extremely good quality (100% combed cotton) and each item is individually wrapped in a plastic bag.

We were wondering if you have any contacts or links to legitimate clothing charities who may be interested in this clothing? We’re keen for this clothing to be used by those in need (and not recycled)

A “substantial amount” would probably overwhelm a high street charity shop but it might be worth getting in contact with a local shop anyway – they might be able to put you in touch with someone higher up the chain who could distribute the items over a wider area.

What about more direct distribution to those in need? Does anyone know about any charities who accept large amount of clothing for giving out rather than resale? From what I’ve read, large international aid charities tend to prefer money to items (or items to be sold in their local shops to make money for sending overseas), because the items are rarely what they need in a given situation but does anyone know different?

We’ve recently had some shelves fitted in an alcove – only to realise afterwards that a door handle will bang into the central upright. (We’d already done lots of tweaking to make it accommodate the door, just apparently not that bit!) To save damaging the upright, we’ve dropped our cute doggie front door doorstop into the gap to act as a buffer but that’s needed at the front door so I need another one.

I love the idea of fabric and rice filled cute doorstops like SwirlyArt Lyndsey’s Cheeky Chickens – but I wondered if anyone else had any other suggestions – particularly water-proof suggestions since between the cats, the dog and our clumsiness, it will surely end up drenched in some liquid or another! (sorry for the ugh!)

Coming at the door from the other side, has anyone got any fun ideas for a wedge – more interesting than just the usual triangle of wood?