Why I Save Eggshells and Other Useful But Odd Things

Greek Philosopher Plato is most often credited with saying "necessity is the mother of invention."  The proverb has been used for many years to essentially explain that when there is truly a need for something, that we will find one way or another to attain it. Humans can be amazingly creative and resourceful. It's particularly apt, especially following Mother's Day, don't you think? Mothers have worked hard for years, and still are today!  Before it became easy to travel to the store, or to place an on-line order and have it the very next day, our matriarchal ancestors had to work harder with less, and to make what they had work for them. In so many ways....we've got it easy!

By no means, am I living the life that our ancestors did, and in no way, am I suggesting that I work as hard either. I do, however,  enjoy learning about the ways in which they had a multitude of applications or uses for one simple ingredient to accomplish the task at hand. 

My goals of simplifying and becoming more self sufficient have inspired me to  find ways in which I could do more with what I have. Seeking ways to use common household ingredients or re-purpose items before giving them a toss has become a fun challenge of sorts.  I marvel when I hear or read about uses for everyday ingredients or items. Frugal solutions like the multitude of uses for vinegar and baking soda have been around for years, and born from a need for inexpensive and practical solutions.  There are many lessons that can be learned from those before us-- mothers, fathers, and grandparents especially when it comes down to doing more with less, and the number of uses for a simple item that we have hanging around the house-- both indoors and out.

Having chickens means that there are typically a lot of eggs. I save egg shells. I'm sure I'm not alone on this. Egg shells are a surprisingly awesome resource. They are high in calcium and actually have tons of uses. I dry them in the oven, and give them a quick grind, before returning them to our flock.

Our hens, despite their voracious, velociraptor-like appetites, prefer toasted and ground up eggshells as a gritty treat over the ground up oyster shells that I buy. Hens require  a good amount of calcium to support their health and the quality of their eggs. If hens don’t have enough calcium in their diets, they can actually lay soft shelled eggs or eggs can get stuck in their systems and even cause death. 

If you don't have hens to feed the shells to, ground shells are also good to sprinkle around your tomato plants to provide a natural calcium boost. I haven't tried it yet, but I've read that some gardeners place a bit of ground up eggshells in the hole with the tomato plant to help ward off blossom-end rot. You can add them to the compost, or even start seedling seedlings in rinsed egg shell halves. Egg shells are useful inside too. Grind them finely, and the grit provides better abrasion than a store-bought pads, and can be used to effectively clean pots. along with baking soda.  

Don't throw out those coffee grounds either.  Coffee grounds are great for the compost pile. Leftover grounds are not acidic and about 6.9 in acidity which make them ideal for the garden if applied directly.  Apparently slugs and ants are not as keen of the aroma. I connected with a local business that bags its spent grinds and makes them available to those willing to pick them up.

Indoors, I keep a small container of grounds available to remove the odor and flavor of garlic and onions from our cutting boards. After a rinse and dry, I rub a bit of olive oil into the wooden boards, and they are good as new.  For a Mother's Day pick-me-up, I treated myself to a homemade shower scrub of coconut oil, coffee grounds, and sugar.

If you like to bake, spent coffee grounds can also be used for flavoring brownies, creating a richer hot cocoa mix or other baked goods that call for espresso powder. Make your own by spreading the grounds onto a baking sheet and placing it in a 170 F oven until dry. The idea is to dry them but not roast them. When cool, grind into a fine powder using a coffee bean grinder, and you have that expensive espresso powder without the expense.

Leftover citrus peels are one of my favorite frugal discoveries. Put them into a pot with water and a bit of cinnamon and you have an inexpensive potpourri that lasts days. Place them into a jar with vinegar and after a few weeks, strain the peels, and you have an all purpose fresh and effective citrus cleanser and disinfectant. For other ideas on all-natural cleaning solutions, check out one of my previous blogs https://livingsimplymatters.blogspot.com/p/all-natural-cleaning-solutions.html

Plato may have been right when he spoke of necessity. Necessity inspires us to look for solutions and to create our own when resources are few. And necessity, much like mothers, gives us reason to be grateful for they are the driving force when we need a nudge.