Delicious and versatile, eggs are on the ingredients list for countless favorite recipes. But while the yolks and the whites go into breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, the eggshells typically go nowhere but the garbage bin. All those wasted shards add up, apparently. According to Earth911.com, Americans trash about 150,000 tons of eggshells each and every year! Things would be different if everyone knew that you can actually use eggshells for a variety of tasks both in and around the house. Put your breakfast remnants to work in the kitchen, garden, and even the first aid kit with one of these five hacks.
1. PLANT A SEED
If you're itching to start gardening indoors, remember that eggshells make an excellent vessel for seedlings. When your plants finally outgrow their temporary homes, you can transplant them, shells and oil, directly into the soil, because the shells biodegrade. Read all the details at Instructables.
2. BAND TOGETHER
The next time you nick a finger while slicing and dicing in the kitchen, rest assured there's a natural bandage within easy reach. It so happens that in a hardboiled egg, the membrane between the shell and the white can help stop the bleeding and serve as a makeshift Band-Aid until you can give your injury proper attention.
3. CHALK IT UP
Believe it or not, you can make sidewalk chalk out of eggshells. Just grind the eggshells into powder. You'll mix this with tap water, flour, and food coloring (in your favorite bold hue) to form a batter-like paste. Then just set the mixture in a silicone mold to dry. For step-by-step instructions, head over to Pink Stripey Socks.
4. STAY SHARP
You already know that ice cubes sharpen the blades in your blender, but did you know that eggshells do the same thing? Why not save the shells in your freezer, pulling them out whenever your blender needs a performance a boost? Just make sure to clean the blender afterwards, so you don't get any crunchy surprises.
5. BUG OFF
Gardens are gorgeous; unwanted snails and slugs are not. To get rid of these slimy creatures without resorting to chemical pesticides, simply spread crushed eggshells in a circle around your plantings. Rather than crawl over the jagged edges of the shell flakes, the pests will slip back to where they came from.