* Ordinary water is one of the most efficient and effective substances for removing dirt and is the closest thing to a Universal Solvent known. Substances like soap and detergent work by increasing the “wetting power” of water because the soap breaks the surface tension of the water. Good old soap and water will get rid of most dirt. Sometimes, however, water needs time to saturate and loosen dirt or grime, so with really tough stains, splash or spray on the water (preferably with a bit of soap) and leave it for a while. Scrubbing also helps loosen dirt physically.
* If you dislike the smell of natural cleaning products “in the raw” (e.g. neat vinegar or baking soda), add a few drops of essential oil to the cleaner of your choice. Essential oil doesn’t just smell nice, either. Some essential oils also have a disinfectant or germ-killing effect, and these will enhance the effectiveness of your cleaner with a bit of germ-killing action. Essential oils to choose from include pine, lavender and lemon – the scents that are often used in commercial cleaners – and also thyme, oregano and eucalyptus.
* Recipes for natural home-made cleaning products sometimes for rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. The truth is that you can substitute any strong spirit for the rubbing alcohol and still get the same results. Good choices include vodka, brandy, whisky and gin, but avoid sticky, sugary ready-mixed drinks or liqueurs – these will leave a sticky residue behind them. Low alcohol drinks such as beer and wine won’t work, either, as it’s the alcohol that does the cleaning and evaporates off afterwards. Also avoid substituting methylated spirits if you are likely to be using large quantities of the product (meths is OK for removing stains from clothes, especially grass stains).
* Patience and/or elbow grease are important with any natural products. Sometimes, you will need to spray on or spread on the home-made cleaner and leave it for a while so it can act. You will also need to put in a bit of effort to remove really stubborn bits of grime.
* If you plan on making your own domestic cleaning products, stock up on suitable containers and dispensers. Shallow screw-top jars are ideal for powders and pastes (don’t use tall jars, as reaching down to the bottom with a cleaning cloth to get the last little bit out is quite tricky). For liquid products, use a spray dispenser (the sort with the squeezy pump handle). If you have been using proprietary cleaners in the past, save the old containers if they are likely to be useful rather than throwing them out and buying new ones. Rinse them out well first, so you don’t get any of the old residues in your new natural cleaner. And remember to label your jar, container or spray bottle so you know what’s in it.
* Natural cleaners that use lemon juice will go off if stored. Only use freshly cut lemons for making natural cleaning products. If you are lucky enough to have access to a large amount of lemons for cleaning purposes (e.g. if you have a lemon tree), squeeze out the juice when lemons are abundant and freeze the juice in a regular ice cube tray for use later on. And, of course, you can use the lemon juice in cooking as well as for cleaning.
* White vinegar works best as a natural cleaning product, with malt vinegar taking second place. Wine vinegar and cider vinegar also work, but as they are more expensive, you may not want to waste them as cleaners. The same applies to balsamic vinegar but this is too dark and sticky to use as a cleaning product – save it for a salad dressing or for putting on your hot chips.
* Invest in good scrubbing brushes, as these will do a lot of the actual work. Replace them when they start to look malformed. To extend the working life of brushes, don’t push down on them so the bristles bend – the bristles will bend and do their job with the horizontally-applied force of friction and your hand, rather than downward pressure (this assumes that you’re cleaning a horizontal surface). Natural bristles last longer than plastic ones, but they will need to be stored properly so the bristles dry out.
First of all, locate where the equipment has been stored in the back of the garage and remove the bike helmets, seed packets, watering cans, screwdrivers and tins of paint off it. Now get to work with a duster and some hot soapy water and a brush or three– you might actually be able to find out what colour the machine was. You probably also need to apply a bit of spray-on lubricant to get all the moving parts moving again, as they’ve seized up.
Oh sorry – you’re in the minority of people who actually uses their home gym equipment regularly and has kept up the good work for more than six months. Your self-discipline and dedication is to be congratulated. Either that, or you’re one of the smart folk who has hired a machine of some kind. But either way, you want to clean the machine and have it looking sparkling.
