Sunday 12 July 2015

9 Great Ways to Recycle Egg Shells

(image source: fox in the pine)

  • They are also a good deterrent for slugs and snails.  Scatter a generous barrier around any young seedlings that you want to protect, this is apparently the equivalent of us walking barefoot on broken glass.
  • Use egg shells as free seed starters. You can start your seeds in egg shells, which will provide them a nutrient rich place to grow and thrive. Simple take half of an egg shells, poke a small hole at the bottom, and fill it with soil. Add your seed or seedling and water as usual. You can then place the entire egg shell into the ground when the plant is stable for transplanting.
  • Make your own nutrient rich fertilizer. Plants, especially roses, love the nutrients that egg shells provide. Save your egg shells and when you have a handful of them, crush them into a fine powder. You can place them in a plastic baggie to do this easily and with little mess. Add the leftover coffee grounds from your morning brew and mix the two ingredients together well. Then, simply sprinkle the powder at the base of your plants and water as usual.
  • Abrasive Cleaner: Crush the shell and add to some soapy water to use on things like stainless steel sinks, pots, etc
  • Drain Clearer: Finely crushed shells will help keep your drain clear
  • Nourishing Face Mask. Pulverize dried egg shells with a mortar and pestle, then whisk the powder in with an egg white and use for a healthful, skin-tightening facial. Allow the face mask to dry before rinsing it off.
  • Make Your Own Powdered Calcium Supplement. Skip the pills and simply bake your shells at 180 Celsius (350 F degrees) for 8 minutes. Let them cool and grind them to a fine powder. Add your supplement (a teaspoon or less) to your favorite smoothie or juice once a day.
  • Use it as craft material. Egg shells are great to make beautiful mosaics , you can find a fun egg shell mosaic frame tutorial here.
  • Make eco friendly chalk for your kids, or yourself :) Here is a great tutorial for that.
(image source: the hunted interior)

I hope this post will inspire you to re use eggshells, and I am planning to write more posts on how to recycle daily used trash, in a mission to make it a habit for myself and others :)
If you know another way to recycle eggshells please let me know in the comments, I'd love to learn it!

5 comments:

  1. Ha! This is such a fun post!
    And eggs are not a no-no for me :) I'm not vegan at all. Hardly vegetarian as I still eat fish ;)
    Just the meat is out of my diet ;)

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  2. This is so great! I think I'll start making calcium supplements out of them, I swear I always feel bad when I throw them away! (I am guessing because I am a bit of a hoarder) and why not, next spring, I will plan seeds in them!

    When I was a kid, I used to peel the inside of eggs and on that fine paper-like sheet, once was dried, I could write on it. I should copyright that discovery :p

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  3. Great! I will start planting!!! Love the photos with the plants! Thank you for sharing Estella!

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  4. Ha! 4 definite easy usages for me in here!
    Wish I knew the slug trick 2 months ago, but now will not throw out any eggshells anymore.
    Coffee/eggshell plant nutrient, seed starter and calcium supplement will be the others, no patience for the DIY mosaic :-)
    Great post, looking forward to more recycle posts!

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  5. Bake eggshells at 350 for 10 minutes and allow to cool. Crush and add to homemade peanut butter suet for birds. Great source of calcium, especially for the females, as some bird foods actually deplete calcium levels. Provides grit, which helps birds digest their food.

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