These are My Favourite Ways of Reusing Plastic Bottles!
Of course, if you’re living a green and eco friendly life, you won’t be buying anything in plastic bottles.
But, they do creep in sometimes, despite our best intentions. (Yes, I find them in my home too, occasionally).
Yes, you could put them in for recycling. But recycling is always the last resort.
If you’ve got used plastic bottles, it’s better to re-use or re-purpose them.
Here are some nifty ideas on what to do with the beastly things.
But first – a question I’m often asked:
Should You Re-Fill Plastic Bottles?
It’s a good question!
A number of studies (many funded by bottled drink companies) said that plastic leeches chemicals into the bottle contents. That, however, led to the question “are the original contents safe?”.
So then there were a whole pile of studies which showed that bacteria can grow in plastic bottles which can be unsanitary. (So of course, it’s MUCH safer to just keep buying new bottles, they say). But bacteria can grow on your mugs and cups too. Just wash them and keep them clean.
It’s like the studies which “proved” that re-usable shopping bags were a bad idea because if you had raw meat in them it could contaminate the rest of your food. So keep buying single-use, disposable bags, they said. Well, I don’t know anyone who places raw meat, without any packaging, into a shopping bag. And anyway, just wash them. (I throw mine in when I’m washing towels).
It’s your choice. Personally, I don’t re-fill plastic bottles (I dislike them too much). I prefer to find ways of re-using them elsewhere.
My Top 5 Ways of Reusing Plastic Bottles
I love this way of reusing plastic bottles to create a vertical garden.
Seed starters are expensive (and also made of plastic). Reusing plastic bottles saves you money and reduces your need for new “stuff”, thus conserving resources.
Birds need all the help they can get. An easy way to help bird life in your area is by reusing plastic bottles are bird feeders. Cut a couple of holes and put old spoons through, so the seeds gradually fall out onto them for the birds to find.
Make sure your kittens and cats always have enough food by reusing two plastic bottles.
And to end……
Use low-VOC paint on the bottom of an old plastic bottle to make these adorable planter boxes!
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What do you do with old plastic bottles? Let me know in the comments below.
Warm regards,
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Related:
- Silica Gel Packs – 20 ways you hadn’t thought of to re-use them!
- 8 Ways to re-use your kitchen!