The main cleaning issue when it comes to home gym equipment is sweat. As the seats and other places that come in contact with your person are probably covered in vinyl or some synthetic material, staining is unlikely to be a problem as it would be with natural fibres. Old sweat will make your machine sweaty and sticky, so regular house cleaning is important. Your best bet for cleaning this is to use a natural cleaning product – after all, your skin will be in contact with the surface with your pores wide open, so you don’t want unpleasant chemicals getting in. You want to use the machine to improve your health, after all.
A home-made vinegar based cleaning spray is your best bet for cleaning home gym equipment. If you use a strong solution of vinegar, you will be more able to kill any bacteria that (yummy!) are feeding off your old sweat. Besides, the vinegar will also help tackle any staining that is trying to happen. To improve the germ-killing powers and the scent of this home-made cleaning spray, add some lemon essential oil – it will also make you feel more alert when you breathe it in. One of the real beauties of this spray is that it’s not just good for cleaning the sweaty bits of the home gym equipment, but it’s also good for cleaning the chrome/metal bits and for a host of other cleaning jobs such as cleaning windows and even cleaning toilets.
You can also prevent a lot of the sweat getting all over the machine if you put a towel down on the seat or other pad to soak up your shed body fluids, and use the dry bits of this towel to wipe things down (including yourself) after your workout. Wash the towel after each use, and add vinegar to the final rinse to keep it smelling fresh and feeling fluffy – you can even use about half a cup of the vinegar spray mentioned above. This is also a good move if you don’t have home gym equipment and go to a “proper” gym so you don’t wallow in someone else’s sweat and don’t leave yours for other people.
If you have had the machine for a long time, it pays to make sure that the moving parts are well lubricated so you don’t have to work harder than you have to (OK, this may be a bonus, but you may damage the machine). While natural products are usually best, you really can’t beat mineral oil for lubricating moving parts. You can use the old oil from your car for lubricating this (it’s also good for lubricating bike chains) – apply it carefully and sparingly with an old rag or with an old toothbrush.
There are many age-old and homemade methods to clean the mildew from various fabrics. Lemon juice and salt is probably the most common and oldest method of cleaning the mildew from fabric. As soon as you discover there is mildew on your clothes, first step would be to brush off the surface immediately. Mildew is actually a living organism, a mold that thrives in places that are warm and lives longer in humid environment.
Here are some instructions you can follow to clean the mildew from your clothes.
Take the piece of clothe/s away from rest of the clothing and take it to area where you can brush off the mold growth from the cloth. You can use a soft bristle brush to do this or you can just do it with your gloved hand. If you delay in brushing off the mold, there are high chances that the mold will eat your clothes away and soon you will find small holes in the place of the mold. Take enough care not to scatter the mildew spores in your house or anywhere on the clothes you are wearing. Sometimes when the mildew hasn’t grown much just cleaning it with a brush and washing it in a detergent and drying in the sun would be sufficient. But even after dusting the mold from your cloth if you still find the mildew spores on the cloth then you can use any of the following remedies listed here.
Mixture of natural cleaning products like lemon juice and salt as mentioned before is the safest and easiest method to clean the mold from your clothes. Make a thin paste of lemon juice and salt in a bowl and slowly spread it on the area where you see the mildew spots. Allow the clothes to dry in the sun and once it is dry, rinse it under the running tap water and sun-dry it again. The mixture of lemon juice and salt works as a natural bleach to remove the mildew and the mold stains from the fabric.
If the mildew stains are stubborn and are spread wider on the fabric then try using Peroxygen bleach to clean it. Take a pint of water and make a mixture using about one to two tablespoons of sodium perborate or powdered bleach that has sodium perborate also in it. If you do not have powdered bleach with sodium perborate then alternatively you can use same amount of potassium monopersulfate. If your fabric can be washed with hot water, use hot water to soak the cloth with the mildew stains and apply this mixture of powdered chemicals. You can also soak the cloth directly into the solution for at least 30 minutes and then rinse it off thoroughly with cold water and allow it to dry in sun. If the stains are old and are not gone after the first wash then you might have to soak the fabric in the solution for one night and then follow the same procedure. Only risk you have with this method of natural cleaning is that you might end up harming the fabric texture and color. Hence ensure that you check your clothes for colorfastness before trying this method.
