Extreme recycling

Recycling at our place (with help from Dad) has really taken off. At our new home I've been amazed at what we can recycle. Back living in an apartment in The Big City we'd separate our waste from paper, plastics & glass & that seemed alright. But I've attained a whole new level of recycling now we've got a spot with a section. It's a level I like to call "extreme recycling". Yeah.

The bird feeder

Crusts & mouldy bread rates pretty highly with the birdlife at our place. They also get our apple & pear cores (and any other fruit bits), fat (skimmed from the top of the Chicken soup for the curiously sensitive soul). Cooked rice that has been sitting in the fridge for a day too long is very popular, as are the flax seed innards from my recently worn through heat pack.

The birds do very well out of this deal & I have to admit to supplementing their diet with seeds bought from the store as well as jam. But mostly they just eat what we have left over. They get a feed, I love watching the birds & so does my cat.

The worm farm

The worms eat pretty much anything the birds don't. Except meat & dairy. Which is fine because we don't eat those either, except for the chicken. The worms enjoy the vege trimmings & peelings. Vege that sat in the fridge a day too long they love. Egg shells are good in there too. Plus this is where any paper or cardboard that has already been recycled (e.g. egg cartons) go. The worms are going gangbusters, to my amazement. I honestly thought they'd all be dead inside eight weeks. The worm farm is in a shed out the back. I don't think they'd have coped with the snow the other week.

The worm farm itself is made from recycled bins that were left at the property when we moved in, with a bit of info on how to build a worm farm from ye olde internet.

I got a council subsidised "Bokashi Bin" as well, but the worms are developing quite an appetite & I might not be using it much longer.

After that we do the glass/plastics/paper/cardboard separating & what's left is not much.

We've also (thanks to my Dad), had some joy recycling some other bits & pieces.

So far our "new" house has gained:

•  1 recycled rimu lounge floor
• 1 shower door, circa 1970s. It was in the family house when we moved in & it wasn't new then. It's now our shower door.
• 1 glass panel door, origin unknown (that is, Dad was asked to store it by someone who has never returned to collect it. Dad can't remember who that was). The door is not an exact fit for the doorway. Actually there's an inch gap at the bottom.
• 1 weather proofing strip. I can't remember how long Dad said this had been sitting upstairs at the shop. Maybe 10 years.

Dad's threatening to clean out his garage. Better get out my shopping list.