Like our popular guide on reusing air conditioner water, old tea bags ? … that’s easy. As an avid tea drinker, I was intrigued when I stumbled upon a variety of sources that promoted the eco-friendly use of tea bags, outside the teacup. Arthur W. Pinero, an Englishman, of course, said, “Where there’s tea, there’s hope.”  That’s definitely true.  Brewed tea bags can provide a pick-me-up in ways you’d least expect.  Here are 13 of them. You can use tea…

1. As a cold compress.

Got tired eyes, bruises, or sunburn? Bee stings or mosquito bites?  Did your child just get a shot at the doctor’s but the free lollipop wasn’t consolation enough?  Apply a cool, moist tea bag made from black tea to these kinds of affected areas on the skin to get soothing relief and quicker healing.

2. As a hot compress.

Trying to get rid of pinkeye, canker sores or fever blisters?  Or maybe a plantar wart smack dab in the middle of the sole of your right foot?  Warm, wet tea bags can draw out the infections.

3. To clean your carpets.

For more delicate, Persian or Oriental carpets, sprinkle almost-dry tea leaves on the carpet, and then sweep them away when dry.  Tea leaves on more heavy-duty carpets can be vacuumed.

4. To take a flavored bath.

Treat your skin as you would your taste buds, in the bathtub.  Give your bath salts a run for their money by running the bath water over several used tea bags.  You’ll have yourself an aromatic, skin-softening soak in no time.

5. To feed your garden.

Cultivate your healthy plants and bring your dying ones back to life by breaking open a soaked tea bag and disseminating the contents over the soil.  Roses and ferns do especially well with the acidic tannins found in black tea.

Don’t have a garden? Add the used tea leaves to your enrich your compost pile – and if you don’t have that, make one.  (Remember to take the staples out of the tea bag, if there are any.)

6. To eliminate odors around the house.

Put dried tea leaves in your garbage can and your kitten’s litter box.  They’ll also suck up food odors when stuck in a bowl in the fridge.  And combine them with your favorite essential oils to make all-natural air fresheners.

Odors might also be closer than you think: especially if you’ve been handling fish, your hands might smell…fishy.  Rinse your hands with old tea.  As for your mouth and all that bad-breath bacteria, skip the shocking Listerine and go for a gentle mint tea mouth rinse.

7. To give your locks some love.

Tea acts as a sort of leave-in conditioner: Make your dry hair shiny by rinsing your hair with unsweetened tea.  Leave your head alone to dry, then rinse out the tea. This works well in areas with hard water.

8. To polish your wooden floors.

You might need to amass quite a few tea bags for this one.  Mop your wooden floors with brewed tea, and while you’re at it, shine up some furniture, too.

9. To say goodbye to greasy dishes.

Whatever it may be that is caked onto your plates from dinner, do not fear.  Soak the dishes in hot water with a few brewed tea bags.  The more the grease, the more time will be needed to break it down; soaking the pile overnight is recommended.

10. To recreate potpourri.

Rarely do used tea bags lose their scent completely.  Dry out your favorite teas (any kinds will do) and add the leaves to potpourri; they’ll blend right in, aesthetically and also in form. After all, potpourri is made of dried fruit peels, herb leaves, flowers, and spices.

11. To replace Windex.

Maybe your kids had their hands all over the windows, or maybe the glass is just dusty.  Make them sparkle by rubbing a damp teabag over them or applying brewed tea from a spray bottle, then wiping it away with a cloth.

12. To discover your inner Michelangelo.

Artists have started to use strong black teas to paint backgrounds or accentuate black-and-white sketches.

and my favorite…

13. To make flavored rice.

When cooking rice, add your used herbal tea bags to the water to allow a new, mild flavor to permeate throughout. Jasmine tea, one of my personal favorites, is a great choice for rice-flavoring.

After steeping a tea bag two or more times (because once is never enough) to enjoy my favorite hot drink,  I always felt bad tossing it.  Knowing now of brewed tea bags’ reusability, I’ll be able to leave the leaves out of the trash for a little while longer.

Now read on for 10 surprising green ways to use olive oil. And surprising uses for kitchen salt.

The post 13 Surprising Green Ways to Reuse Tea Bags appeared first on Green Prophet.

Hadram Bin Shalan was the object of neighborly scorn when he announced plans to build a guesthouse out of recycled materials in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Seven years later and the former science teacher earns a healthy sum each time he rents out the building, which is made from iron, bricks, tiles, and wood taken from nearby construction sites, for weddings and other events. He told Al Arabiya News, who interviewed Bin Shalan at the Abha property gifted to him by the government, that the guest house will bring him income now that he is retired.