I recently was invited to one of those sales parties. Originally, I was only planning to go along just to socialise with the girls and was feeling a bit sceptical about this cleaning product that was being sold at the party. However, by the end of the evening, I was impressed and actually ordered something.
The products in question were from a line of microfibre cloth products manufactured in Austria Because of the special design of the fabric used for these cleaning cloths, they do not need to use any special cleaning products (apart from a marble powder for extremely filthy jobs). The rationale for this is as follows: most surfaces, even though they look smooth are actually microscopically pitted. These tiny holes are just the right size for bacteria to lodge in. Normal cloths just wipe over the top these and leave the bacteria behind, so to get the surface germ-free, you need to pour on the chemicals – and face all the risks associated with chemical fumes, not to mention the damage they do to your skin and when they go into the wastewater system. What’s more, the house cleaning products you use (even benign ones like baking soda or plain soap) leave a residue behind, making a surface look dull after a few years. Microfibres, on the other hand, get right down into the pitted surfaces and trap the bacteria and grime within the minute hairs. The microfibre cloths can even clean off the old cleaning product residue, making some surfaces look as shiny as new.
Microfibre cleaning products only require water to get a surface perfectly clean, and cold water at that. Water is a perfect solvent as it is – all the commercial cleaning products do is add bits of this and that to enhance the wetting power of water, plus other bits and pieces to hide the smell of the first batch of this and that. With microfibres, the combination of a little water plus the friction and (possibly) static of the individual hairs, there is no need to add chemicals – the water gets into minute places and is all that’s needed. And the microfibre cloth only needs to be damp to work – a factor that has made this type of cleaning product popular in drought-prone areas such as Australia where water usage needs to be kept to a minimum.
Bacteria need moisture to grow in, so it is important to dry off the surface afterwards. This particular line of microfibre products did stock a microfibre towel that was super-absorbent to go along with the cleaning cloths. However, our hostess informed us that standard towels and facecloths do the job well, as well as using a blade on glass surfaces.
One researcher at an Australian university has tested this particular microfibre product intensively and found that it removed 90+% of the bacteria on all surfaces, including the toilet.
We got to see the microfibre products at work at this sales party. Hosting one of these parties must be easy – you’re specifically told not to clean the kitchen for several weeks beforehand so the demonstrator can do her (usually her, but I dare say that male demonstrators can be found somewhere). The demonstrator smeared lipstick all over a mirror, then cleaned it off with only a little water, and then proceeded to clean the basin and taps with the same cloth with no rinsing in between. We all expected to see the lipstick go everywhere else and to find a bit of greasy residue on the mirror. We didn’t, and we all started going “Oooh! Amazing!” like actors in a bad TV commercial. The process was repeated in the kitchen with butter on the stainless steel bench, then on the glass range hood which hadn’t been cleaned for three weeks. All the grease came off quickly and easily with no chemicals or greasy residue.
The best moment at this particular sales party happened shortly after the hostess had been demonstrating the window cleaner on a French window. One of the guests nearly walked through it, as it was perfectly clean with no streaking.
The products can simply be washed in the washing machine on a regular cycle on warm, but really, really greasy rags (e.g. after cleaning up a barbecue spitroast) may need soaking in warm soapy water. They should not be washed along with fluffy things and ideally should be washed in a laundry bag, although this is not totally essential.
The maker of the products in question was Enjo (pronounced en-yo). This company opened its UK office in 2004. The products are sold on the party plan basis only, so if you are interested but don’t know if there’s an Enjo consultant in your area, then contact www.enjo.co.uk to find out more.
Enjo is not endorsed by or associated in any way with Anyclean. This article is the personal experience and opinion of the writer and may or may not reflect the opinion of Anyclean.co.uk.
Disposable nappies are very convenient for a busy mother (or father) but they are an environmental nightmare! They aren’t reusable or recyclable, so the only thing you can do with them is to throw them into the landfill – where they create nasty leachates and take centuries to break down again. Cloth nappies are by far the greener option – and, ultimately, the cheaper option.
However, cloth nappies do have their own problems, mostly to do with washing. In some centres, you can find nappy washing services, where someone will take away the dirty nappies and give you back clean ones. If you don’t live near a nappy cleaning service or if you can’t afford their services (or don’t’ want to pay for them), you will have to wash them yourself.
