Recycling ideas for Milk cartons #1 Indoor uses

INDOORS

Mega-sized ice cubes. Clean cartons thoroughly, fill with water and freeze. Remove cardboard and use them in the cooler for your next party, or let kids and pets play with them outside.

Floor protectors. Moving? Cut the tops off cartons and use the bottoms to cover furniture legs. Slide your stuff around without scratching the floor.

Paint containers. Cartons make ideal disposable containers for small painting jobs. Trim the carton to the appropriate size, then add paint. No rinsing is needed – just throw the carton in the trash when you're done. Okay, this is wasteful ... but it's darn convenient.

Drawer organizers. Cut lengthwise to fit utensils. Cut the bottoms to make one or two (or more) inch-deep squares. These make very handy in-drawer storage containers for small odds and ends.

Dispose of cooking oil. Fill a carton with newspaper and pour oil inside. The newspaper absorbs the oil and the carton keeps everything neatly contained, so no leaks. When it's been used several times, throw it away.

Disposable cutting boards. Slit cartons open and spread them flat. Keep on hand for when you need to chop smelly items like fish. Or use them for draining fried foods. The paper side absorbs oil and the waxed side keeps oil from leaking through to the plate underneath.

Liquid storage. Use cartons for storing liquids in the refrigerator or freezer. They are great for freezing soup, frozen desserts and whipped cream. When you need some, you don't have to thaw the whole container: just slice off a chunk as big as you need, then peel the cardboard off and thaw.

How you can recycle old sneakers.

You can help keep sneakers out of landfills by:

Taking worn out athletic shoes (any brand) to a Nike store or
one of its other collection sites.  Nike's program is responsible for
recycling the rubber, foam and fabric from more then 23 million
pairs of shoes into various types of surfacing, such as playground
material and sports surfaces of all kinds.
Check it out at nikereuseashoe.com.

Can shade trees lower your energy bills?

According to an article in Better Homes and Gardens the answer is YES!
Trees save the most energy when planted on the east and west sides of a house.
If you can plant only one tree, remember that 'west is best' to shade the home
during the hottest part of the day.  One study showed that mature trees properly
placed around buildings can reduce air-conditioning needs by 30 percent and
heating needs by 20 percent.
Large shade trees are recommended.  Some of the best species include oaks and maples.
.

Using recycled material in your yard and garden

Use recycled brick to create edging for pathways or gardens. Check renovation sites and websites such as Craigslist and Freecycle for ads giving away discarded or unused brick.

Saving the planet and creating a healthy, well outfitted, decorative garden are not always mutually exclusive. So much waste passes through the average household on a daily basis, it can be a windfall for the frugal gardener. Using recycled materials and a little bit of creativity in your gardening space not only allows you to keep items from landfills, but provides you with a bevvy of unique materials and resources that a non-recycling gardener might not have, or might have to pay top dollar for.

One of the easiest areas to use recycled items is that of container gardening. Even if you have an in-ground garden, containers can add a decorative appeal to your garden and keep plants that spread and take over, such as members of the mint family, from taking over. Look at items you throw out on a daily basis. Coffee cans, soup cans, soda bottles and cans, milk jugs and butter, yogurt and cottage cheese tubs can all contain smaller plants. Use larger items, such as discarded sinks, bathtubs, tires, shoes and aquariums to add a decorative container or two to your garden. Don't forget containers to hold water. Set out clean, used detergent or kitty litter tubs to collect rainwater. Use ever popular milk jugs as a watering can. To take it a step further, collect run-off water from your shower or bath (termed "gray water") to use in your garden.

Composting is possibly one of the most beneficial ways to recycle in the garden. Using old food scraps and a large container with a sealed lid that sits in the sun, you can utilize household food scraps, pieces of cardboard and newspaper and garden waste to create a fertilizer so rich in nutrients that some gardeners refer to it as being more valuable than gold. Salad greens, egg shells, coffee grounds and old teabags can easily find a home in the compost bin, along with most other items that aren't meat or meat by-products. And don't let the thought of worms deter you--plenty of non-vermiculite, easy-to-manage compost systems can be utilized.

Create whimsical decorations by getting crafty with recycled items.  Make a mosaic tile from bottle caps or glass shards to enjoy while spending time in your garden. Sculptures can be made by twisting and welding old silverware and metal items together, while temporary birdhouses can be made from sturdy shoe boxes or plastic containers. Scraps of yarn, old fabric salvaged from T-shirts or craft projects, and hair from your hairbrush can be set out for birds to collect during nesting season.

Using coffee in your garden

Pleasant as it may be to savor your morning latte in the privacy of your garden, there are other, perhaps more productive uses for coffee to be explored. With so many coffee-roasting companies around, it's not hard to get hold of coffee leftovers in many forms. This is good, because at every stage of production, coffee and its breakdown materials have their own valuable uses.

One way to use coffee beans is for mulching garden pathways. Over-roasted beans make a sumptuous path, elegantly black and glossy and smelling heavenly when you walk on them. All plants look great against this color, especially silvery artemisias or lamb's ears.

