Recycling On A Global Scale: For Life

Mark; visit him at  http://marksvegplot.blogspot.com has provided some neat ways of reusing those plastic containers that would otherwise find their way into our recycling bins, or the landfill.

I also have been committed to recycling for a long time now. Once you've got the recycling "bug" you are stuck with it. Much to my family's chagrin, I have never been adverse to screeching to a halt, and picking up something from the side of the road that would be useful in the garden: old tables, a china cabinet (as a potting/storage bench), bricks...well you get the idea. I don't consider myself a "bag lady" more a "swag lady" - "one man's trash.." etc.

But to share some of my modest, and recent, recycling efforts. I offer the following:

Shattered pot, used as both bird bath, and "cosy" for a critter needing shelter.

Derelict Pot Used As Birdbath

"Blue roofs" in USA: Florida, Texas and the Gulf Coast in general, has a different connotation, referring back to our horrid Hurricane seasons and the blue tarps that covered what remained of our roofs. However, here the paint-spayed, bright-blue milk carton, serves as a nifty replacement for a broken bird house roof. Secured in place with industrial glue.

Blue Roofed Bird House

Above: "The "Real Thing" serves as a buried catchment container to deeply water plants at their roots, and a toothpick container (below) has a new life as a seed dispenser.

The "trellis" to the right is a broken dog gate to support the tomatoes for the time being.

Here is my compost bin. 

A few stakes, a piece of discarded lumber and some string supports more tomatoes. I think there is a French word for this (using wire), but it completely escapes me. 

Plastic potting soil/mulch bags, along with cardboard provide the ultimate weed protection, and all without using a spray.

The wine gift box

below, serves as a multi-layered

seed drying area. Seeds are stacked on

polystyrene trays and covered with

paper towel. I just can't imagine what happened to the wine in the box. Santa must be partial to

Mouton methinks. Bad Santa!

A utensil basket from a broken dishwasher has a new purpose as my trowel, scissor container. The newly painted, green ladle serves as a potting soil scoop, because girls don't like to get their nails dirty, even when their thumbs are getting greener by the minute thanks to an expansive, generous, and informative blogger group of like minded folks :)