I'm thinking of calling around the local suppliers for office water coolers, in my area, to see if I can work out how to blag some of the used containers; I reckon they'd make great cloches with the bottoms cut out. I imagine they re-use them a certain number of times, but I also that they junk them when they start to look tatty - unless they don't reuse them at all?! Anybody found any similar source for cloches? Someone mentioned asking in bed shops for the polythene that mattresses come wrapped in, which is a cool idea - I'll try that when I get round to building a cold frame.
I'm also trying to think of a cheap way to make a water butt; £30 from a garden centre is too much for me. Shocking amount of water runs off our roof though, would like to harvest it! Not that it's a pressing need, I expect we'll have plenty of wet weather for a while. I walked by the Thames today and it's brimming. :-s
Quote from: hellohelenhere on November 12, 2008, 00:11:57
I'm also trying to think of a cheap way to make a water butt; £30 from a garden centre is too much for me.
Good luck with the venture of plastic water bottles; they are almost always collected by companies on a one for one basis. I am fortunate enough to have the industrial blue barrels as my water butts and I too would begrudge paying £30. You could always buy a plastic bin with a lid.
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9218302&fh_view_size=6&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=rubbish+bin&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1226449076588&isSearch=true
Not quite the same as the big bottles you have in mind but easier to find are the 10 litre water bottles that mysteriously appear on my doorstep on a regular basis.
(http://downtheplot.com/images/autumn_sown_parsnip.jpg)
Is there some magic incantation I can make, so that they'll mysteriously appear on my doorstep too? :D
Or is it just 'ask the neighbours'... ?
Unless you are a member of the Magic Circle I'm afraid you will have to make do with asking the neighbours for donations. ;D
Once the festive season is over ::) and the gardening season starts, Wilkos do very reasonably prices water butts. Sign up for their news letter so you are up to date with what's on offer.
Those blue water bottles are like hens teeth. I remember phoning several companies last year who deliver locally and each time the answer was NO we don't let the public have them. :'( :'(. I even offered to buy them. :-[
Ah - maybe they're scared that people will fill them from the tap and make the delivery service redundant?
How very annoying. There must be millions of them retired every year. They always look sparkling new, so they must only re-use them a certain number of times. Bah!
We don't have a Wilkos in Reading, so far as I can tell. :-(
You could always ask on FREECYCLE. I've seen a couple advertised on my local one :)
I just typed in Reading in the store locator. Perhaps check it out.
http://corporate.wilkinsonplus.com/corp/wilkinson_stores.asp?SubMenu=AboutUs
we have a company called patak's that uses spices, vinegar etc..they give the blue barrels away, providing you can pick them up..any companies like that near you ?
cloches made out of old demi-johns, it's in the wiki, top of the page, I think :)
Lauren, it seems that Basingstoke is the nearest Wilkinsons. I don't have a car, so rely on things that are within taxi distance or where I can get a friend (or fellow LETS member) to give me a lift...
:-[
I'll have to look into local businesses (of which there are many, and we're right on the edge of an industrial estate!) to see if there are any barrel candidates. Good to know that Patak give away their barrels. Great chutney, too! :D
Hi Helen I acquired four of these, our recycle day is on a Thursday, so I would always leave a bit early for work in case I found anything and needed to take it back home, one morning someone left four of these bottles next to the bins in the next road, I could only pick three up and left them in a workmates garden and collected them on the way home, the following week they put another one out but then they dried up, I also got some 10 litre ones like Eristics, sadly nothing lately but always keep your eyes open on recycle day. ;D ;D ;D
Good plan, Kev! I haven't worked out what day our recycling is yet, must ring the council. :)
Also, I should have a regular stroll round the industrial estate to see what crops up. Pallets are a bit of a swine to break up, aren't they? I have my eye on some battered ones, though, thinking they'd make good kindling. I bought a small bag of kindling yesterday - 4 quid!! Time to invest in an axe, perhaps. And a spike. And a crowbar. And a fork, and a spade, of course! Haven't even got those yet!
The round version of the 10 litre bottle fits snugly over a 2 litre flowerpot.
(http://downtheplot.com/images/waterbottle_pots.jpg)