Coffee beans that have spoiled also are occasionally available. However, unroasted beans that have fermented or rotted are best used in the compost heap, not on pathways.

When coffee is roasted, the papery chaff is removed and discarded. The lightweight, sand-colored chaff can be mixed into your compost heap or blended into compost for mulching beds and borders. Don't use too much chaff at once, however, or this fluffy stuff can sheet into a sticky mess, repelling water and keeping air out of the soil.

Used coffee grounds have many uses, from mulching to compost building. This is one ubiquitous material it's hard to have too much of. If you decide to mulch your beds and borders with ground coffee, here's a hot fashion tip: Remove the filters first. Those raggedy white papers look too tacky for words when left fluttering around your flowers. White or brown, you can shred the filter papers and mix them into the compost, where they'll break down nicely in short order.

Ground coffee is high in nitrogen, making it a very good mulch for fast-growing vegetables. Many organic growers swear by coffee grounds as mulches for tomato plants, both for the nitrogen boost this heavy feeder appreciates and for coffee's ability to help suppress late blight.

Perhaps we should be sharing the end of the pot with our houseplants and watering any prima donna garden plants with leftover coffee as well. On second thought, the border belles probably would prefer for us to brew them a special batch of their own, rather than accepting secondhand or second-best coffee.

Starbucks makes spent coffee grounds available year-round to its North America customers on a first-come, first-served basis. Grounds are packaged in reused coffee bags and come with simple directions for using the grounds in the garden or compost pile.

Coffee-ground mulch also can help reduce the ravages of slugs and snails.

Coffee grounds can be used to mulch plants that slugs love to feast on, such as hostas, ligularias and lilies. Try them for daffodils and other spring bulbs as well. You also can rid areas of slugs and snails by mixing up some instant coffee and making it two to three times stronger than you ordinarily would. Spray this concentrated coffee where slugs roam free and you'll notice a definite dropoff in damage.

taken from article by Ann Lovejoy

New Look

Let me know what you think of the new look for the blog.  Just thought maybe brighter colors would
liven things up a bit!

Recycle glass bottle

A few weeks ago I got a wind chime made out of  a glass bottle.  So, I thought maybe you might
like to make one for your yard.


Take a glass bottle and cut the bottom half off using a glass cutter.  Be careful not to cut yourself.
Sand the bottom with wet sandpaper to smooth the rough edges.
Next you drill a hole in the bottle cap.  Run a heavy string though the hole.
On the one end of the string put a S hook so you can hang it.
Run the string though a hole that you drilled in the middle of the wood.  You will see it in the picture.  About a 3 inch round plywood circle.
On that piece of wood put a number of nails.  Ours had too many and made way
   to much noise so we removed some of them.
   You should use wire nails that are 3/4inch/16 gauge.

At the end of the string you can hang any light weight sheet metal that you might have laying around.

New Cangle styles

It has been a while since I posted pictures of our cuffs and bangles.  So thought today is the day!  My computer was down all most all day yesterday which drives me crazy.  Come to find out everyone in town that I know was having trouble.  Even the library had all their computers down today.  But, I can't complain about ATT because that's where I worked until I retired.  I just complain about them on my own time.

So here goes with some of the new designs.  Hope you see something you like.

Read about Cangles in the Detroit Free Press

http://www.freep.com/article/20100613/BUSINESS06/6130472/1002/BUSINESS/4-siblings-band-together-turn-beverage-cans-into-bracelets

Make something new out of something old.

Reuse a tissue box, paper tubes and leftover wallpaper to create this organizer for your craft supplies or your child's art supplies. If you have a hobby such as scrapbooking you can store your edging scissors in the tubes, just cut the wallpaper with the decorative edge before applying it to the paper tube for easy reference. The remaining space is perfect for your acid-free adhesive, photo corners, die-cuts, stickers and glue sticks.

Pencil Holder
Reuse tin cans to make a desk top catch-all container for pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, pens, etc.

Wallpaper mat
Reuse leftover wallpaper, an old frame and a favourite picture from an outdated calendar to create a unique decorating accent for your home.

Painted storage canisters
Reuse large tin coffee cans, paper bags and left over paint for decorative storage containers. These cans have been covered with torn pieces of paper bags then painted with leftover latex paints.

Earring organizer or Sewing organizer for bobbins
Don't discard your candy boxes after Valentine's Day or Christmas. A velvet covered Valentine box is perfect for organizing your earrings, each in their own compartment. A rectangular plastic box with a gold insert is a perfect holder for your sewing machine's bobbins.

Progress is Slow on Reducing, Reusing and Recycling Fast Food Waste

Currently there are no federal laws or regulations in the U.S. specifically aimed at getting fast food chains to reduce, reuse or recycle their waste. Businesses of all kinds must always obey local laws pertaining to what must be recycled versus what can be discarded. And a small number of cities and towns have local laws specifically designed to force businesses to do the right thing, but they are few and far between.

