How to reuse / recycle a trampoline net…
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One of the greatest investments for young children, if you have the room, is undoubtedly a trampoline.
Little Miss Green has been on hers every day since the day it was bought. Even at the grand age of eleven she and her friends naturally gravitate towards having a good old bounce.
It helps burn off energy after a day sitting in the classroom, helps to remove pent up frustrations from living with a Mother like me, and come rain or shine she’s out there practising all sorts of tricks.
You’re probably all familiar with them – they usually have a blue padded surround and come complete with a black net which the children can zip up when they are inside. The net prevents them bouncing too far over the edge and ending up in the neighbour’s garden.
Our trampoline used to be on the patio at the back of the house but it was under the laurel bush and every year would get covered in berries and leaves which used to annoy our intrepid eco warrior.
After a great deal of persuasion, Little Miss Green convinced Mr Green that it would be better to have the trampoline on the grass. She also negotiated the fact that as the net was collapsing (this tends to be a common fault) she was now old enough and sensible enough to have it removed.
I wasn’t so convinced. Being a grumpy old woman who can see danger everywhere, I was a little reluctant to let my monkey bounce around without adequate protection around her. I was envisaging spines in contact with hard metal edges, legs poking out at strange angles and heads in contact with the floor.
But then I thought to the trampoline lessons she had where there wasn’t a net in sight. And then onto my own crazy antics as a child such as riding bikes without using brakes, riding bikes whilst wearing rollerskates and other things which I shan’t talk about as Grandma Green has been known to pop into the site for a read…
So the trampoline has now been moved onto the grass and every week it is moved along a little further to stop the grass dying. Little Miss Green has survived intact and my heart is no longer in my mouth when she goes outside to play. (or ‘hang out’ as I now have to call it, because playing is for kids apparently).
We still, however, have a rather sad looking net to contend with; which is probably made from some unmentionable non-recyclable manmade material which originated from non-renewable resources. But hey, what the heck, it’s prevented all my worst-case scenarios coming to light for a few years 😉
The other week the old net found the perfect second-life use.
You might remember we now have chickens. And you may or may not know that one of my life-long ambitions is to have a gardener to take care of all the weeding for me. Well now I do; thanks to an old trampoline net:
The perfect way to reuse an old trampoline net
Here’s Lucy doing some weeding for me, whilst being kept away from my broad beans. Broad beans are one of my favourite vegetables; they just happen to be one of hers too. She spent the entire day happily pecking about, feasting like a Queen on my weed seeds and I ended up with a clear patch to do some more sowing. AND the trampoline net is no longer resigned to life in landfill; it’s being reused!
Tell me, what non recyclable item have you found a reuse for recently?
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Yes hens are both great gardeners and blessed with voracious appetites! We have so little space in our garden I’m thinking about putting the trampoline over the pond! I also think your old trampoline net would make a good fruit bush cover and if narrow enough you could use it to collect any hedge prunings. As a Londoner we have a lot of privet hedge to cut – far too often, be so much easier if it could just fall on to a trampoline net and then be hoiked into the compost bin. nicola homemadekids.wordpress.com
@nicola baird: Yep, I like the hedge prunings idea; we currently use an old tarpaulin for that. The fruit bush cover suggestion is fab too
Finding plastic lids that fit the top of water glasses so that the water left beside the bed at night has a cover (and Pa who can’t see very well is less likely to knock/splash it and flood the table).
I’ve already found that Pringle ones fit the top of the little ramekins that once had a bought pudding in them. Still no use for the rest of that unrecyclable Pringles tube.
@Jane:
Hi there Jane :O) I wondered if you had tried the Nutella jars, the small size ones? I use them as little water glasses when they are finished and they come with their own plastic snap on lids.
And I totally agree about the Pringles tubes, what are you supposed to do with them? My son just won’t stop buying them I’m afraid, sigh… I’m sure they make up half the contents of my bin. Any ideas anyone????
P.S Adore your gardening friend Mrs G. She is just as cute as my three lawn mowing guinea pigs 🙂
@Jane: Oh fab! I use a yogurt pot lid for the same reason. I guess those pringles tubes have plastic in them to stop the oil from the crisps seeping through and there’s only so many pen pots and spaghetti jars one needs 😉
@Carrie: Thanks Carrie; we have a lawn mowing bunny too! Love your idea for the nutella jars; the perfect drinking container.
@Carrie: Yes! I try not to buy it too often though. Last lot was bought to try and make banana and nutella pancakes for pancake day… but I got so tired finding the ingredients for those and the Crepes Suzettes I wanted to try this year that I never made the pancakes. Still the recipes are now ready and waiting. The only problem is managing to keep those lids. I’ll have to think of a more beautiful way than just writing “Keep” on the top that others will respond to. Oh the pains of being practical!
I love this! We’ve had the most difficult time trying to find something “green” to use as a fence for the garden. We ended up using wooden stakes and string. String that the rabbit continues to bite through just to make me mad. But at least it’s kept the deer out. This is a brilliant idea.
And I love your chicken.
@Mrs Green: They are silver foil lined. You can if you have nothing to do sort of dismantle them and pull the foil off. The greater difficulty is getting the cardboard out of the metal ends. It isn’t satisfactory. This sort of packaging isn’t satisfactory for recycling. We were desperately hungry at the Bob Dylan concert at the Hammersmith Apollo. I thought of emailing the venue suggesting they sold something else – but didn’t get around to it – but will remember MUST eat beforehand if there’s a next time!
@Jennifer: Loving your simple idea for a fence Jennifer; very green!
@Jane: Yes, I hear you on the planning; I tend not to go out without something for us to munch on, although we do get caught out..