Recycling Eggs?

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Recycling eggs?

Really?

….yup.

Egg shells are very recyclable (is that a word?).
In fact if you are wanting to adopt a simpler life, reducing the amount of waste you produce, recycling egg shells is a very easy way to start.

Instead of cracking open eggs and tossing them in the garbage or disposal, just set them to the side. When you have time give the eggs a good rinsing and set them on a kitchen towel to dry. Once they are dry I give them a quick spin in my blender. A blender isn’t absolutely necessary, a good crushing with a rolling pin, or meat mallet will work, I just happen to like the shells ground small.

I feed my eggs shell dust to my chickens. They get a lot of kitchen scraps, I just sprinkle the dust on top of those before I take them to the chickens. This helps give them the minerals, especially calcium, that they need for shell formation. It saves me money, otherwise I would have to buy oyster shell from the feed store.

I also sprinkle the egg shell dust in my compost pit. I have put whole shells in my pile and they will break down, it just takes longer, the dust is quick and easy. This will help add minerals to the soil, if you want your broccoli to have calcium in it, it needs to be in the soil. This an easy, cheap and semi organic way to do so.
If you don’t have chickens and aren’t a gardener, sprinkle your eggs shell dust among your decorative plants and bushes, they will be healthier.

There you go, recycled egg shells, what simple ways do you recycle and reuse?

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10 thoughts on “Recycling Eggs?”

  1. How interesting. I'll have to tell my friend that has chickens. Although when I read it, it reminded me of people who eat their child's placenta, LOL.

  2. Aimee you are a wealth of information!!!! As expected, we have lots of egg shells because of having so many chickens and eating eggs almost daily. I've been throwing them in my compost pile, but they don't break down as fast as I'd like. And besides that…we HAVE been buying oyster shells for our chickens. Now…I won't have to. Thank you so much!!!

  5. I used to just chuck my egg shells and banana peels out into my garden area when I had one LOL

  6. Another way to break them down is to throw them on the oven until they're good and brittle and then crush them with a rolling pin if you don't want to get your blender dirty.

    One "re-use" thing I like is to take the pine cones that fall from the tree and dip them in melted wax. They make terrific fire starters in the fireplace because they light quickly and burn slowly.

  7. Good idea. I usually just crumble them with my hand after I crack them open. That would definately make it easier in the garden.

    Loved the chicks… What kind are they? I am ordering meat birds in the next day or so. Can't wait!

    Erika

  8. Another way is to put the egg shells in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds, and then I just use a paper towel on top to break up, and then go and give them to my chickens for a nice little treat… They love it…

  9. When my parents had chickens, they put egg shells in a 5-gallon bucket and used a garden how to crush, outside. Easy for larger amounts! 🙂

  10. Found your blog through Tammy's Recipes – thanks for sharing your tips. While I don't have chickens (boo! hoo!) I do use eggs. I crush and save the shells throughout the winter and when I plant my tomatoes, I put the crushed egg shells in the ground before I put in the tomato plant.