Voluntary Fast Food Waste Reduction Makes Headlines

There have been some strides in the fast food business with regard to packaging materials and waste reduction, but it has all been voluntary and usually under pressure from green groups. McDonald’s made headlines back in 1989 when, at the urging of environmentalists, it switched its hamburger packaging from non-recyclable Styrofoam to recyclable paper wraps and cardboard boxes. The company also replaced its bleached paper carryout bags with unbleached bags and made other green-friendly packaging advances.

Some Fast Food Chains Offer Vague Policies on Waste Reduction

Both McDonald’s and PepsiCo (owner of KFC and Taco Bell) have crafted internal policies to address environmental concerns. PepsiCo states that it encourages “conservation of natural resources, recycling, source reduction and pollution control to ensure cleaner air and water and to reduce landfill wastes,” but does not elaborate on specific actions it takes. McDonald’s makes similar general statements and claims to be “actively pursuing the conversion of used cooking oil into biofuels for transportation vehicles, heating, and other purposes,” and pursuing various in-store paper, cardboard, delivery container and pallet recycling programs in Australia, Sweden, Japan and Britain. In Canada the company claims to be the “largest user of recycled paper in our industry” for trays, boxes, carry out bags and drink holders.

Fast Food Recycling Programs Can Reduce Waste and Save Money

Some smaller fast food chains have garnered accolades for their recycling efforts. Arizona-based eegee’s, for instance, earned an Administrator’s Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for recycling all paper, cardboard and polystyrene across its 21-store chain. Besides the positive attention it has generated, the company’s recycling effort also saves it money in garbage disposal fees every month.

A Few Communities Require Fast Food Waste Recycling

Despite such efforts, though, the fast food industry is still a large generator of waste. Some communities are responding by passing local regulations requiring recycling where applicable. Seattle, Washington, for example, passed an ordinance in 2005 prohibiting businesses (all businesses, not just restaurants) from disposing of recyclable paper or cardboard, though violators only pay a nominal $50 fine.

Taiwan Takes a Hard Line on Fast Food Waste

Perhaps policymakers in the U.S. and elsewhere could take a lead from Taiwan, which since 2004 has required its 600 fast-food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC, to maintain facilities for proper disposal of recyclables by customers. Diners are obliged to deposit their garbage in four separate containers for leftover food, recyclable paper, regular waste and liquids.

“Customers only have to spend under a minute to finish the trash-classification assignment,” said environmental protection administrator Hau Lung-bin in announcing the program. Restaurants that don’t comply face fines of up to $8,700 (U.S.).

Sorry about no post - I posted two days ago and it's gone.  Will be posting tonight.

How to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in Your Garden

1. Reduce: Start with the lawn. Did you know you can get free fertilizer every time you mow? Leave the grass clippings on the lawn (you'll have better results if you mow often rather than having long grass blades laying around to decompose). Grass clippings are not the cause of thatch, grass clippings break down fast and add Nitrogen to the soil... for FREE.
   
   Reduce your carbon emissions by exchanging your gas powered mower for an electric or reel mower. (Lawn mowers are not inspected or regulated for emissions and they can potentially add more carbon monoxide than your car.)
   
   When you shop for garden products, look for products that contain less packaging. This reduces the amount of garbage we send to our landfills.
   
   Since we're reducing our waste, why not start a compost pile or a worm bin? Compost is the best garden product! It fertilizes; retains moisture; increases drainage; encourages beneficial organisms; and just makes your plants happy.                                                                                                               
2. Reuse: Donate! Instead of throwing away those old clippers or garden hat, why not make a tax deductible donation to your thrift store? Bigger stuff to get rid of (wheelbarrows, big tools), check with your county about metal recycling or list your items for free on CraigsList. Someone might be able to use or refurbish them.
   
   Maybe building a retaining wall out of that patio you just had broken up into pieces, isn't your cup of tea. Many people would love to take that concrete off your hands for free, you just have to find them (CraigsList again). Or, look in your phone book under recycling. Some companies will take that concrete from you and grind it up to be reused for new roads.
   
   Shop for products made out of recycled products. Trex decking; plastic composite garden benches; tumbled glass; farm yard manures are all reused materials.
   
   Put that compost you've been making to good use. The ultimate garden reuse product, makes you plants happy and it's free.
   
   
3. 
   
   
   
   Recycle: Plastic turns into fleece clothing, as well as those composite decking materials.
   
   Old bricks get a second life lining garden beds; becoming pathways; or weights to hold down that weed block.
   
   Paper can cover bare earth and layered with mulch to keep the weeds from growing or shredded and added to your compost pile. (Think of all those credit card offers you've been throwing out, wouldn't you feel more secure knowing that private info has rotted down to a soil amendment and is now fertilizing your garden, rather then risking a chance some thief was able to steal your identity?)
   
   Old windows can make wonderful cold frames or they can be added to the exterior of a blank wall for a country chic decoration.
   
   Egg shells can go straight into the compost pile or crushed and scattered around prize plants to be protected from slugs (slugs can't cross the eggshells without damaging their bodies).
   
   Compost, I just can't say enough about it. If you can't afford the room for a compost pile in your yard, get a yard waste recycle bin from your local dump. Then close the loop, buy the compost that your city run facility has been making with your curb side yard waste.
   
   ehow