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Latest Articles
Home Beekeeping
Find out more about keeping bees in your garden for honey
grow your own
15:40, 4th Jan 2012
Storing Apples
Find out how to store apples
fruits
12:23, 28th Jul 2011
Pear and Lemon Jam
Instructions for making pear and lemon jam
preserving
14:59, 27th Jul 2011
Making Apricot Jam
Instructions for making your own apricot jam
preserving
15:44, 26th Jul 2011
Grow and Make Harissa Paste
A recipe for harissa paste with ingredients you can grow yourself
grow your own
11:57, 30th Jun 2011
Grow Your Own Chilli Peppers
Find out how to grow your own chilli peppers
grow your own
16:06, 17th Jun 2011
Dry Chilli Peppers
Find out how to dry fresh chilli peppers
preserving
16:05, 17th Jun 2011
Make Lavender Biscuits
Find out how to make delicious fragrant lavender biscuits
foraging
12:22, 16th Jun 2011
Recycle Aluminium
Recycle aluminium cans and foil to save energy and even earn money
Recycle Aluminium
recycle
Aluminium is obtained from a raw material called bauxite predominantly in Latin and South America, Africa, and Australia. Recent technological improvements have seen the energy cost of producing one tonne of aluminium drop to 15,000 kW, but that is still a hell of a lot of energy on top of which must be added the energy of transporting the metal obtained around the world. Therefore aluminium recycling is extremely important and very easy for everyone to do.
Because of the energy used during extraction of aluminium from bauxite, aluminium is the only commonly used packaging material with a value that exceeds the financial costs of recycling it. To recycle an aluminium can costs only 5% of the energy used to create it in the first place. Aluminium can be recycled many many times without any loss in quality.
Currently in the UK 57% of aluminium used is already recycled, but only 42% of aluminium drinks cans and just 11% of aluminium foil is recycled (stats from International Aluminium Institute). Therefore everyone should get involved in ensuring their aluminium foil and cans end up being recycled and not in landfill.
Collected cans are sent to reprocessors where they are melted down and formed into 25 tonne ingots which can then be taken to rolling mills to be used in manufacturing, or to make more cans and foil.
At present aluminium cans are worth £0.40 / kg, but that price is increasing at the costs of aluminium increase along with other commodities. Around 50 to 60 cans make up one kilogram which is the minimum most aluminium dealers will accept. Aluminium foil should be kept separately as it is made from a different alloy to cans. (Aluminium foil includes take away food packaging, chocolate wrappers, and pie cases etc.) Foil which is found in milk and juice cartons cannot be recycled economically because it is in a laminate with card or plastic.
Article Published: 08:24, 19th Apr 2006
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Recycling Basics
Start recycling at home and reduce the waste going to landfill
Article Published: 08:04, 19th Apr 2006
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Build a Pallet Fence
Build a fence out of old pallets
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Compost Tumbler
Find out about the benefits of a compost tumbler
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grow your own | recycle
Making Compost
Find out how to make your own compost
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grow your own | recycle
Build a Pallet Shed
Build yourself a shed from used pallets
Article Published: 12:31, 23rd Jul 2008
shed | building | recycle
Greenhouse from Plastic Bottles
Build a greenhouse from old plastic bottles
Article Published: 09:19, 3rd Jun 2010
greenhouse | building | grow your own
Growing Outdoor Tomato Varieties
Tomato plants which will survive outdoors in the UK
Article Published: 10:56, 25th May 2010
fruits | grow your own
Greenhouse Thermometer
Use a suitable max min thermometer to track temperatures in a greenhouse
Article Published: 10:23, 13th Jan 2011
greenhouse | building | grow your own
Make Tomato Passata
Preserve tomatoes by making delicious tomato passata
Article Published: 11:00, 25th May 2010
preserving | fruits | grow your own | recipes
Review of The Treehouse Diaries
A review of the book The TreeHouse Diaries by Nick Weston
Article Published: 10:17, 26th Jul 2010
books | general | education