Repurposing old and used objects is a great way to help clean up the environment. Repurposing adds creative flair to a garden and offers the satisfaction of doing your part for the environment.
Plastic bottles can be a nuisance. Piled in landfills, filling up garbage dumps, and littering the roads, these items like many other garbage items are tossed aside and allowed to pollute our environment.
Recycling is the process of converting disposed paper, plastic, and glass into reusable items to prevent waste, landfill buildup, and pollution. This process helps to cut down on the surplus production of new disposable items that often end up scattered about roadways and bodies of water, causing harmful impacts to wildlife and to the environment.
While recycling plays a huge role in the green movement, there are other ways to reduce pollution and garbage buildup. Here we will focus primarily on plastic bottles such as water bottles, soda bottles, and so on.
The first and most obvious option is to drastically reduce or eliminate the use of plastic bottles at all. Water filters that fit the faucet of kitchen sinks are becoming increasingly popular. These provide great tasting water without chemicals and small mineral particles. The use of water bottles can be eliminated by installing these and refilling a travel thermos to take on the go. If this isn’t an option, simply refilling a used water bottle a few times rather than throwing them away can reduce plastic litter.
While these are all considerable options, plastic bottles are a fantastic resource as planters in your garden. Plastic bottles can be used to plant individual herbs. Place your seedlings in one of these bottles and allow a few to line your window sill in the kitchen. Make sure they get plenty of sunlight, and in time you will have a fresh store of herbs to use while cooking right in your own kitchen.
Plastic bottles can also be used for vertical gardens along a stone wall or fence. Here are a few links to creative ideas for vertical gardens using plastic bottles:
https://balconygardenweb.com/plastic-bottle-vertical-garden-soda-bottle-garden/
https://m.wikihow.com/Build-a-Vertical-Garden-from-Soda-Bottles
As an example, I have used a plastic 2-litre bottle to plant Cilantro for use in my kitchen. All I needed was the bottle, some potting soil, the seedling, and a knife to cut the bottle with. I used a kitchen knife, but I definitely recommend using a boxcutter.
The idea of this project is to have a constant water supply for your seedling. This, however, does not mean it won’t need watering. I have seen many other similar projects done different ways, including filling the water level even higher and poking holes into the sides of the inverted top half and even poking a hole in the cap and using a knotted line of yarn to supply the water to the soil.
Whether recycling or repurposing, there are many ways to rid the environment of polluted garbage and use this waste in a productive manner.
I love that people are finding new and creative ways to reuse plastics! But the problem with this is that almost all plastics are endo-disruptors and they are all photodegradable, so all of the toxins from plastic will be leaked over time into the plants you are growing. The endo-disrupting factor can affect the plant in a variety of adverse ways. If you’re not growing food, then you don’t have to worry as much about how this will affect your own health — however, it is probably not a good idea to grow your produce in plastic containers. Just looking out! But don’t stop looking for ways to reuse and repurpose this material that has been hurting our planet, we must keep them from flowing into our oceans and neighborhoods! ✌💜😁
I keep seeing those little (maybe a little longer than your finger) plastic liquor bottles along the roads.
So I’m wondering if they would be any good for camping or something as spice containers or whatnot, or would they get damaged too easily? Some people use sections of straws to put spices, drink powders, etc in them, but that seems to be a big hassle filling them, then once they are open they are not so easy to reseal like at home, plus you have to keep resealing them.
What to do with an empty simple syrup bottle with a plastic closable spout on it?
Empty booze bottle with cork stopper with plastic top?
Wondering how strong the glue is on that and how to replace the stopper if it comes apart. Instead of leaving it empty, should I put some water in it and lay it sideways so the cork doesn’t dry out?
Then, what are the best bottles to use for
Hiking
Camping, short or long
Car tripping
Two person picnics vs small family or get together picnics
And what you would put in them?