Use It, Don't Lose It
When I'm at the cabin, I think more about how I can re-use things. It's good for the environment, but it's also a handy thing to do. Our cabin is a 25 minute boat ride up the lake. Everything headed there has to be loaded into the truck, unloaded at the marina, carried down the dock, hauled up the lake in the boat, and then carried into the cabin. Anything that needs to be discarded must make the same trip in reverse. Consequently, we compost, recycle and re-use as much as we can.
Last week I shared how I am using rehydrated peat pellets to start my seeds this year. They are working fine, but they tend to dry out quickly. The day after I planted my seeds we had pancakes for breakfast and finished a bottle of pancake syrup. When I started to throw it in the trash (that has to be taken back down the lake), I wondered if I could find a new purpose for the bottle. It just struck me that it might make a good watering bottle for my peat pellets, and it does. The bottle has one of those pop-up caps. One squeeze puts just the right amount of water on each peat pellet to keep it moist for the day. It couldn't be better. Now I can use it, not lose it.
Do you have any suggestions for repurposing household items? I would love to hear your handy hints. -- Margy
Labels:
Float Cabin Living,
Gardening
Posts
Seeing as how the glass thrown into Powell River recycling doesn't actually get recycled, or so I'm told, I've been holding onto all my glass bottles & jars. I'm not quite sure what to do with them. Some are intended for bottling my own vanilla extract. Some I will use for jelly & jam this summer. (I'm really looking forward to the return of Bernie, the Okanagan fruit guy.) Also, when I get garden space again, I plan to cut the tops off of clear plastic bottles to make individual green houses for my seedlings.
ReplyDeleteVery good idea. I hope your seedlings do well. I have to find out where to get one of the blue barrels so I can try to do your potato thing.
ReplyDeleteI recyle...and often I use margarine containers for storing nuts and bolts..i just write in black marker what is inside....I also use those containers for storing left over food...again marking the outside cause sometimes I thought I had a tub of margarine in the fridge when in fact it was left over spaghetti....I keep left over spray bottles for spraying my plants...
ReplyDeleteYes I think if we put our minds to it there is a lot we could reuse better...thanks for the reminder...
Thank you for your comments on my last Wednesday's L is for... post. I have had a touch of bronchitis & and just now getting back on the computer. Your comments were greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother back in Croatia was an amazing recycler - everything had dual purpose. All the waste from the kitchen went into the garden. Big cans (must of been 10 gallon) were used for storing water around the garden so she wouldn't have to have the hose out all the time. I'll try to remember some specific things.
ReplyDeleteOne of my fun finds at a used bks sale was "Polish Your Furniture with Panty Hose and 100s of offbeat uses for Brand-name products" - prevent tools from rusting by placing a charcoal briquet in a toolbox helps absorb moisture. Strain lumps from paint. Stretch a L'eggs panty hose across the paint can & pour.