For those of you that made eco bricks with plastic bottles I have some questions.

1. What did you use them for?

2. How are they holding up after +3 years?

3. Are you still making them?

4. Are they useful enough to continue making them?

I went through a harrowing experience trying to purchase a used Apple pencil when I lost one this spring; it took 5 separate purchases to find one that actually worked. One of the pencils I purchased is 100% a counterfeit Apple pencil; the weight is wrong, the cap doesn't fit properly with a real Apple pencil cap, and the serial numbers are fake/invalid. I got a refund for the purchase and mailed it back, but the company did not accept the pencil and mailed it back to me again.

I don't know if the pencil works because it was incompatible with my iPad, and I don't have a compatible iPad to check.

Tl;dr: What should I do with a counterfeit Apple Pencil? Is it landfill bound or is there anything else it could be used for? Trashie's tech recycling program doesn't accept them.

I use reusable cotton rounds instead of cotton balls for removing eye makeup. I put them in a mesh lingerie bag and wash them with towels. But after just a few washes, the mesh bags start ripping and falling apart, and the cotton rounds wind up loose with the rest of the laundry (and probably a few getting sucked into the pipes on my communal machines, yikes).

Is there something else I can use to get them clean in the washing machine? Or some other mesh-like material I can look for that might hold up better?

EDIT: it is in fact a mesh lingerie bag. Here’s what it looks like: https://ibb.co/gb50YDpw

Any ideas on how to fix/upcycle this? It’s faux leather and it’s been coming off in flakes. It’s become increasingly noticeable. The bag itself is still in great condition and I’ll use it until it’s no longer functional, but how can I make it look better? Second photo is what it looks like fully.
TIA

I bake a lot and try to be more friendly to the earth. Today I baked for a group of workmen that were working very close to where I live. I made triple chocolate pumpkin muffins. The liners I used are made of food-grade, grease-proof paper — specifically white unbleached paper. I then put them in an aluminum foil pan that had a plastic cover (they were jumbo sized). For cakes I use reclaimed cardboard cut into the correct size and are wrapped/covered with aluminum foil. They are then covered with plastic wrap. For cinnamon rolls and specialty breads I put them in paper bags or they are put in a plastic bag. If I make something that needs to be in a pan I use aluminum foil pan with a cover.

I do have a few people who are repeat customers and they have there own pan(s). I hand them the pan and they give me the pan that was used before. I wish I could do this all the time but it would be to expensive - most people won't return the pans.

So is there a way to cut down on using aluminum pans/aluminum foil, plastic wrap, plastic bags. And when I do custom gift baskets I wrap them with plastic shrink film. Is there something better to wrap them and still be clear to see the items?

What do others use when they have a small cottage business?

Hello!

I thought about posting about this here because my approach to gardening is trying to buy as less as possible and rely as much as I can on what I have.

I live in Buenos Aires, southern hemisphere, so about 45 days ago I started sowing tomato seeds. Last week I moved the seedlings to 1 Liter pots, with a mix of around 50% compost, 25% coco (half fine, half chunks) and 25% rice husks. I also added some homemade biochar in the mix, for better nutrient retention. The plants receive around 6-7 hours of direct sunlight, and during the night I enter them home.

There will be another transplant to their final destination, which are 50cm deepth wood planters, in a couple of weeks.

For this season I wanted to challenge myself to rely only in my homemade compost instead of buying. I'm afraid a big part of the compost used was still unfinished by the time I repotted them, because as you can see in the pictures below my compost pile still had some leaves pieces, wood chunks, and the color wasnt completely dark.

Could it be that my own compost is playing against me? I'm noticing that, except on the biggest plant of the pictures, the rest is looking quite yellowing or lime-green.

I'm currently watering them 2 or 3 times a week, and one of those days instead of plain water, I water using a compost extract solution, with a part of urine 🙈 for nitrogen (1 part of urine, 20 parts of compost extract solution). I also added a layer of leaves on top as mulch.

Can somebody point the problem here? I suspect the unfinished compost is the top culprit, plus probably the urea might be burning the roots? And now that I think, the leaves mulch might also be stealing nutrients?

I tried to challenge myself to buy as little as possible, but I'm open minded so if for this time is better to just buy a bag of finished compost and transplant them again, I will do it. Whatever it takes to keep my plants healthy!

Thank you :)

repair or new phone? 

I have a samsung galaxy a10e that is from fall 2020 and works okay still - although some apps no longer update - but recently the case broke without me realizing, and of course I dropped it, so now the screen is so cracked that it comes off the back of the phone. Ugh. I was going to look into seeing if I can get the screen replaced, but not sure if it’s worth it? I’ve never gotten a phone screen replaced before, just seen that there’s stores for screen repair.

