There are lots of reasons you might want to stop throwing away your eggshells and you will be amazed at some of them. Eggshells can definitely be put in compost and apart from the fact that eggs are common food people love, eggshells are quite important as well.
Eggs are cheap and easy to prepare and apart from all this, it serves as a protein source and can be made into many things. But as much as we love eggs, we have to consider the implication of eggshells on the environment.
The only two edible parts of an egg are the yolk and egg whites but this doesn’t mean the eggshell isn’t important as well. Eggshells are rich in calcium and nutrients that can help your garden thrive hence lots of gardeners are often seen using them to grow their crops.
Egg white and yolk are often the two we care about but time to stop letting them steal the thunder. Eggshells can be quite useful around the home as well. So, to get to the most interesting part, below are answers to your question on the effect of eggshells on the environment and amazing things you can reuse your eggshells for.
Table of Contents
Are Eggshells Biodegradable?
Yes! Eggs are absolutely biodegradable and they can go straight into the compost bin and although they might take a while to decompose they do. You need to understand that biodegradability will occur to anything that comes from a natural source without a preventive and since eggshells don’t have anything to stop them from breaking down then they are biodegradable.
11 Uses For Eggshells Around The Home
Generally, eggshells are great for your plants but, they are not just going to be useful in your garden alone, they can be useful around the home as well. You can definitely get creative with eggshells and make something unexpected out of them. Hence, below is a list of amazing things you can do with eggshells around the home.
1. Decoration
If Easter or Christmas is around the corner and your eggshells if properly handled, they can be used as decoration. All you need are some eggshells, paper or beads, pain or makers to draw different easter or Christmas characters on them. To make this decoration, make a hole on either side of the eggs and blow out the contents to clean them. Then you can go ahead and paint with the theme and color you have in mind.
2. Chalk Making
Eggshells can be grounded and used in making chalks. To use eggshells in chalk making, dry them and grind them into a fine white powder, you can make use of a food processor. Mix a tablespoon of eggshells with flour and hot water to make chalks. You can definitely get even more creative and add colors with food coloring.
3. For Cleaning Pots And Pans
Another really interesting use for eggshells around the home is cleaning up your pots and pans with them. Eggshells might be fragile but they are abrasive enough to be used in scrubbing away tough cooked on grime stains. Mix them with a little soapy water and use them in scrubbing your pans and pots.
4. Pesticides
Eggshells are not just going to help you deter pests in your garden but will kill them. To battle unwanted garden pests, all you need is to sprinkle roughly grounded eggshells in your garden and it will get rid of pests like slugs and beetles for you.
5. Candle Holders
Another way your eggshells can be useful is by being used as candle holders. To use eggshells as a candle holder, when the shells are dry, break it into a shape that can hold enough liquid, insert the wick and fill it with wax.
6. Boil Eggshells in Your Coffee
This is going to sound very surprising but it’s something lots of people do. Boiling crushed eggshells in your coffee keeps the grounds from boiling over so you get a less acidic coffee. So when you experience an overwhelming bitterness from your cup of coffee, eggshells can help save the day.
7. Treat Skin Irritations
Eggshells can be used with other home ingredients to help clear skin irritations. All you have to do is drop eggshells into a small container of apple cider vinegar and let it soak for a couple of days. Dab the mixture with cotton on the affected area of the skin. It can be used in soothing itchy skin as well.
8. Homemade Eggshell Toothpaste
You will be surprised to know that there are lots of options to keep your teeth white and clean once you decide to stop using minty fluoride toothpaste with its unexplained ingredients. All you have to do is make a very fine eggshell powder toothpaste and brush your teeth with it. It holds cavities at bay while keeping your teeth pearly white.
9. Use As Laundry Whitener
If you need your whites to be as white as they use to and chlorine is not an option then you need to give eggshells a trial. Put eggshells into a tightly woven bag or old stocking with few slices of lemon or simply toss some eggshells in a mesh in your laundry bag.
10. Use As Nourishing Face Mask
Another amazing way eggshells you can make use of eggshells is as a nourishing face mask. For a healthy skin tightening facial, pulverize the dry eggshells and whisk the powder with egg white to be used as a face mask. Apply to your face and let it dry before rinsing it off.
11. Toss Eggshells In Your Bone Broth
Eggshells in your bone broth or stockpot are extremely beneficial. You will not just be receiving calcium but it also provides the body with essential nutrients like minerals, selenium, iron, phosphorus, fluoride, zinc, and magnesium.
FAQs
How do you compost eggshells?
The most effective way to speed up composting on eggshells is by grinding them. You can simply have it tossed in your compost bin without grinding them too although they take them but eventually will decompose. Ensure to dry them before you add them to your compost bin.
Are eggshells good for the environment?
Eggshells contain nitrogen in form of protein which is very useful to plants after they decompose. Eggshells are beneficial to the environment especially the garden’s soil.
Do worms eat eggshells?
Worms can’t eat eggshells. You can have it crushed and put in the worm garden and they won’t harm the worms.
Wrapping Up
Many of the ways to use eggshells above are considered healthy and practical. Keep in mind that eggshells also break faster than anyone might guess but it’s best to dry them first before trying to break them down.
Before reusing eggshells for anything, it is best to have them clean from bacteria by rinsing the shells inside out and since they are natural and from plants, you have very little to worry about.
Read next: Biodegradable Soup Containers: Why & Where to Buy Them