Not so sexy, but…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFnkt1xrrjs[/youtube]

The guest house may not be the most attractive environmentally-friendly building we’ve featured on Green Prophet decorated as it is in the plush style so common among Arabs with gold trimmings and other lush finishings, but its socio-cultural significance is enormous.

In general, the people of Saudi have a tendency to value luxury over economy, status over health or environmental concerns, and typically reject anything that doesn’t come out of a glittering box. A quick look at some of the so-called sustainable development projects emerging from the kingdom will give readers a sense of the standards that most Saudis aspire to achieve.

A coup!

So it is a real coup than an educator, a respected position in Saudi society, should eschew such social norms in order to build a home by himself (without hiring a pile of workers from East Asia for piddling wages) out of scraps that he collected. They aren’t even hand-me-downs. These are discards. Unwanted materials. And for most Saudis, untouchable.

Instead of relying on someone else to do the work for him, Bin Shalan learned how to install his own plumbing and electricity (no solar sadly). As a result, he managed to complete the project at half the cost of an equivalent guest house. And now this space is among the most-coveted in the neighborhood. So much so that people are willing to pay over $500 to rent it for one event!

Although Bin Shalan admits that the seven years it took to make the guesthouse a reality cost him a lot of effort, he is getting ready to start another one next door and expressed a desire for other Saudis to take heart.

“I hope that young Saudi men will follow in my footsteps in all fields, not just in construction or electrical work but also in other fields,” he told Al Arabiya.

:: Al Arabiya News

More on Architecture in Saudi Arabia:

Sustainable Architecture Saudi Style: King Abduallah Financial District

Proposal for Riyadh’s Celebration Hall in Saudi Distorts Bedouin Values

Saudi Adds a Splash of Green to Royal Weddings

The post Saudi Teacher Built a Funky Guesthouse Out of Recycled Materials appeared first on Green Prophet.

Hasan Istaytiyyah was lucky to have six hours of state-run energy a day before he decided to install a solar photovoltaic system and ditch his dirty generator. Now he tells Daily Star that he has energy all the time, and finally feels connected with the rest of the world through internet access and satellite TV despite his remote location in the Bekaa Valley near the border of Syria.

Istaytiyyah’s story is a familiar one. Although Lebanon has strong northerly winds and piles of sunshine, the country’s leadership has failed to incorporate renewable energy to help meet the 2,400 MW daily demand. With a 900MW shortfall, many residents – particularly in rural areas – are without power for up to 18 hours a day.

Eco Friendly Solar Panels

Istaytiyyah’s goat farm in Qaa was plagued by the state’s energy shortages until 2010 when he saw an advertisement for solar energy listed by Eco Friendly, an environmental consultancy started by Patrick Ardahalian, Daily Star reports.

The entire system cost $9,372, which includes installation and VAT, according to a comment left on Eco Friendly’s Facebook page.

Not only does he have access to energy all the time, but Istaytiyyah was also able to get rid of his noisy, polluting generator when the PV system was installed.

“My farm became more friendly to my family and friends and closer to the civilized way of life despite its remoteness,” he said.

Wasted potential

Even though Lebanon has sun for roughly 300 days a year and the government pledged to provide at least 12% of its energy by using renewable sources by 2020, National Secretary of the Green Part Samir Skaf told Daily Star that the recently published National Energy Plan shows that the government will only provide 6.6% of the country’s needs using renewable sources.

Pierre Koury, Manager at the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation disagrees, saying that natural gas is part of the plan, and therefore accounts for the rest of the country’s renewable energy source.

George Abboud, founder of Earth Technologies, blames the government’s shortsightedness, claiming that “the customs fees for his energy-efficient LED bulbs are 15 percent, while those for regular bulbs are 5 percent. And last year he was unable to import electric cars for a taxi company he wanted to establish, because he was told that all cars imported into Lebanon are required to run on fuel,” Daily Star reports.

While government stays stuck in the status quo, citizens dissatisfied with their poor living conditions are taking power into their own hands. And as more do so, installation costs will drop.

:: Daily Star

image via Eco Friendly

More Environmental News from Lebanon:

Sleek Prefab LoftCube in Lebanon is the Ultimate Home for Nomads

Thousands of Endangered Fruit Bats Were Gunned Down in Lebanon

Greenpeace Lebanon Rocks the Boat with Underwater Expose

The post Lebanese Goat Farmer Goes Solar, Subverts Government’s Green Apathy appeared first on Green Prophet.