To wash cloth nappies, you will need a disinfecting/bleaching solution or powder, and a very large bucket with a lid. Nappies should be soaked in a bleaching solution for an hour or more before washing so excess bacteria can be killed, and any stains can be dealt with. Change the solution daily – one handy hint is to wash one load with nappies every day and to change the solution after putting the nappies in the machine. The lid is to prevent things falling into the solution – particularly alarming if the thing is a toddler or an over-curious kitten.
Dirty (as opposed to just wet) nappies will have to have the solids removed before going into the solution. This waste can, of course, be flushed down the toilet like any other solid body waste. Use a flushable liner to catch waste – you peel this off the main part of the nappy and flush it down. Alternatively, scrape the mess off with a spatula reserved for the purpose. Keep this in a container of dilute disinfectant in between uses.
Washing the nappies after they have been in the solution is easy – just put them in the machine and wash as normal. Nappies can stand a hot wash without any difficulties, if you want to do this, but a cold wash is also good. You can use fabric softener, but this is optional. According to some people, adding natural cleaning product like vinegar to the final rinse helps to prevent nappy rash.
Drying the nappies is also straightforward. Line drying in the sunshine is a cheap method, as is drying on a rack or in front of a radiator. Line drying especially is good for freshening and softening the nappies and the sunlight acts as a final germ-killer and bleach. But most of us will resort to the dryer at some time while our children are in nappies.
After the nappies have dried, you will need to fold them ready for re-use. Don’t bother ironing nappies – ever! It’s a waste of time, effort and electricity. A few creases and crinkles on a nappy won’t matter at all. If the idea of ironing nappies makes you laugh, I have heard of one person who did…honest! A number of different methods can be used for folding nappies and everyone has their own favourite. It’s quite like doing origami, but don’t panic if you’re new to it. If you can fold a paper plane, you can fold a nappy without any problems!
Some new styles of cloth nappies have been shaped so they don’t need folding. Good for you if you can get hold of these!
Bikes are a great way to get around – they’re fun, they’re cheap to fuel (they burn only calories) and they’re a great way to get fit. After a day spent tearing up and down the hills – or even over a dirt track – bikes can end up very dirty very quickly.
You do have to clean your mountain bike same as doing the house cleaning, even though you are going to take it out again next weekend and get it completely covered with mud all over again. Leaving your bike all muddy can cause parts to wear out more quickly, and dirt and grit do your chain and gears no good at all. Besides, mud can even cake up your brakes, meaning that they don’t work as well as they should to ensure your safety.
It’s best to clean off your bike as soon as you can after returning from your outing – after you’ve seen to any bumps and bruises that you’ve collected and had a bit to eat to top up your energy levels. This is one advantage that bikes have over horses: they’re not going to stand there hungry, whinnying and cold waiting for you to have a shower once you get back; nor do you have to see to their needs while you’re hungry, tired and cold – or bleeding. You can even leave it until the next morning, if you like.
First of all, use a hose to get rid of the worst bits of dirt and mud. This is where acting quickly really helps – if the mud is still wet and fresh, it comes off with the hose and no scrubbing is needed. If the dirt has dried on, a soft scrubbing brush may be needed to take stubborn cakes of dirt off. If you really want to make your bike gleam, then use warm soapy water or any other cleaning product, as you would do with a car.
Pay particular attention to the chain, the brakes and gears. Check that no dirt and/or stones have managed to get in to the mechanisms.
Once you have made sure that all the dirt is washed away, check over the paintwork of your bike very thoroughly and check that no chips or cracks have been made in the paint. If the metal tubing below the paint has become exposed, then touch this up with a dab of enamel paint, using a very fine brush. You should be able to find the shade of paint you need for your bike at a model shop. It’s wise to buy some before you need it Apply the paint to dry metal and let the bike sit for a day or so after touching up the paint to allow it to cure properly.
After checking the paintwork, you may need to re-lubricate the chain and the gears to make sure that they can run smoothly. Also check the brakes and tighten them if this is needed.
