Q What should I do with my old shower curtain?

A After scouting around a few crafty websites, I’m wondering what you can’t do with an old shower curtain. Need a tablecloth for picnics? A lining for your car boot? Or what about a BBQ cover for the winter months? This sheet of clammy plastic, whatever state it may be in, can be cleaned up and transformed.

If you have children, lay it on the floor for messy art projects. I particularly like the suggestion of using it to line a garden pond. This, in many ways, is the greenest, since creating a pond in a garden attracts wildlife, especially slug-munching frogs, which will be a godsend should you grow lettuce.

To clean the curtain I recommend a solution of hot water and vinegar. Leave this on for an hour or two if there is limescale stuck to it. It’s boring but true that caring for your shower curtain – wiping it down with Ecover bathroom spray every so often and making sure that it is not left bunched up when it’s wet – will prolong its life.

Can you tell I’ve been spending too much time on recyclethis.co.uk ?

Honestly though, once you start finding new uses for household waste, there’s no knowing where you will end up.

You might be interested to hear that Andrea Anderson from Croydon got married in a dress made from an old shower curtain, in 2003. It was made by the groom’s mum. Some might say an ill-advised attempt at frugality, but I would argue that she was at the forefront of a fashion trend, known as “trash-fash”. During fashion week an exhibition with the same name displayed designs made from coat hangers, plastic bags and security tags in shops across the West End.

As a last word, may I suggest that you consider replacing your curtain with a screen. Instead of relying on flimsy plastic that will last only a year or two, a glass screen will be with you for longer. It’s easier to clean, too, with a solution of hot water and vinegar, of course.

Q Is it true that some Tesco stores recycle Tetra Pak cartons?

A Supposedly. In May this year the supermarket announced that it would have the facilities to deal with Tetra Pak in 100 of its stores by this month. “With cartons being used in almost every home, we can help customers to understand that they can be recycled and we want to encourage people to do it more,” said Andy Duckworth, Tesco’s head of waste and recycling. So where are we with this now?

The question was posed by a Body&Soul reader, Ruth Culver, some weeks ago when she got in touch with Tesco to find her nearest carton-friendly store.

After a flurry of e-mails, none of which answered the question but instead pointed out other aspects of Tesco’s recycling policy, she was told that there were no facilities. Hayley Ross, from Tesco customer services, admitted that Tesco cannot accept Tetra Pak. “It should be disposed of through normal household refuse, if recycling of this type of package is not covered by your local authority,” she writes. A classic example of greenwash? You bet. Tesco gets the glory by announcing its recycletastic plans, then struggles to follow up.

But when I contacted the press office, it assured me that there are 27 Tesco stores with facilities to recycle Tetra material. To find one, it advised calling customers services (0845 6508000). Should you fancy taking the Tetra Pak challenge and finding out where these elusive stores are, let me know how you get on.

The problem is that Tetra Pak cartons are tricky customers. They contain cardboard, low-density polyethylene and aluminium foil, making the recycling process more complicated than it is for single materials. My advice when you hit an obstacle such as this is to find ways to go around it. I hate to say it, but have you thought about not buying Tetra Pak? You can buy orange juice in the same type of recyclable plastic containers that milk comes in, which would influence the market by supporting companies that are using such materials.

Then Tetra Pak, owned by the Rausing family, one of Britain’s richest, might start looking at how to make its materials more eco-friendly with greater urgency.

timesonline.co.uk/ecoworrier For Anna’s e-mail address and Eco-Blog

ECO-BLOGWATCH

Last week on the blog I owned up to my fear that my obsession with turning off appliances was getting out of hand. I switch off lights around the house, whether or not my long-suffering boyfriend is in the room, and I put little stickers on our mobile phone chargers saying “Please Turn Me Off” because I heard that a charger still draws energy unless it is switched off at the wall. Have I gone too far? “I don’t think you are going to be able to maintain such a high level of vigilance in the long term,” warned David. “Your close relationships will almost certainly be affected.” Thankfully, Ian disagreed: “That’s rubbish – I've been doing it for years and my family follow suit. Why pay for electricity you’re not using?”

Bob blames the manufacturers. “When we had Sky installed, we were told that it must never be switched off at the socket,” he writes. “We do switch it off at night and it is fine. You just have to wait a minute for all the information to be reloaded when you switch on.”

As a final note, Shila advised flagging up the financial incentive: “Pretend you are trying to save money. That is generally more acceptable than coming across as a green zealot.”

GREENIE POINTS

Click it Buying a new car may not be the greenest thing to do, but at least there is a website that gives independent environmental ratings for all new cars. Ratings are shown from 0 to 100 on whatgreencar.com , with the electric G-Wiz coming in at 6 and a Hummer at 91.

Skip it The new Electrolux Iron Aid washing machine and dryer uses steam to reduce crinkles, but it is not going to smooth over the problem of appliances using up too much energy. Its energy efficiency rating is C (the Energy Saving Trust recommends that we buy only new appliances that are rated A or A+). “No need for hang drying,” boasts the press release. But we like hanging our clothes outside to dry.

Do it Smoothie fans need little excuse to slurp down another of Innocent’s concoctions, but now they can celebrate the bottle as well as its contents (innocentdrinks.co.uk ). Four flavours are being sold in 100 per cent recycled packaging; the rest join them in January.

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