What would you do with that?

[annabella1]

Yesterday while driving down the road, I saw a truck with four or five used water heaters going down the road. I said out loud "Boy I wish I had those" My husband says "Now, just what would you do with that?" I said "If they didn't leak I would take the metal jackets and insulation off of a couple of them and plumb them in line for an emergency water supply and to preheat to room temperature the water that was going into our water heater. I would use a leaky one to make a wood burning heating/cooking stove. the metal off of the jackets could be used to make metal cases for storing things and the insulation I could put in around our windows and doors." I looked at him and he had kinda a glazed look on his face. and I said "You stopped listening to me awhile ago didn't you." Now my question to you is what recycle free old thing would you like and what would you do with it?

[Dawgus]

This one's pretty easy for me since I love trying my best at making things. I used some plastic 55 gallon drums from work to make my own compost tumbler. I currently want some old windows to make a pair of 8 foot cold frames,(an ad yesterday on craigslist has already gotten 4 responses), an old curbside metal bed frame is sitting in the garage, and is going to be a small trailer for a generator I keep in the garage. I've read several articles and books on people using old hot water heaters painted black, using sunlight to heat small backyard greenhouses. I imagine it's possible they could be used for water storage if cleaned out well. All the ones I have seen replaced had some nasty, rusty water in the bottom.
Dawgus-admitted dumpster diver/scrounger ;D

[walls0stone]

That's funny, we used hot water heaters cut in to feel live stock for ever.
We also wattered cattle in old clawfoot bath tubs, until a fellow moved in and set up a shop that rebuilt them and sold them to home owners... everyone sold the tubs from the pasture and got a new one. :)

[Katrina-Sisu]

Any suggestions for these:

Plastic cat litter jugs (20-pounders)
Empty cat/dog food bags
Paper/wax-coated milk containers
Used cardboard (cereal, cracker, popcorn boxes, etc...)

I don't have much more than that besides the 'regular' garbage.
Any ideas?

If you sanitize and wash out the cat litter jugs, could you keep homemade laundry detergents in them? They're great for storing nails and the odd bits around the garage.

Could you cut open the pet food bags flat? You might lay them around the bottom of your garden plants/flowers to stop weeds from growing in. (haven't done it myself..just an idea).

I can't think of anything to use with the milk jugs. You could dip the other leftover cardboard in old wax and use them for firestarters in winter.

That's all I can think of lol.

Kat

[cubcadet]

How about the lowly chicken. Except for the beak and feet, all the chicken gets used for something in our house. Since ours is bought from a local farmer who freeranges them, they are real healthy. First off, all the skin and other scraps go right in the dog`s bowl. Next, 2 birds get roasted at once in the oven, to save on propane. The carcasses are broken up, and mostly bagged up for freezing. All the bones and other scraps from the cooked birds is put in a big freezer bag, to be cooked down into very good bone stock. Then all the very small bones and ribcages get burned in the firepit, so I don`t have to dump it, along with the rest of the un-burnables and un-recyclables (there is no curb-side service where I live. No curbs, either. The local trash hauler charges us $3 to take a big 33 gallon bag of garbage.) Then, all the bigger bones like leg, wing, thigh bones go on a plate to be dried on the fridge. When dried, they are stored in a paper bag until a few pounds get accumulated to be roasted till they are very brittle, then they get ground into meal, along with eggshells, and in spring, are added to the garden soil. Cartilage and knuckles are saved for dog treats.

[madmac]

Hot water heaters are a great find. A friend of mine would make real nice BBQ grills out of them and sold them for a sweet profit. We used them to water livestock as well as feeders.

[annabella1]

Those waxed milk cartons make great candle molds. There was a real fancy candle I used to make by putting chopped up ice and a wick(or wicks) in an empty milk carton, then pouring in the melted wax.(you have to experiment to get the wax at the best temperature) The wax forms around the ice and makes a very interesting design when the ice melts. Sometimes I would put chunks of colored wax in with the ice and then add uncolored wax. When the wax hardens you just peel off the waxed milk carton.