1. If your city collects food scraps as part of its recycling program, definitely take advantage. Add a couple more plastic bins to help you separate them, just as you would your paper and plastic.

2. Leftovers can still be full of nutrients. Rinse, dry out, and grind up calcium-rich egg shells. Then sprinkle them around the base of your plant to improve water drainage (and to turn off slugs and snails, if you’ve got an outdoor garden). Similarly, a sprinkle of coffee grounds works well for fertilisation, water retention, and aeration.

3. Save your food before it spoils. Is your garlic sprouting? Chop up the green shoots and sprinkle them over your meal. Your greens are beginning to wilt? Place the stems in water to perk them back up again. If a fruit or veggie’s time really has passed, you can even regrow it, like we’re doing with this avocado seed.

4. You don’t need a garden to master compost. It’s easy to create super rich nourishment for your potted plants in your kitchen or on the balcony. In a plastic, lidded bin, mix together some plain soil, food scraps (no meat or fish, though!), torn newspaper, twigs, straw or other plant waste. Stir it a little each day and you’ve got compost.

We love to see our customers get creative with our products. Go for it! But please note that altering or modifying IKEA products so they can no longer be re-sold or used for their original purpose, means the IKEA commercial guarantees and your right to return the products will be lost.

Made by

Interior designer: Marianne Eriksson
Photographer: Micke Persson
Writer: Vanessa Algotsson