A Different View of Waste

5 min readApr 27, 2020

A Different View of Waste

Om Amriteshwaryai Namaha

Welcome to the Amma UK Greenfriends Blog.

This time we are focusing on recycling, upcycling an issues around waste. The nature of our civilisation means that we produce a huge amount of waste. Disposing of this can be a massive problem.

Amma has said “When science advances, cities and business enterprises grow in tandem. As human population in cities increases, the amount of waste also increases exponentially. Therefore, we should discover scientific means for properly handling this waste. If not, our natural environment will decay and disease will spread. We must strive as much as possible to recycle and reuse ‘waste.’ Mother Nature has her own miraculous ways of recycling and reusing waste, thus preserving life. Let it be our aim to create a world with zero waste. “ From 108 Quotes on Nature by Amma.

As Amma says above we can all do our part to lessen the burden on Mother Earth by looking at our waste with more responsible eyes.

In this blog we will be looking at creative ways of using our waste, especially we all spending more time at home than usual, and have an opportunity to look at this. Our imagination is the only limit! Many of these ideas and many more can be found by a simple internet search. We wiil be focusing on recycling and reusing in the household items this time, with a view to using waste in a garden setting in a later blog.

Many of us use burn candles and there always seems to be some or alot of wax left over. This wax is easy to reuse. Firstly, it can be broken up and then heated gently in, for example, in a specially adapted aluminum pan with its own spout.

You can suspend a new wick (from a craft shop) over an old candle holder now fully emptied.

You pour in the wax and hey presto, here you have a new candle.

So there is no need to throw out wax ever again. You can use anything as a holder, we have used old dessert bowls bought in a charity shop. You can even add for example oils or other liquids for scent, or leaves and flowers for extra decoration.

What about garden debris? Here are some old autumnal leaves that have been collected and pressed in a flower press, or between sheets of paper under some heavy books.

These were the kind of leaves used to create this calendar.

Old material can be use used in umpteen different ways. For example a nice cover on a linen hamper.

Wrapping paper can be used again and again, all you need to do is open your present carefully! Alternatively old calendars, magazines can be cut up and easily used to create very nice wrapping paper. This year we were given presents wrapped in newpaper!

This old tray was revitalised by sticking onto it old pictures from magazines, and covering it with a wax finish varnish.

Greetings cards can be easily made by sticking old pictures from magazines, calendars or using cards that you have received, and sticking them onto card or thick paper, you can even use your own photos (if you have some of you own printed out photos, which many people don’t anymore).

We have begun using plastic wrapping bags for our non-recyclable bin, bags that would have no further use. This includes things like bread bags, bags that vegetables may have come in, large crisp bags, bags that contained pulses or rice. Obviously it is best not to buy food in them in the first place, but the world being what it is, this is sometimes unavoidable. We have suspended a plastic bag inside the door of the cupboard below the sink, and we place one of these plastic wrapper bags inside the bin. When it is full, you can place another one over the top and place it in your black bin. This is just a way that objects can be given a number of uses beyond their official one.

Finally, what about drinks cartons. Most of us buy liquids in them these days. They are notoriously difficult to recycle, being made of layers on different materials. As an experiment for this blog, we have been looking at different ideas for possibly using them.

If you cut the top off, you have a virtually indestructable waterproof container. We have seen these being used as flower pots (with holes punched in the bottom), or they could be made into a vase. We are experimenting with ways to use this material so will come back in a future blog with further ideas.

If they are opened up, this shiny silver material is revealed inside. Would this work as reflective material behind radiators? This would reflect the heat out and mean you could potentially reduce the temperature on the thermostat as you are not losing heat into the walls.