I find Safeway 4l vanilla ice cream tubs to be very handy, for everything from mixing small quantities of plaster, to acting as mini stacking boxes. They are polypropylene, and quite robust, being stackable many high even with lots of stuff in. However, I'm about through my supply, and apart from the fact that safeway are now Morrisons and they no longer do the ice cream, eating my way through a few dozen 4l tubs of ice cream would not do wonders for my already not-too-elfin figure. Can anyone suggest a source?
Follow an ice-cream van - and ask the driver what happens to the empty containers. They often have a tub of each of many different flavours on the go for cones etc. Don't know whether they're 4-litres though - or even whether they recycle them!
If you find one, let me know. A friend of mine makes ice cream for a living (well known brand here in South Wales) but keeps complaining about the amount he has to pay for his containers and the printing of same. They appear to be a significant proportion of the total cost of manufacture! He uses 500ml, 1l, 2l and 4l mostly I think. The 2l and 4l take the same lids.
Regarding the "follow a van" post, his vans don't sell cones; they just sell the filled tubs, so no empty tubs to give away :-)
Not sure what you consider cheap but the other week I spotted some clear plastic food storage containers in Tescos which looked very handy for storing small engine parts in. The 1 litre is 48p and the 3 litre 98p if I remember rightly. I bought a box of 1000 sealable plastic bags for storage of small cleaned parts many years ago but if you coat the parts in oil to stop them rusting the oil dissolves the bags I subsequently discovered. After a few months I ended up with oil soaked cardboard stock boxes full of plastic bag remnants and a jumble of mixed and dirty parts in the bottom of them which all needed cleaning and sorting again.
For the small number of oiled components I need to store I thought some of these food containers wouldn't break the bank so I got a few of each. Then I spotted that they were microwave safe too so I've ended up using most of them for storing and heating food in. Ah well, next time I'm in Tescos I'll just have to buy some more.
Oh, one of the 3 litre ones struck me as just the right size for a miniature litter tray for the ferret's cage :) All I have to do now is train the little sod to poop in it instead of next to it which appears to be her preference.
I know Tesco recycle 80% of all their cardboard and plastic, but their delicatessen counter might have tubs from the wholesale delivery of coleslaw etc sold loose.
Sandwich and pizza take-aways might also be worth approaching as they tend to buy pre-made ingredients to comply with food hygiene regulations.
Oh, that's a damn good idea. Similarly my local Budgens does Indian meals at the deli counter and all the meat dishes come in big square plastic tubs of maybe 5 or 6 litres. They usually serve from the bowls on the counter but quite often they've had to get another tub from the stores for me so I've seen what the food originally arrives in a few times. I bet all those get chucked once they're empty. Memo to self for tomorrow evening's trip to buy bread to ask them about it.
Update. Budgens were quite happy to put all the empty tubs to one side for me as they only get chucked anyway so in a few days time I'll have a workshop full of handy storage containers :)
I'm sure other stores would do the same for people.
Baking trays (or so I'm told). Fur-rats won't crap in anything with a raised lip around it, they don't want to have to climb in.
(I'm not a ferret fancier - but nearby friends are, and I sometimes get the job of sitting them).
I buy my plastic tubs from Ikea. Couple of quid for a nested set. Good choice of plastic (no brittle lids), two freezer-sized tubs for single portion curries, one big tub for keeping waterstones in, and a couple of tiny tubs for storing shellac or other finishing cloths. It's the only place I've seen tiny tubs that were still well made.
I believe they can literally explode from frustration. Some of this explains the cross-over with Goths keeping them as pets...
When you had her spayed, did the vet remove the scent (sic) glands too ? This is common practice in the USA where they're a "house pet", but still rare in the UK where they're thought of as outdoor hunting critters. My friend over the road is American and wasn't aware of this - until her English ferrets were so obviously whiffier (to say the least!) than she was used to in the USA.
I much prefer cats. But if I had to live with an indoor ferret, it would be getting de-stinked.
Absolutely not!!! The anal glands, which they can (but very rarely do) empty when very scared in much the same way as a skunk, make no difference to their normal smell at all. This is a completely unnecessary surgical procedure with no benefit to either the animal or its owner and no responsible vet or owner should ever contemplate an unnecessary surgical procedure.
There is nothing you can do to 'de-stink' a ferret other than neuter it which removes 90% of the musky smell that un-neutered animals have because of the hormones and pheromones they produce. Entire males smell very strongly and entire females are quite whiffy but not so bad. Once neutered both sexes have very little smell. More than a cat for sure but not unpleasant to most owners. Verity was quite stinky when I found her but hardly smells at all now she's been neutered. Cleaning and replacing their bedding regularly is essential because the body oils get onto the bedding and then back onto the animal even if it keeps itself clean. Bathing the animal itself too often is actually very bad because it dries out the skin and induces it to produce more oils again which then makes the smell worse.
As for American vets and pet owners the less said the better. They also commonly perform other barbaric surgical procedures such as declawing cats and ferrets which is illegal in the UK and many other countries and massively impairs the animal's ability to walk, climb or defend itself if needed. Any vet or pet owner that performs an unnecessary or harmful surgical procedure on an animal should at the very least be banned from keeping animals for life. Personally I'd put them up against a wall and shoot them. I care very little what humans do to each other but anyone who knowingly harms or mistreats an animal in their care is a waste of oxygen and needs removing from the planet without delay.
That's a very facile comment. Of course it isn't OK but whether I care about it or not isn't going to make a scrap of difference to it happening. All the things you refer to are universally illegal and every country has laws in place to punish those who commit such offences which they clearly continue to do regardless of the law. Many countries do not have laws which make certain cruel acts to animals illegal including supposedly enlightened countries such as the USA where declawing is still practiced. That is one of the things I choose to care about.
What you choose to care about is similarly up to yourself.
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