You may also want to clean the tyres, especially if you have been riding over terrain that may cause punctures, such as sharp stones, spines – or even broken glass. Deep tread picks up a lot of dirt, but you won’t be able to make the most of the added traction of deep tread if it’s clogged up with muck. Use a scrubbing brush or even the tip of something smooth and hard (like a hoof pick, a nail file or even an old blunt knife) to scrape out stones, mud, grass, etc. from the tread. This step will make you much more popular if you have to park your bike somewhere indoors, as you won’t bring as much muck inside.
You could, of course, black the tyres and polish the chrome if you want to. But for the mountain bike enthusiast, this is unnecessary. Bikes are for riding and having fun on, not showing off the paintwork!
There are a number of companies that offer several products that are eco-friendly. Earth friendly products offer an exceptional variety of plant based products that are required for any type of cleaning. They are clean and do not contain harmful chemicals. These products are not hazardous to health and are safe to use.
The products vary from fruit wash to drain cleaner products. The earth friendly natural fruit and vegetable wash helps to remove pesticides, various chemicals heavy metals, dirt wax and all kinds of bacteria. The earth enzyme drain opener and natural enzyme drain cleaner is a high tech method for maintaining free flowing drains and cleaning of clogged septic tanks and cesspools. They are pretty cheap and range from a price of $4-7 dollars.
The 21st century now introduces one to a clean house and a clean planet. All these organic cleaning products are non-toxic and keep your home sparkling. It is no longer necessary to use commercial cleaners since there are effective and a safer alternative. Now instead of laundry detergent, aqua balls can be used. Even household cleaners and stain removers like Citra Solv range can serve the purpose. These products have the advantage of saving money and time. They are gentle on the clothes, furniture and the house as well as help to save the environment.
Organic products include vinegar, salt, baking soda and borax. It does have its own disadvantage; that is it cannot be bought in bulk. However there are numerous stores that sell these organic products. For instance organic soap is said to very good. Not only is it chemical free, but it also improves the texture of your skin. It might seem that these products are incapable of cleaning properly but the fact is that they may even give better results than that of regular cleaning products. While using organic products a healthy environment is created. As a result of this the demand for chemicals would decrease thus causing less pollution.
There are companies where all the products are 100% organic. These produce all natural cleaning products as well as body care products. All the products contain essential oils and other plant materials. These companies aim at providing health benefits as well as fresh wonderful fragrances which are natural and safe to use.
They keep continuously researching and expanding their products. They intend to be as environmentally friendly as possible not only with the products that they offer but also with the ingredients that are used and even the packing. Most of them are packed with recycled materials without compromising with health and hygiene. Although most of the oils are obtained from different parts of the world but the medicinal herbs and plants used are grown locally. These products are known for their medicinal purposes and are pocket friendly too.
The uses of these organic household cleaning products are far better as they posses lesser amount of toxic chemicals and thus help in maintaining a clean and healthy environment.
As the nights get colder in autumn, many of us feel like hitting the bottle – the hot water bottle. When it comes to keeping warm while conserving energy and living more sustainably, the good old hottie has a lot to recommend it.
First of all, a proper hottie is made from rubber – which is, ultimately, a natural material that’s harvested in the form of sap from sustainably managed plantations. OK, it’s got a bit of this and that mixed in with it, but at the end of its life, as a hottie came from organic materials (mostly), it will biodegrade. And its life will be pretty long. I don’t know how old my hot water bottle is, but I think it’s older than my children…
The hot water bottle is safer to use than the electric blanket to heat the bed. Hotties won’t electrocute you if they malfunction. This is not to say that hotties aren’t 100% foolproof. If the hottie is too old and you put boiling water into it and if it springs a hole (or the hottie is trodden on or sat on) you can get a nasty burn. Burns aren’t fatal, but they’re painful and scarring, and are best avoided. You avoid getting scalded by a leaky hottie by not using boiling water… or by putting a bit of cold water down the bottom of the hottie and then adding in the boiling water.