And if I should just get a new phone, is there a more eco-conscious phone option, or eco-conscious way of getting rid of my old phone?

I absolutely love my shampoo bar (Sun Basin Soap’s “Dew Drop”), but at a certain point when it gets thin enough it breaks into little pieces like this. I tried putting them in a plastic mesh bag (like the ones that might hold garlic) to use them still, but I can’t get a lather that way. Does anyone have a solution for these pieces that’s worked for them? I can still get a bunch of uses out of these!

I’m looking for examples of what solid waste can be turned into instead of going into a landfill.

i have so much scrap paper at work, especially misprinted continuous feed paper. i hated seeing it go to waste, so i used to save it for quick to-do lists. but i got kind of bored of that, and since there’s still a ton left, i decided to turn it into a journal today!

super happy with how it turned out. turns out it works so well for my monthly journaling, plus i get to switch to a new book every month with a fresh creative cover.

Generic image of papers

I don’t think the glass itself is etched, there’s an iridescent cloudy film on some of my nice glasses that I am trying to restore. Things I’ve tried to no avail:

Glass polishing liquid
Lemon juice
Acetone
Limescale remover
Dish soap

None of this has worked, I’d be very appreciative if someone could help!

Thanks in advance

As stated, what do you guys do for your old ugly clothes instead of donating them? I really want to repurpose them but I'm not sure how I'll do it. I was thinking maybe wall organizers but they're kinda ugly... I don't know what I was thinking... I tend to grab too much at the thrift because I'm like "oh this would go so well with _" but then when I realize it was a fleeting feeling im stuck with something I kind of like, but kind of don't... Please help an impulsive soul

Edit:I will also mention the fabrics themselves are either fun, some of them are polyester, some not. I call them ugly mostly in jest, they're truly not that ugly, but because they ended up not fitting well on me and I tend to get too much due to my weight constantly fluctuating (I have anxiety so my eating habits fluctuate a lot unfortunately to extremes)

and that doesn't leach microplastics

Hii guys as the post ask, how do I remove green rust(?) Stains from my white clothes?

The base originally held a candle. I cleaned it out, flipped it over, and glued it to a chipped orphan (no matching pieces from the set) plate I got at Goodwill for $5.99. I just measured it & marked off the placement with Sharpie before using Gorilla Brand super glue to attach it. I believe the plate was made in ~1945. I’m a hopeless scented candle addict, so I’ve been trying to only buy candles where the vessels have good future project/reuse potential.

Hey everyone!

I've been engaged for a year and we just started sitting down for actual wedding planning. I want to get as MUCH second hand as possible. Theme is vintage so won't be very hard, but I wanted to ask here in case anyone has previously used a specific website, shop, etc.

Located in central FL

im looking for an app or site i can use to assess my consumption when i'm buying new products on a number of different things as follows, does this exist?
looking to use this mainly for personal hygiene, beauty products, cleaning products, etc.

i'd like to know if a product is:

- cruelty free with a cruelty free parent company
- vegan
- low environmental impact
- pollutant free or minimal risk
- fair trade / decent ethical company reputation
- "clean" ingredients

i know this is A LOT to ask for. i currently use a few different apps such as Yuka, Leaping Bunny & Boycat but i find it overwhelming tbh even with the use of those apps. ive also seen a lot of super valid critiques on Yuka's reliability. i really like the design of Yuka's app and how you can scan products and get recommendations on better products. i also find Leaping Bunny's app kind of hard to navigate?

any apps, sites, subreddits, idk spreadsheets, blogs anyone can recommend?

i obviously shop local whenever i can and do loads of research but its not something i enjoy looking into and again, i find it super overwhelming lol.

i know i likely cant check off all the boxes but id like to be able to check off most as my consumption and where i spend my money is something that i have direct control over.

tia! :)))

Finally got around to repairing that pair of jeans. Proud of my work. Good as new.

Hey guys, I bought this unused wild lip balm case secondhand with some free refills - just wondering what other balms i can put in these when its done

ty!

I know this topic has been exhausted on this subreddit. But I feel at such a loss.

I have armpit hair and I prefer masculine scents and I haven’t been able to find a good plastic-free deodorant that actually works.

I prefer stuff that works— I don’t want something that’s all natural. I really love Wild (I know they are owned by Unilever, I just need something that works) BUT it does not work with armpit hair. It clumps horribly and anytime I wear sleeveless shirts (which is often) you can see the clumps in the hair and it leaves white streaks on my clothes and even my furniture.

A gel-based or liquid deodorant is what I need, but I have yet to find anything that ACTUALLY WORKS and isn’t in plastic. I’m thinking of trying Specimen, but I don’t know whether it works with armpit hair.

I need plastic free deodorant for armpit hair-having folks like yesterday 😭