ksia
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Can recyclingDo you all do it?
I always feel quite smug 'cause we recycle or reuse most things - except cans. And with 6 cats we get through a lot!
What stops me is the worry of cleaning them out and the water used to do this?
How do I get out of this circle of worry about not doing it or using water just to waste it?
What's your system?
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Behemoth
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Don't be too throrough. Recylcing plants use a lotta lotta water cleaning the stuff they receive. They also recycle their washwater so they don't use new every time.
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judith
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I'm trying to get around the problem by avoiding food in cans altogether - still got a way to go, but it's better than a couple of years ago.
As for washing the cans - I just do it with the last of the washing up water rather than running fresh.
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Behemoth
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I think the main reason is to reduce smell and vermin hazards, nothing to do with preparing the can for recycling. I thought reuse of metal was on of the more straght forward/sustainable activities.
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
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Re: Can recycling | ksia wrote: | Do you all do it?
I always feel quite smug 'cause we recycle or reuse most things - except cans. And with 6 cats we get through a lot!
What stops me is the worry of cleaning them out and the water used to do this?
How do I get out of this circle of worry about not doing it or using water just to waste it?
What's your system? |
Now we're only just educmacating our moggies to accept food in cans (recyclable) rather than those pouch things (which aren't!) I've been putting them out rinsed in to the recycling box but have wondered about stringing some up as bird scarers on the plot.
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ksia
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Yes, for me it's the smell and possible creepie things as cat food can be pretty smelly.
I have a couple of emergency cans (ie sweetcorn/toms) which I'm a bit ashamed of really but they are hidden at the back of the cupboard and it's only incase homegrown stuff runs out - which it's doing now...I'm a longing for that first courgette (I'll regret that soon eh?)
To be honest the only canned produce we buy regulary are cat food and tuna (not for the cats, or me as a veggie) - both pretty smelly.
I see the sense in using the washing water but at some point they'd be mucky cans or water waiting around to be used.
I'll think about it further, it just takes organisation!!
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Rob R
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Cans washed (along with washing up), crushed (sledgehammer, unless the digger is on hire  ) & thrown in a bigger can (oil drum) until it's full, then it's taken to the scrapyard (when the price is high) 
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judith
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Wean the cats onto dried cat food?
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
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| judith wrote: | | Wean the cats onto dried cat food? |
mine have tinned for breakfast and dried on demand 
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ksia
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Wean the cats onto dried cat food?
Try to get my cats to do something!!
They are adorable but they control my life - if they don't like what we put down for them they ignore it then wake us up 5am to demand something else - yes, adorable.....
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AnneandMike
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| judith wrote: |
As for washing the cans - I just do it with the last of the washing up water rather than running fresh. |
We do the same - no waste at all.
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mochyn
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| ksia wrote: | | I see the sense in using the washing water but at some point they'd be mucky cans or water waiting around to be used. |
I'm probably being a dummy (not for the first time) but how is this a problem? Just leave the empty cans next to the sink and wash them after the next lot of washing up. Or do you mean something different?
Our cats get dried with supplements of mice etc.
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wellington womble
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Cans with bits of meat lurking in them attract flies, who lay eggs on them - yuk! I tried this, and gave up, as I came home to loads of flies on dog food cans that I had used in the morning and left till the evening to wash up.
I changed to pedigree chum in gravy, which is more liquid - once you get used to opening in the can level (yep, but the dogs clean it up!) then they are a doddle just to rinse out, rather than needing the full hot water and scrubbing brush job. No problems so far. The only other cans we have are the odd tin of sweetcorn, tuna or tomaotes, and they don't take much effort to rinse out as and when.
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Rob R
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| wellington womble wrote: | Cans with bits of meat lurking in them attract flies, who lay eggs on them - yuk! I tried this, and gave up, as I came home to loads of flies on dog food cans that I had used in the morning and left till the evening to wash up.
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Couldn't you put the cans in the fridge or something?
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dougal
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I flatten steel cans (nearly) by foot without too much problem. Squashing the open end first, then a second push to fold the base over.
Can washing, flies, etc. One useful thing (gadget?) I have is a silicone lid - rather like a 5 inch version of a rubber sucker. As a lid it fits tightly (airlock), onto any completely open petfood tin, and is a breeze itself to wash. Came from the Lakeland shop's bargain corner for a pound or so, IIRC. The cat takes a couple of days to get through a tin and this thing keeps it clear of trouble.
Yes, a saucer or upturned bowl might do a similar job, but this is smaller, neater and airtight.
They are harder to clean if you let last scrapings of stuff dry hard...
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missysx
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i used to wash the cans up with the water that was in the bowl after i'd done the dishes until one day when i cut myself on one... since then i don't wash them as other have said, they do it at the plant. however i do make sure that i've scraped all cans out and then i crush them before putting them into the recycling
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toggle
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| judith wrote: | | Wean the cats onto dried cat food? |
not always good for the cat.
only wet food makes them more liable to dental problems, only dry food makes them more liable to kidney problems. A mixed diet seems recomended.
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dougal
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| toggle wrote: | | ... only wet food makes them more liable to dental problems, only dry food makes them more liable to kidney problems. A mixed diet seems recomended. |
That's the advice I've had also.
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tinyclanger
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Hi,
like others on here we wash out our cans with the washing up water and for subborn cans I have a washing brush on a handle - only 50p from the pound shop. No cut fingers guarenteed.
I must say that collecting unwashed cans is not nice - I was a recycling collector for 8 years and had maggots down my cleavage on a number of occasions!! 
I've never heard of recycling collections or sorting depots washing the cans that they recieve. Usually they are just bailed or flattened before being sent to the foundary.
Tiny 
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