Are Egg Shells Recyclable?
Globally, the egg is a preferred food item among many people. Aside from that, it serves as a protein source; it’s cheap and easy to prepare. The best thing is that you can make your eggs into different or use them to make things. For instance, you can fry or boil the eggs. You can also use it to bake or add it to your cooking. Whatever way you think to use eggs, the chances are that it will be suitable for that purpose.
However, like many other things, the only part of the edible eggs is the yoke and egg-white. Asides from these two, we are left with the shell. For all that matters, the eggshell is not useful to many people. But is this true? We will get to this later. First, we want to consider the like implication of the eggshell on the environment.
In this light, we will be considering whether you can recycle your eggshell. We will also consider whether eggshells are compostable and biodegradable. In closing in, we will finally examine whether your eggshells are good for plants. And, to the highlight of the ten amazing things, you can reuse your eggshells for.
So, you have seen. There’s a lot that we have got for you in this post. So, relax and enjoy
Can You Recycle Egg Shells?
Recycling things have come to be part of all Americans. In most situations, the first thing that comes to mind when they come across things considered useless is whether they can recycle them. While this is the way to go, particularly considering the environmental effect, we have to pause what we consider recycling.
No. Eggshells are not recyclable. Technically, some people may argue that you can recycle eggshells. But an examination of their stance will reveal that what they are confusing for recycling, is in the real sense, composting. We will still get to the relationship between your eggshells and your compost bin. But let’s explain why you cannot recycle your eggshells.
You cannot recycle your eggshells simply because they are considered food items. Most food items are not storing enough to undergo recycling and still be out for other uses. Besides, there is no identifiable manufacturing potential for an eggshell. So, why waste time and resources recycling them?
These are the reasons that recycling stations often don’t consider eggshells as a recyclable material. So, do yourself a lot of good and don’t drop it in your recycling bin. If you do, you would be creating a problem for the recycling station. Aside from the fact that they would require effort and time to sort, the eggshells could contaminate other recyclable material. As you can see, you are doing a lot of time and energy by not putting your eggshells into the recycling bin. You are also saving other recyclable materials.
But then, you have seen that eggshells cannot be recycled. Does this, however, mean that it is useless? This is not entirely true. Below, we have considered other ways that your eggshells are useful.
Are Egg Shells Compostable?
If you are a garden lover, you would understand better the importance of compost to your garden flower. For the most part, we have been good that the best composite comes from natural sources.
Automatically, this includes foods and food items. This is why many people always turn their veggies and leftover foods into the compost bin to make compost. As expected, this is the path being treaded when the question of whether eggshells are compostable came up. For this, we would consider whether this is true in the following paragraphs.
Are eggshells compostable? The answer is yes, they are. But how is this so? Follow through to gain insight.
Eggs, as well as their shells, come from a natural source. This means that their biodegradability level is high. So, you can always drop your eggshells in the compost bin without any major concern about spoiling your compost.
Aside from this, eggshells are a major constituent of calcium. When you add them to your compost, you are adding calcium to your compost. This calcium helps plants build a strong cell wall that fosters their growth. Depending on your plant, the amount of calcium would go higher. For instance, if you have a tomato garden, calcium in the compost is very important.
In all, understand that eggshells can form a great part of your compost bin. So don’t be afraid to toss the eggshells in the compost bin.
Nonetheless, when you want to use your eggshell in your compost bin, you should try to crush them. Although they are good, if you don’t crush them and eventually make nice compost, crushing them will aid the process.
In all, eggshells are great to be used for your compost. All your garden plants would love it because of the nutrients it adds to them.
Are Eggshells Biodegradable?
One of the things you can be sure of their biodegradability level is anything that comes from a natural source without any preventive. When they are from plants, you have very little to worry about.
With eggshells, they are biodegradable. Since they are natural and don’t have anything preventing them from breaking down, they will biodegrade. So, put your mind to rest; your eggshells would not pose harm to the environment.
This, however, does not mean that you should treat them with abandonment. You still have to ensure that you properly dispose of them or use them for compost. Alternatively, you can put them to different amazing uses. We will get to this later, but let’s quickly consider if eggshells are good for your plants.
Are Egg Shells Good For Plants?
Yes, eggshells are good for plants. Naturally, eggshells are constituents of calcium. Plants need this calcium to build a strong cell wall, which will increase their growth rate. For plants like tomatoes, they need calcium for great growth.
