Fire starting green - Our Daily Green

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Fire starting green

Yesterday, I posted about outdoor firepits as I continue to daydream about warmer weather. I wanted to share a great tip how to make your own firestarters from recycled items around your home.

Items needed:

Wax (either in the form of candle stubs or crayons or parafin)
Paper egg cartons
Dryer Lint

No need to remove the crayon wrappers. I don't know about you, but we must have a small bin of old broken crayons. I am not sure why I saved them, but this is a great way to reuse them.

I think the best way to melt the wax is in an old can set in boiling water. I bend the top of the can to make the wax easier to pour.

Stuff the egg carton with the lint and then when the wax is melted, pour over the lint. After it hardens, the eggs can be torn apart and one wax and lint egg is enough to get a good fire roaring.

I've also seen sawdust used on these, but make sure it is untreated wood, if you choose to use sawdust so it will not release toxins when it burns.

This will work for indoor fires as well, such as a wood stove or fireplace.

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