Bother, bother, how many drill batteries have we thrown away because they will not charge (too many to count) and we could have done this simple trick Arrrrrr!!!!

How to open a jar with ease. I seen this a few years ago and have never struggled to open a jar since .

I learned that method from my Grandmother...about 65 years ago!

justbazz wrote:

I learned that method from my Grandmother...about 65 years ago!

I just pierce the jar top with a sharp object (a pin hole will do) that releases the vacuum and the top will unscrew easily, hope that helps

That will work, if you are going to use the contents straight away and then chuck the jar in the bin. In my circle of friends, jars and lids tend to get used many times over...the jars never get discarded, unless damaged.

Yes indeed Bazz I learned that the first month we were here, never throw jars away. I was asked to keep them and give them to the neighbours, same with egg cartons. Oh and cardboard boxes they rip them up into small bundles and use them for lighting the fire. This is one of the resons I love it here as nothing gets wasted.

That's the way to go Berni...our cellar is fully stocked with preserved fruit, veg, jams etc...all in jars which have been used over and over for many years. We even have a stall in our local market which sells glass jars...they even keep a very healthy stock of new lids to suit. Same goes for the egg cartons, although we were lucky enough to have a mate who works in the factory which makes them...when my wife was actively selling our eggs, this guy came up with a huge box of the cartons and made a deal with us...500 cartons (brand new) in exchange for a dozen free eggs every week and that worked out fine for both parties. Our regular customers would arrive with an empty carton to exchange for a full one...everyone was happy. Same goes for water bottles (2 litres and up)...our local milk lady can't get enough of them, so we save our empties and exchange them for free milk a couple of times a week.

Recycling at its best!

Great! We have learned a lot here.. Our 10lts water bottles get left by the bin and they are always gone within minutes
.
I remember when we first came here there was old furniture left by the previous owner down in the celler, the builders put it all down there as did not want to destroy it. So now we had to get rid so when we had a fire to burn the weeds etc we took one of the old cupboards out and just put it on the fire wehn the neidhbour turned up and pulled it off, she was having a fit so we thought we had done something wrong and helped take it off only to find out she wanted it herself. We helped take it up to her place and then I showed her al l the stuff in the cellar and siad as best I could everything will go on the fire take what you want and tell others too. 15 minutes later donkies and carts were outside the gate and people were coming and taking what they wanted beds, fridge, freezer, mirrors chairs, quilts and much more. It was great they empied everything apart from a very old and worn carpet but we put that outside the gate to take to the tipping area the next day but when we went to get it that too had gone. So you see everything was of use to someone.

Anything we do now want now we just leave it by the big bin...

When I first moved over here, I was intrigued to see the steady stream of people busily sifting through the large street bins. Not sure about the other cities, but here in Plovdiv there are no individual house bins...large skip type containers are placed on the streets and emptied every day by the compacter type lorries. During the day you will see someone on a bike, usually fitted with a plastic milk crate on the rear carrier, busily going through the bin contents and taking anything of use to them. this can happen a dozen or more times on any given day...sometimes it is the bike man, sometimes it might be a woman with an old baby pram or even just a dozen plastic bags hanging off a frame with wheels. Nowadays, I put anything that might have some value to these people, beside the bin, or if it's heavy, on the side of the street just below our apartment...rarely stays there more than 20 or 30 minutes. Seems that almost everything disposed of has some value to someone. Just a few days ago, I had a good laugh at a chap trying to ride his bike, towing a small trailer behind (similar to one of those buggies that some folk use to tow their children around in). This guy had a full sized fridge balanced sideways on the trailer and he was struggling to keep moving...by the time I got my camera, he was gone, but it would have made a funny video for YouTube.