Friday Finds

This week I've been thinking a lot about all those plastic bottles.  We try to buy things in glass whenever we have a choice, but so much of what we use comes in plastic bottles.... juice, syrup, mayonaise.... seems like almost everything is packaged in plastic bottles!  Fortunately our area has an extensive curbside recycling program that includes many types of plastic, but even still I thought it might be fun to look at some plastic bottle reuse craft projects.

Building Nemo
Here's a fun one for the kids that I found over at National Wildlife Federation.  It requires some adult help, but is a great opportunity to talk with your children or grandchildren about reuse and recycling.  Also a great lead in to talk with older children about the North Pacific Garbage Gyre and the problems of plastic pollution. 

Forever Spring Flowers

Here's another rainy day project for kids, or doctor these up for a more adult theme. 

Here's some reused bottle crafts for the garden

Mr Brown Thumb shows us how easy it is to start seeds in a plastic bottle seed starter


Make a full size greenhouse using recycled plastic bottles.  It can be done, these kids did it!


The Family Corner has easy instuctions for turning a 2 liter bottle into a bird feeder with a perch


Water your tomato plants slowly and directly to the root. Poke holes around a plastic bottle ( I like a 2 liter for this)  bury the bottle into the ground along with your tomato transplants.  Now when you water, fill the bottle and the water will seep out the holes directly at the root of your tomato plants.  This will also help prevent blight which can happen when you get water on the foliage of your tomato plants.


Create a Cloche.  Cut the bottom off of a plastic bottle, then when you put out your transplants, cover them with this "dome" of plastic to form a cloche (greenhouse effect).  Be sure to remove this as the plant matures and the weather gets warm.

Instructables has a great tutorial for an herb garden grown in plastic bottles


I haven't tried this one, but anything to keep the slugs out of my garden is worth a try.  My Zero Waste has a blog post with video to make a slug collar for your seedlings


Make your own "wall of water" plant heater.  Fill jugs with water and arrange them in a ring around plants. When the weather warms, use the water in the jugs to water your garden and save jugs to use in the late season to extend your growing season .


Problem with wasps or yellow jackets in your
yard?  Try making this do it yourself wasp trap using a plastic bottle.