Ideas/ways to re-use/recycle "rubbish"?

[Hinotori]

So I saw a neat little picture of a basically free diy cell phone speaker booster.

Needed was 2 empty water bottles and a toilet roll tube. One pair of scissors later plus 15 minutes for me to make my holes and cut off the bottle ends.

It does work to amplify the sound and was free. This is going in the bathroom for my showers.

Old tried and true method, which I tested against was to put the phone in a bowl. My double sized bowls work best. Same volume increase.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

DH is very creative. He gets free (empty)bottles from the local Mexican restaurant and paints them:

He also paints mason jars that can't be used for canning anymore:

And he found an old wood frame, added a piece of plywood backing, then painted it with chalkboard paint to make a picture frame in the dining room that can change any time he wants it to (this one might never change):

 

[baymule]

We got 3 feeder pigs about a week ago. Prior to that, we built them shelter. I call it the Hawg Hut. I already had everything that went into building the Hawg Hut, except the tube of black asphalt roof patch. Even the screws were leftovers from other projects. I posted it on BYH, here's a link. And the pigs are really enjoying their Hawg Hut!

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/hawg-hut-or-goat-or-sheep-or-dhs-new-digs.32088/

 

[Mini Horses]

OK--"hoarder" is harsh ( sorta true but). I prefer to think of it as my bank account for future needs. Just spent a lot to get a building "rebuilt" and knew I would have some issues with the son & his "saving it" issues but, did get it across. Just built a new pig house (4X4, with floor & all) with scraps. That's for the 2 little girls, the boys will get another one built this wknd, more scraps. So, they were "free" in my "chicken math" way. (AGH hogs, so large for them).

Repairs are never ending on a farm & we must re-cycle. This wknd I'm removing a 200' section of fence from outside of posts where I already installed new on other side. This "old" fence will have some just thrown out and some is still good for patches & or 20-30 ft replacement. I will take the top half and cover some areas on bottom half of another location with walk-down damage, after I've restretched it. Can't always do new everywhere at one time. $$$$$ Still have another 200' of new to install on this first pasture to complete it as an "all" new fenced. It's adjacent to the big building just re-stored. New fence is here, just all the rain stopped me dead!

I'm still using the 80+ 6' T-posts I got from a neighbor just for taking them down for him! Great shape, 1/2 day job. And, several gates,4-5 hot wire tabs (& wire) on all posts, too!Some of the wooden corner & end posts had the screw ins for the tube gates. Those things are like $7 each. Sure made my day. Supposed to be nice weather next 3-4 days. Plan to get some things finished with needed fence work & the free
"rubbish" I've saved/collected.

 

[baymule]

We moved in February to a new place. 8 acres and a double wide. Nothing else. Nothing. We bought a carport and had it put up. Bought 2"x4"x48" non climb horse wire and started fencing, which is an ongoing project. We used a lot of fence posts that we had bought, used. They sure came in handy!

Uhh...about the carport, can't park either vehicle under it. It's full of used lumber and plywood, used tin and all sorts of "good" stuff. Plan on using it to build shelters for the animals.

 

[Britesea]

I think the negative connotation attached to the word "hoarder" has been promulgated by our throw-away society. When you save stuff and re-use or re-purpose things, it means you aren't buying new things, which means those businesses aren't making as much profit as they think they are entitled to. Of course, there is a difference between someone that hoards things because they know they will be able to use it again someday, and someone who's simply too lazy to take out their trash!

 

[sumi]

I try, note "try", not to hoard too much may-come-in-useful-one-day things, but like Denim Deb said those plastic scoops, and plastic bags, that I then forget to take with when I go shopping, is hard to toss. But to hoard useless things, old magazines for example. My gran had piles of them, years old, no-one read them except me when I went to visit. Some things just are too good to throw away though, anything wood for example. What you can't use, you can burn? Same for fencing and shade cloth….

Glass jars. We had a box full in the barn years ago, it just sat there until I decided to make jam and lots of it. Those jars came in handy! Same with ice cream tubs. Why buy tubs with lids when you can get the ice cream for free?

Egg cartons. I put word out that I wanted egg cartons when I decided to start selling eggs. I started collecting them when I got my chicks. By the time they started laying I had well over 1,000 cartons. Shortly after that I talked the neighbours into farming free range layers as well and had enough cartons for us both

 

[baymule]

Ireland is interesting in that it encourages recycling enthusiastically, but at the same time, it doesn't give people a cheap, or free way to get rid of unwanted vehicles? I remember in South Africa how we bought and salvaged secondhand parts for car repairs, it's not an option here, unless you quietly do it yourself. If cars here don't pass their annual NCT inspection and the repairs needed are too steep, many of them simply get abandoned somewhere, usually at an abandoned house. This one had no less than 14 vehicles in it's yard and some trailers:

View attachment 1084

Some of these vehicles were still in fairly good condition!

No salvage yards??? Here in America, salvage yards are a big business. When I was a parts purchaser for a garbage company and needed a large part, I started calling salvage yards. Many of them were on a radio and they would describe what I was looking for and somebody at another salvage yard would answer. I'd get their phone number and call them. That's just stupid that there is no way to dispose of used up cars. Even wrecked cars have good useable parts.

 

[sumi]

I will use about 2000 tires to build a Earthship house after I get moved, need to sell this house and land first.

Saw a house build from old car tires on Grand Designs once, I think the house was in France. We didn't get quite as adventurous, but we build a small "bottle wall" into a house extension once. Unfortunately I don't have pics, but it worked and looked amazing. We used different coloured bottles (blue, green, etc) and positioned them with their bottoms pointing inside and cemented them in place as we would bricks.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Oh man, the things I could type here! We save a lot of things that come in great handy later on. I will list a few but I have seen some really great things here so far already!

-We get free pallets from a local hardware store that they just toss or burn. I make different things (art) with the pallets and sell it. We also have built perches and nesting boxes with pallet pieces too.
-Old feed bags get saved for multiple purposes. Fire starter or kindling bags. they're also good to cut open and use as a mat to paint on so that you won't get paint all over the place when doing crafts.
-Paper bags from the grocery store we've saved for a lot of things too including wrapping small Christmas gifts.
-I save tin cans for my paint brushes- I put water in it and wash my paint brushes out when I am working. We also save plastic and metal coffee cans to store nails, screws, and I use a small one as a feed scoop.
-Scrap lumber gets used for art, next boxes, animal houses, perches, and such.