Putting those plastic coffee cans to good use.......

Need some some tips for putting empty plastic coffee containers to good use? Wash them thoroughly in soapy dishwater, rinse well, then air dry. Or you can do what I do and run them through the dishwasher before reusing. Here are some ways I reuse plastic coffee cans:

1. Make a mini-compost bin next to your kitchen sink. Once it is full just add it to your compost bin outside, or spread it over your garden. Rinse the can and reuse.

2. Use them as canisters for flour, sugar, rice, cereal and pasta in your cabinets. Just label each one and they can be stacked easily to save space.

3. Remove the lids and use them to organize your shoes. A pair will fit vertically in each container. For high-heels, hang the heels over the top edge.

4. Use plastic coffee can lids under potted plants.

5. Plastic coffee cans make wonderful paint cans. I store all of my leftover paints in them. Just paint a swab across the top of the lid so you'll know what color is in the can.

6. Use plastic coffee cans to transport and store toilet paper and other items you want to keep dry when camping.

7. Bird seed and pet foods can be stored in plastic coffee cans.

If you have other uses for empty plastic coffee cans I would love to hear them!

(Click on the coffee cup for ways to recycle coffee grounds.)

Happy Recycling in 2009!

Repurposed Items for Your Yard and Garden

I've been looking through yard and garden magazines while I'm vacationing at my mom's and found several great ideas for repurposing items that I thought were worth sharing:

* Old bowling balls......use one in place of a gazing ball in your garden. The marbled ones look prettiest and are much more durable than a glass gazing ball. Just place them hole side down on the base of a birdbath or gazing ball stand and voila!

* Half-gallon plastic milk or juice jug.....cut away the bottom of the jug, then cut out the handle side of the jug almost to the handle in an oval shape. Now you have a scoop for birdseed, potting soil or anything else you need to scoop. Be sure to leave the cap on the end of the jug.

* Plastic hair pick.....add it to your garden tools to gently loosen the roots of root-bound plants.

* Old mailbox.....mount an old mailbox on a post in your gardening area to hold your small gardening tools. This keeps them close at hand but out of the weather. Put the flag up to remind yourself that a tool needs to be put back. Put the flag down to show that everything has been put away. Make it pretty by painting your old mailbox with a garden or floral theme.

* Plastic milk crate/storage cube....if you have a milk crate or storage cube you are no longer using, give it a new life as a holder for pole-mounted yard art that you store away during the winter months. Put one pole in each opening and it will be much easier to separate them when Spring comes.

* Another use for discarded bowling balls.....paint them to look like garden creatures. The ones I saw were painted like oversized ladybugs and were really cute! To stabilize them paint them so that the hole is the "belly" and place it on a short stake.

I hope these ideas are helpful to you. I'd love it if you would comment with other ideas on repurposing items in the yard or garden!