When Trash Becomes Treasure (re-using egg shells!)

You know we don’t like to waste anything here at The Free Range Butcher so we’ve compiled a short list of things you can do to reuse your egg shells.  First though, a few facts:

• An egg shell is made of calcium carbonate, which means that each medium sized egg shell has 750-800 mgs of calcium.
• The shell makes up 9-12% of an egg’s total weight.
• The colour of the shell of an egg is indicative of the breed it came from.  White hens = white eggs.  Brown hens = brown eggs.

First Aid

Use the shell’s membrane as an all-natural bandage.  Apply fresh egg membrane to the wound and allow to dry.  It will draw out minor infections like splinters, pimples, boils etc.

You can also use the shells to treat skin irritations. Dissolve an eggshell in a small jar of apple cider vinegar and let it soak for a couple of days.  Dab this mixture on minor skin irritations or dry itchy skin.

In and Around the Garden

The obvious one is to compost your egg shells.  This will add lots of calcium to your compost pile.  You can also add a handful of crushed egg shells into the garden whenever you are planting something.

Plant egg shells at the bottom of your tomato plant.  Your tomatoes then won’t suffer from blossom-end rot due to a calcium deficiency.

Sprinkle egg shells around your garden to deter pests.  Soft bodied creatures’ likes slugs or snails don’t like crawling over sharp pieces of eggshell.

Use the egg shells to start seedlings.  These just look so cute.

Household Surprises

As seen in our bone broth video, add egg shells to your broth and stocks for extra calcium and minerals.

Your eggshells can be used to scrub your pots and pans.  Simply mix crushed eggshells with some hot water & dish soap and use the natural abrasion to get pans nice and clean.

To help your whites not to turn grey, put a handful of clean, broken eggshells and 2 slices of lemon in a little cheesecloth bag with your clothes in the washer. It will prevent the soap deposits that turn your white clothes grey.

There’s always lots of crafty options but how about making your own chalk.  You’ll need:

• Approximately five eggshells
• 1 tsp flour
• 1 tsp very hot water
• Food colouring

1. Wash and dry the eggshells and then grind into a powder.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and hot water, then add 1 tbsp eggshell powder and mix into a thick paste.  Add a drop or two of food colouring to make some great colours.
3. Shape the paste into sticks, you can use an old toilet roll any mould or rolled up paper towel.  Let dry for 3 days and then get creative outside on the driveway or footpath.