How to Reuse Plastic Bottles at Home
Nothing is ever completely useless. Even a broken clock is correct twice a day. Although, that clock will not be functional anymore in our daily lives, used plastic bottles, on the other hand, can be.
All around the globe, plastic bottles are used indiscriminately, in spite of the harm they pose to the Environment. Most of these bottles are disposed off improperly and therefore, cannot be recycled. Recycling not only results in waste reduction but it also helps in reducing greenhouse gas emission along with energy conservation.
If these plastic bottles are not recycled, they end up in landfills or are incinerated, both of which lead to the production of toxic gases, significantly harmful to humans and especially the environment.
However, reusing the plastic bottles, that are already present in our houses, can be even more beneficial than recycling them, as the costs and expenses involved in recycling are nullified in this case.
By doing so, we not only use our creativity to turn these bottles into something useful but at the same time perform our duty to conserve nature in the long run. Here are five of the most easy-to-follow ideas to reuse the plastic bottles that you were considering to throw away.
1. Hanging Garden
Turning the bottles into flower pots is a two-fold way to help the environment.
All you need to do is:
- First, simply cut the bottles in the way shown in the illustration below.
- Next, fill it with soil.
- You can either plant seeds or add small plants to your DIY’d hanging garden.
- After planting the seeds or small plants, these bottles can be hung on a wall as shown in the picture.
Involving your kids in this activity would be a good way to make them understand the importance of thinking about the collective good.
2. Garden Sprinkler
To make this,
- First, mark some holes uniformly at the bottom of the bottle, this will ensure even distribution of the water stream.
- Now, punch in the holes at the bottom of the bottle as shown in the figure. You can use anything sharp to do this. (Tip: heat your knife and press the knife tip to the bottle, it will melt the plastic and you can make holes effortlessly.)
- Insert the garden hose about two inches inside the bottle and seal the entrance with some duct tape or any suitable adhesive to prevent leakage from the hose coming out.
Your homemade sprinkler is ready to use!
3. Bird Feeder
Who doesn’t like the sound of birds chirping in the morning? Of course, there are people who sleep in but even then, they cannot deny the beautiful touch of nature that their melody brings.
You can make them a part of your everyday life by setting up your very own bird feeder outside your house.
All you need for this are:
- some bird seeds
- a few plastic bottles
Now simply take the bottles and cut a hole big enough to fit in a bird and fill it with the bird seeds. Your bird feeder is ready to welcome the visitors!
4. Mobile Hangers
Reusing a shampoo bottle and turning it into a mobile hanger solves the problem of charging your phone when there are no tables or stands around.
All you need to do is:
- cut the bottle out as shown in the illustration below
- hang it on the charger brick itself
This simple and easy life hack solves your problem and saves nature the burden of another plastic waste!
5. Piggy Banks for Kids
This is what we call killing two birds with a stone. It is essential to teach kids the importance of saving money from childhood and also the importance of recycling. This homemade piggy bank from used plastic bottles is a fun and creative way to teach both the things.
- Bottle caps can act as a snout and you can help your kid to decorate the bottle, making it look like a cute little piggy holding coins in its belly.
- Cut out the coin slot as shown in the sketch and the piggy bank is ready to save some dollars.
- You can also get creative and add ears using felts or velvet paper, and legs using bottle caps or rolled-up paper. You can also paint the bottle to customize it – let your creative juices flow.
Why You Should Give it a Try?
Different people view different things as important based on their perspectives and priorities. But what good is anything material, if you cease to exist yourself.
The drastic climate changes have worried the greatest of minds and experts around the world. As such, it is essential for all of us to be able to do whatever we can to bring nature back to its balanced state.
The good we do today will help our future generations and even a little step like reusing a plastic bottle counts.
