Innovative Recycling Solutions

Candle Renewal

• Ask your friends to save their candles when they are burned down too low to use. Remelt the candles in a saucepan especially reserved for this use. Add color by melting broken crayons (paper removed) and scent with a kitchen spice such as cinnamon. Then pour the melted crayons into votive cups or other containers. You can use containers cast off from friends such as old mint tins, coffee mugs and jelly jars. Add a wick to the center and hold it in place with a piece of string tied top to bottom so it will stay in place until the candle wax hardens. Give a candle back to the friend who gave you the containers as a special "thank-you" gift.

Bottle-Filled Planter

• Filling a large planter to the bottom with planting soil can be costly. Cut the expense in half by filling the bottom one-third to one-half of the bottom of the container with plastic drink bottles or milk jugs. Top this recycled waste with a mixture of compost and garden soil. Your plants will grow just as well and drain even better than if they were in a container filled to the brim with potting mix.

Africa Recycles

• As the rest of the world uses Africa as a dumping ground for their waste products, some African groups are learning to use the materials that are stacking up to improve their quality of life. For example, in West Africa, dance and drum groups are compressing plastic bags to craft djembe drums, which are typically made from the wood of lenge trees, and covering them with a drumming surface of tanned animal skin. The drums have perfect pitch. Other groups are using garbage packed tightly and covered with sand to line the floors and shore up their huts to protect them from water in the rainy seasons that beleaguer their villages.

Kitchen Waste Uses

• Many grocery items are packaged in a container or fastener that you can recycle. For example, stuff paper towel holders with dryer lint to use as a fire starter. Emptied ice cream tubs work for storing paint or assorted nuts and bolts, as a container for non-caustic cleaners or as a convenient holder when transplanting garden specimens. You can use the waxed paper cereal bags that come in boxes to store separated frozen meats, heat microwave items or to roll out cookie dough. Wash them well before using.