Save & Go Circular
Repurposing
An initiative delivered by The Rediscovery Centre in strategic partnership with the EPA.
Creative on climate, Clever on cost.
Is the weight of your bin bag bringing you down? Don’t be blue, turn something old into something new!
Explore tips and tricks, innovations and creations, that will inspire you to repurpose creatively for the climate, cleverly costing you less.
LIFE HACK
LIFE HACK
Did you know that bread is Ireland’s most wasted food?
A dizzying 1 million tonnes of food is wasted each year in Ireland.
Symbiobeer from St. Mels Brewery in co. Longford have successfully brewed a solution, turning bread into beer and back into bread again.
Bread, which otherwise would have been wasted, substitutes virgin malted grain to create a new beer. The outputs of this process are used to bake bread, creating a closed loop of bread to beer to bread again.
Sláinte!
Who can help make use of leftover food?
Do you feel guilty about wasting expensive food? You’re not the only one, with the average Irish household weighed down by 150kg of food waste a year. That’s €700’s worth! The EPA’s Stop Food Waste campaign is here to help you save money and prevent food waste. By following their tips and tricks you can keep your food fresher for longer, save money and reduce your carbon footprint. Use their A-Z guide to find out your best options for buying, storing, freezing and using up all of the produce in your kitchen
Pancake tips!
Pancakes are well known for using up ingredients. Why not try out Stop Food Waste’s pancake tips and tricks?
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If you have any leftover yoghurt, overripe bananas or milk that is turning a little sour, if they’re safe to use, you could whizz them into American Pancakes.
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If you’ve outdone yourself and prepared excessive batter, this can be repurposed into additional meals for the following day, like savoury pancakes. Throw in some veg like mushrooms and spinach, along with ham and cheese (or a vegan alternative). Alternatively, thicken the batter up with flour, potato and onions, along with seasoning, to fry up some potato cakes.
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If you’re pancaked out, the batter can be transformed into a muffin mix. Just add some extra oil, sugar, baking powder and flour, along with your flavouring of choice, such as lemon or chocolate.
Head along to stopfoodwaste.ie for more inspiring ideas for repurposing your food waste, lessening your grocery shop’s financial and environmental impacts.
Wasting food is rotten!
10% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food production and a ¼ of this produce is thrown away. With the average Irish household losing €700 a year in food waste, composting should be the last resort.
Make the most out of your food by making the most of any leftovers.
(Even the banana peels can be repurposed as shoe polish!)
How to Upcycle Bike Gears
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Tools! You will need: rear bike gears, gloves, ribbon/wool/thread, degreaser, a rag, and possibly... a 1.5mm allen key, metal file, dremel tool, safety goggles, hammer, small screwdriver
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Source rear bike gears! These need changing every year or two, so ask your bike mechanic if you can keep them. Ask them if they can separate them for you. IF the gears are returned to you still screwed together, follow the next 2 steps to separate them .If you are separating the gears yourself, you have different next steps depending on your gear type. If they are screwed together with one pin, use a 1.5mm allen key to release them
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If they are riveted together, grind down all of the rivets with either a metal file or a dremel tool. NB: Wear safety equipment!
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Use a hammer and small screwdriver to knock out the pins. The gears should now be separated.
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Now that your gears are separated, clean them with an old rag! You can use a degreaser, or just plain old fashioned elbow grease.
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Get your fabric! You can use ribbon/t-shirt yarn/wool etc. Get one of the gears . Loop and wrap the ribbon around the gear teeth, or weave through the holes in different patterns.
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You can wrap the gear any way you’d like, experiment with different patterns.
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What else can you make from old gears? Experiment!
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Now gift or (if you’re too attached to your upcycled creation to part with it) decorate!
Milk Carton Challenge
This week we challenge you to repurpose your empty milk cartons into a money saving herb hack!
Did you know they make fantastic indoor plant pots, so you can save money by growing herbs and other food all year round?
Simply cut one of the long sides off carefully, pierce some holes in the bottom, fill with soil, and plant your seeds!
Musical Chairs
What do you imagine when you hear ‘repurposed furniture’?
There’s far more to it than you may think, the only limit is your imagination! Check out our magical ‘musical chair’, given new life with banjo, piano, and ukulele strings.
Listen in to our collaborative (if not melodic) tune….