But generally, eggshells are great for your plants. That is the more reason that they are encouraged to be used for compost.
If you have a garden, don’t hesitate to put your eggshells in the compost bin. Once you have made a compost of your eggshells, you can then use them for your plants. We promise you that your plants will love them.
10 Amazing Ways To Reuse Egg Shells
Creativity never ends in today’s world. Daily, more ways to be creative are being discovered. It is no surprise that for some seemingly useless things, you can still find amazing ways for them.
One of those things we are considering in this post is eggshell. Below, we have provided 10 amazing ways you can reuse your eggshell. Follow through to know more.
1. Feed Your Chickens
crazy, right? You’re probably wondering how you feed a chicken back what it ejected, well, wonder no further. Chickens lose a lot of calcium in producing eggs, and thus, the eggshells, which are majorly composed of calcium, can, when used as feed, help replenish the calcium lost.
To make feed, eggshells should be well crushed into powder fed to them. It could also be mixed with feed for the chickens.
2. Chalk Making
Eggshells are materials used for making chalks. They can be grounded into powder, mixed with flour and hot water to make chalks. Get extra creative by adding colors with food coloring to have a variety.
3. Mosaic craft
When you need that popping feeling to your art, crushed eggshells are the easy and available go-to for you. Crush to desired sizes, paint with different colors, and make really attractive mosaic pieces with eggshells. Reducing waste and creating art, ain’t that just beautiful?
4. Decoration
While eggs are very fragile, if properly handled, they can come in handy as materials for decoration. Too busy to get Christmas or Easter eggs decoration? All you need to do is make holes on either side of the egg and blow out content instead of outrightly breaking it for use. You can then paint eggs with the desired colors according to the theme you’re going for. Remember to handle with all care while in the process.
5. For Compost And Gardening
As said earlier, while eggshells are not recyclable, they can be used for compost. They are not only biodegradable, but they are also very rich in calcium and, as such, serve as nutrients for your soil, and by extension, your plants.
You want to see significant growth in your plants, stop throwing away your eggshells in a bin, start crushing and apply them to the soil. You could also just pour in your compost pile instead of disposing of it.
6. Scouring
This is for the cooks who get lost in their phones or books and need literal smoke signals to go back to their cooking. If you always get your pots burnt and spend too much money buying scouring powders, how about you look at this eggciting fact: eggs are very eggcellent abrasives that can restore-factory-settings your burnt pots, pans, or grills in no time. No need to worry about the effect scouring powders will have on your hand, as eggshells are, of course, 100% natural.
Just apply grounded shells on charred surfaces and scrub with a sponge (not with hands to prevent cuts); you could also apply a little soap to hasten the process.
7. Glue
While eggshells in themselves do not have gluing properties, they can strengthen that glue that doesn’t seem to be holding. The sand-like quality can help the glue hold better, especially when trying to glue plastic together. After applying glue on the two surfaces, hold together and sprinkle some finely ground eggshells on the broken pieces’ meeting point. Hold together for a while, and there you have it, sealed.
8. Starting Seedlings
If you want to try something new, perhaps you are tired of paper bags and others for starting your seedlings; broken eggshells can be good alternatives. Take eggshells broken into half and put in soil and then seedling. You can carefully make holes at the bottom for proper drainage but ensure this is done carefully to avoid breakage; the seedlings can afterward be transplanted.
9. Pesticides
Eggshells will not kill pests in your garden, but they can certainly deter them. The abrasive feeling of broken eggshells is not welcoming for soft-bodied pests like snails and slugs. Thus, you can wave pests goodbye by sprinkling roughly ground eggshells in your garden. This way, they chase away pests and also give your soil nutrients.
10. Candle Holders
Eggshells can make for fragile candle holders. All you need to do is make you break in a shape that can hold enough liquid, insert the wick, and fill with wax.
Conclusion
An egg has its function in the body. But, that is as much as the egg-white and the egg yolk goes. Beyond this, we cannot consume the eggshell. Does this, however, mean that the eggshell is useless? As you have seen above, there are amazing things you can do with your eggshell. The ball is now in your court to do the right thing and keep the environment safe.
Sources:
https://www.wikihow.com/Recycle-Eggshells-in-Gardening-Activities
https://www.forgerecycling.co.uk/blog/10-reuse-ideas-for-eggshells/