And speaking of boiling water, the hottie is pretty energy efficient, which is another advantage it has over the electric blanket. Using the kettle to heat the water is probably more efficient than running hot water out of the tap, and if you try the mixing method (cold water in first, then top up with boiling) you will be safe enough. And you can use some more of the boiling water in the kettle to make yourself a hot drink before bed – a good way to relax and to warm up ready for sleep. Just make sure the drink in question doesn’t contain caffeine. Chamomile tea is traditional, but cocoa, Horlicks, or just a spoonful of honey in a mix of hot water and milk are fine. Brush your teeth afterwards.
One of the other advantages of using a hottie is that you get to re-use the water afterwards. Don’t try to drink it, even if the water that went in was clean – it will have a bitter, rubbery taste from having sat in the hottie overnight (take my word for this – I’ve tried). But the water is fine for watering plants with or doing the house cleaning.
Hotties don’t just have to be used for heating at bedtime. A hottie may be your most energy-efficient option if you are working in a room that will warm up with the sunshine before long (so it’s not worth switching on the heater or lighting the fire) but is cold RIGHT NOW. It is more efficient to heat your body rather than the room. Unless there’s lots of people in the room.
How to fill a hottie:
1. Boil the kettle.
2. Put a bit of cold water (about a cup) into the hottie.
3. Add boiling water until the hottie starts to look nice and plump. Don’t over-fill it. You need a steady hand here and watch out for the “burp” of air escaping as you fill it.
4. Put in the stopper and tighten it about three-quarters.
5. Carefully squeeze the excess air out of the hottie (leaning the hottie against something vertical works best) and, while you’re still applying pressure, tighten the stopper fully.
6. Dry excess water out of the top of the hottie and from off the sides.
One of the more important parts of “acting locally” to do your bit towards helping Planet Earth is by reducing waste. You are probably aware of the negative effects of landfills: more and more valuable land being taken up just by rubbish, and the associated problems of groundwater being contaminated by leachate. Yes, the people who design landfills take leachate into account, but do you really want to take this risk?
The best way to reduce waste is not to throw so much stuff into the waste system. Much of what goes into the landfill doesn’t need to be in there. Kitchen waste, greenwaste and paper make up a huge percentage of the rubbish in a landfill – and these items can very easily be recycled or composted instead.
But there’s more to recycling than dropping your old newspapers off at the local paper recycling depot and putting lawn clippings and carrot tops into a compost heap. As we all know, the three Rs of waste are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The “reuse” stage is one that often gets overlooked.
For some items, reusing them is straightforward. A sip-top bottle that once held bottled water can easily be refilled from your regular drinking water supply – or with fruit juice. Glass jam jars can be washed out and used for storing dry goods or for making your own jams, jellies and why not cleaning products. Ice cream containers (and anything else with an airtight lid) are perfect for freezing items or for lunchboxes. Gift wrapping paper can be used multiple times before it’s too battered and tatty to use. And if you don’t use items this way, there’s bound to be a charity that will!
After reusing the obvious things in obvious ways, it’s time to get creative. Things don’t have to be reused for the purpose that they were originally made. Here’s a just a few suggestions that have worked for me:
Small yoghurt containers: holders for paperclips or drawing pins, pottles for starting seedlings before planting out.
Large clear plastic drink bottles: Cut the spout off and use as a cloche for winter vegetables (use the cut off spout as a funnel)
Drink bottles with handles (e.g. milk bottles): cut in half and use as a scoop for washing powder, sugar or flour – or garden fertiliser.
Mesh bags from onions or oranges: roll into a ball and use for scrubbing pots. My recycled pot-scrub lasted much longer than a conventional Brillo bad or steel wool scrubber.
Pizza boxes: these are the perfect size for holding A4 papers. Good for documents, kid’s drawings or even old letters (the pizza scent will evaporate before long).
Old clothes: cut off buttons and zips before using the cloth as dusters for domestic cleaning, dishrags or for polishing cars.
Old sheets: These usually have a lot of good fabric on either side of the rip that inevitably happens – this can be remade into pillow cases or even children’s pyjamas.
Old towels: use for pet bedding or as a biodegradable weed mat.
Old stained carpet: weed mat, pet bedding or in the garage for your amateur car mechanic (most families have one of these) to lie on while tinkering underneath a car.
Ice cream containers and one litre yoghurt containers: organisers for children’s crayons, felt tip pens, playdough, stamps,
Anything thin and shiny: children’s art projects and collage.
