Here are a few other ideas for reusing items when starting your plants from seed.
1) You have your toilet paper rolls we talked about last week.
2) Your egg cartons which can be reused every time.
3) And Samantha (from Samantha’s Story Parts 1-3) offered me her Keurig coffee containers….thought I’d give them a go too!
What do you use?
Related articles
- Gettting rid of Styrofoam egg cartons (militaryzerowaste.wordpress.com)
- Planting seedlings (thefarmstress.wordpress.com)
- 36 Things you can Compost (granolacatholic.blogspot.com)
- Everything You Need To Know About Seeds – Part 3 (thrivefarm.wordpress.com)
Attempting zero waste lifestyle in a military household 
I really like the toilet paper roll idea – it just seems like it would hold up really well. I’m excited to see how your plants turn out! This time of year is so fun! I can’t wait until I can be somewhere long enough to have a huge backyard that I can transform into a vegetable jungle!
Alas, my toilet paper cores and egg cartons (I only buy the ones made of corrugated material) all go into the compost bin. By the way, I made a trip to Whole Foods the other day to find the deodorant that you had featured in an earlier post. As the sales assistant said, “that isn’t available west of the Rockies.” Boo-hoo. Apparently they provision each store differently depending on consumer interest in particular products. So I will have to see if I can make some waves to get those “West of the Rockies” stores on the bandwagon. (While I was there I dropped off my plastic articles for recycling and I want to thank you for that tip).
Fab! I just used a whole load of plastic tubs to plant up some seeds too 🙂
Jenn, egg shell is perfect to start seeds in it. Full of nutritions good for soil and new seed and totally green:
this picture is from two years ago. I’m planning to do the same this year with a few seeds 🙂
Someone here mentioned egg shells, and I’ve heard of using those. I had an idea the other day, you always hear of throwing your coffee grounds and egg shells into a compost pile, or the garden. Well, I thought, why couldn’t I just add mine to my house plant? So I dumped my coffee grounds in the pot, and threw in a couple of egg shells and kinda mished them around. I don’t know how much good it did, but my plant is doing really well with new glossy leaves, and is even shooting out some sort of bloom. Then, my sis in law was wondering if a person could just give the plant a drink of coffee… well, I haven’t tried that yet, wonder
(continued) I wonder if that would work. anyway, that’s my two cents for the day! Oh another thing— I always just thought newly planted seeds just needed sun–no, the soil needs to be warm and then, when they start to sprout, then, you need the sunlight. I didn’t know that….duh.
(continued again) i was talking about when you start plants indoors—the soil in the little pots. I know the ground outdoors needs to be warm. I am starting to sound goofy here, so that is all!
@ Hailey—I can’t wait for you to get your big backyard too. I can’t wait to hear all about it!
@juwannadoright—Aww. I can’t believe that about Whole Foods. Makes me so mad. Why can’t the store have the same product everywhere? Only the folks in the south use mineral deodorant? Doubtful. And I used to throw all my toilet paper rolls and egg cartons in the compost too—but I’ve liberated a few. 🙂
Actually, I started a toilet paper roll army for next planting season. I didn’t have enough this time and so cut them all in half to make more but then had to hurry up and plant because they got too tall. The entire roll would work much better.
@Goodbyemagpie—thanks for all the comments. I tried to go to your blog, but wordpress told me you didn’t have one! I used a bit of everything this year. Including the peat pots (which I’m trying to get away from now) and the plastic ones, which don’t bother me much because I plan on using them for the rest of my existence and then passing them down! ha!
@Mom Photographer–I love the egg shell idea, I just don’t use that many eggs. And I don’t know where to keep them until I plant. Maybe next year if I plan way ahead….like a real farmer….
@Joy—you never sound goofy to me. I know exactly what you’re saying. When the seeds are germinating they need warmth and dark. It’s when they start to sprout, they need the sun. But you’re right. If the soil is warm, they sprout faster. Okra will grow in 3 days down here in GA if planted in August! My mom always puts her seeds in a wet paper towel under the sink until they sprout and then plants them. This year she used the heating pad under a piece of cardboard where the seeds sat. She said as long as she kept them wet, they practically sprouted overnight. Growing is the only way you learn these little tricks, right? 🙂
And the coffee grounds and eggshells seem to be doing wonders for your plant. I’ve heard of folks doing that with roses and the roses bloom like crazy, so you’ve got it!
Fun, isn’t it? 😀
you can put those egg shell in the egg cartons first and keep them there or make a container from cereal box – just cut out one side (the bigger one) and you’re all set 🙂
btw, my mom (and my grandmom) has never started seeds indoors. They both always planted everything right to the ground and we always had wonderful veggies and herbs. Mom mom still does that, I just spoke to her a few days ago and she told me she already planted some seeds and they are growing just fine! 🙂
Jennifer, I know you and I have already discussed soil blocks. But I just found this really cool way to turn ordinary newspaper into starting pots. It’s called pot maker and it is basically a mortar and pestle looking wood thing. Cool huh?
@ Mom Photographer—my mom just plants them right in the ground too. She rarely starts them indoors. I’ve just never had much luck. They seem to do better for me when I put them out stronger. Half the time, the seeds don’t even come up for me when I plant them indoors either! Auch! The soil down here is good enough. Maybe I could quit being nervous and just try it!
I might try the egg shells next time. Just because they’re pretty. 🙂
@Ed–the newspaper idea seems to be really popular. It is very cool! But I’m set on attempting the soil blocks next year. Seems like much less work. And that way, you don’t lose anything! Thanks for opening my eyes to yet another great idea!