6 Cool Things Eggshells Are Good For
Filed Under: Susatainable Living on September 10, 2009
Eggshells. One of nature’s greatest feats of protective packaging. One the package is opened and you’ve consumed the egg inside, though, what do you do with that shell?
Well, one of the things that makes eggshells so nearly perfect is their after market uses. Here’s half a dozen of the best ones that I use them for regularly:
1 – Compost them. This one is the most obvious and probably the second most common thing for the empty shells to end up becoming (next to just landfill). Eggshells are a rich source of calcium and mineral supplements to your compost. To speed up the breaking-down process, crush the shells.
Many old-timers would dry the shells thoroughly, saving the powder until they had a quantity of it, and then spread it over a field or pasture and let it “soak” into the soil. This ads rich calcium to the soil and plant life and makes for excellent grazing pasture once it’s been integrated into the soil.
2 – De-bitter your coffee. If you hate bitter morning coffee, you can use an eggshell to make it less so. Just put a chunk of an eggshell to the coffee grounds in most any kind of coffee maker (obviously, this doesn’t work with instant coffee). The shell absorbs some of the acids in coffee that make it bitter. Plus, when you’re done, the paper filter, grounds, and shell are perfect additions to your compost.
3 – Slug and snail barriers. Those who live in an area where snails and slugs are common garden or flower bed pests will love this one. Crushed eggshells are great barriers to keep those slimy ones out of your garden. Just crush the shells and create a thin barrier by spreading them in a line around your garden or flower beds. The sharp fragments deter the slimies.
4 – Natural source of calcium. You can’t eat eggshells directly, of course. Well, not without having to go in for major surgery to have the shards removed from your throat, anyway. You can, however, still get the benefits of these rich calcium sources. Eggshells will dissolve in apple cider vinegar (which is also very good for you) in a few days. Just put a shell into a glass or container of cider vinegar and leave it to dissolve. When it’s completely gone, drink the whole shebang in stages and reap the rewards of health!
5 – Arts and crafts. You can use eggshells for all kinds of cool arts and crafts. A common practice called “blowing out” the inside of the egg by puncturing a small hole in the bottom of the shell and using a coffee straw to “blow” the egg back through the hole leaves you with an intact shell, emptied and ready for use. These are often painted, decorated, or even used as molds for chocolate, Jell-O, and other treats.
6 – Seedling starters. If you crack your eggs high so that you have a tall “cup” left of the shell, these make for great seed starters that are natural, safe, and biodegradable. Take the shells and put them back into the egg carton, open side up. Fill with planting soil, put in the seeds, and wait. When the seedlings come up, you can easily remove the whole eggshell container to transplant. Rather than removing the plant and soil from the “pot,” you can just bust up the eggshell and put it into the ground with the plant and starter soil.
Those are some of my favorite uses for eggshells, nature’s most awesome product packaging. What are your uses for them? Let me know below!