Old rubber gloves: cut up for thick, durable and colourful rubber bands.
One word of warning: don’t hang onto an item just because it might be useful for something. I had to clear up my late grandmother’s house after a lifetime of this principle and it was absolutely chaotic (well, can you think of a use for old trays from airline meals?). If you can’t think of a use, even with your best efforts, then recycle the item if possible or, as a last-ditch resort, throw it away. You can only use so many flour scoops and funnels.
Don’t forget that the “reusing” can be done by other people. If you no longer need an item that is in still pretty good condition, don’t throw it into the tip. Sell it on EBay or a similar site if possible, hold a garage sale or give it away to charities. Even ripped old clothing can be given away to charity organisations – these get shredded for reuse (as carpet underlay and stuffing or even in paper manufacture) or sent to manufacturing plants to clean machinery – soft old T-shirts and sheets are perfect.
This last point may seem like a statement of the obvious, but it’s astonishing how many people throw perfectly useable things into the tip. At my local tip (aka resource recover centre), you are charged by weight for rubbish disposal (they weigh you going in, then weigh you going out). The few times I’ve gone in, I’ve almost been able to pick up enough good stuff from other people’s waste to significantly reduce my tip fee. And I’m sure that if I waited for long enough, I could drive out heavier than I came in. Yes, it takes a bit of chutzpah to ask a perfect stranger “You’re not going to throw that out, are you? Can I have it?” but most people don’t mind. Items I’ve scored this way include a near-new pillow, a child’s bicycle, skis, a single bed and some wallpaper that was perfect for card making. What can you find?
Recycling things is important to cut down the waste, but it’s only one of the three Rs of living sustainably. The other two are Reducing and Reusing. Reusing can often take a bit of creativity and lateral thinking. But if you don’t have a Depression/WWII era granny to get ideas for reusing things from, then try these to start you off:
* Pizza boxes (for large pizzas) are the perfect size for fitting A4 papers and they stack together easily. Blot the grease out and use them as a filing system. They’re easy to label, too. Cover them with newspaper or old wrapping paper if you don’t want the number of your local pizza joint staring you in the face. They stack much better than arch lever files.
* Ice cream containers are ideal for freezing soups and casseroles for later use, and also for freezing a surplus of stewed fruit. They also are something of a staple at many schools for holding crayons and other large groups of bits (counters, rubber bands, milk tokens, drawing pins). One-litre yoghurt pottles have the same uses.
* Thick cardboard of any type can be used to protect CD(-ROMs) in the post instead of bubble wrap. Keep a small supply on hand, but don’t hoard it – it can build up to excess if you’re not careful.
* Large clear plastic bottles. If you don’t want to re-use these as drink bottles (if you’re going out for a long time, then they take a lot more water than the little sip-top bottles), then try (a) cutting the top off just below the neck (at the “shoulders”) and using this top as a funnel for changing the oil or for children to play with in a sandpit or the bath; (b) cutting the top off at the shoulders and using the bottom as a mini-cloche for giving young plants a head start in early spring.
* Bottles with handles: cut them on the diagonal and use them as scoops for sugar, flour, etc.
* Old sheets and towels. Rip or cut them up and use them for dishcloths or anywhere you’d use a tissue (apart from as a handkerchief in public, of course – but for removing makeup, they’re great). You can also use them as cloths for domestic cleaning and polishing.
* Screw-top jars (glass or plastic). Wash them out and keep them for your own home-made jams and pickles. Or for storing things like cornflour and cocoa. Or for storing home-made natural cleaning products and bath salts.
* Zip-lock bags. Does anyone throw these useful things away? Use them for smaller batches of frozen food, and for school lunches.
* Rubber gloves. Once they’ve got holes in the fingers, cut the wrist parts up for extra thick, strong rubber bands.
The big thing to remember when you are keeping things to reuse is not to be a hoarder. Only keep as much as you will actually need. If you have already got scoops for your sugar, your salt, your flour and the cat kibble, then don’t make another scoop. If your freezer is full up with frozen goods, don’t hoard any more containers for freezing. Just recycle the items instead!
