Green Living by Janet Marchant: Recycling Your Valentine

If you're like me, you have trouble remembering that cut flowers need to have some water added to their vases even after Valentine's Day. I don't know how many times I've forgotten to water and ended up with roses that are all dry and droopy.



You might think that the only thing to do with those flowers now is to toss them in your gray bin and send them to the landfill, but wait! I have a great tip for recycling them into something that you can use every day. Simply remove the dried leaves and petals from your flowers, then take an old slip, coat the front of it with heavy-duty epoxy, and apply the flower parts to create an attractive sundress. Allow to dry according to the epoxy directions, and then decorate the back of the slip. Once both sides are dry, brush the surface with an additional layer of epoxy to ensure that your dead flowers will keep blooming for years.


Now, if you didn't get any flowers for Valentine's Day, don't feel left out. Just about anyone can find something to recycle after the holiday, whether that means candy-wrapper crafts projects or heart-shaped lampshades. In fact, you can even recycle a threadbare relationship. I recently came across a song on that subject, and it reminded me of a certain young recycling truck driver I once dated.

Needless to say, it didn't work out, but boy did he know how to sort plastics! I thought you might like to share this song with me, and if you want, you can share any fond memories it brings up about love, or recycling, or both, and send them to me in care of:

alamedadailynoose@gmail.com

Who knows? Your green musings might even find it into a future column!