Written by Dominic McIntyre / Content Writer
Happy Global Recycling Day 2021.
Plastic pollution is a terrible problem; the oceans are filled with it, and it’s even finding its way into our food chain. That is to say, we eat fish that have micro plastics in their bodies. As a result, plastic recycling seems to be a positive idea and real salvation not just for us, but also for nature.
In commemoration of this day, we encourage you to play your part and reduce pollution in our environment in any small way that you can.
In Jamaica, it is estimated that 600 million PET bottles are used each year. However, according to the UK-based Guardian newspaper, one million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number is forecasted to jump another 20 percent by 2021. Jamaica and by extension the world needs to build a culture of continuous recycling, which will help us minimize our carbon footprint and, in turn, protect the environment.
So here are 10 interesting ways that you can recycle/Reuse plastic (PET) bottles:
1. Start An Herb Garden With Empty 2-Liter Bottles
This project gets you extra green points. These can be cashed in for absolutely nothing. Well, maybe to feed your eco-soul. Regardless, upcycling 2-liter bottles into sub-irrigated planters is one of the more creative plastic bottle projects. Follow these steps to create an herb garden from a recycled bottle:
- Remove the label from the bottle and clean the inside.
- Take a sharp object and poke drainage holes in the top third of the bottle.
- Poke a hole in the side of the bottle about half-way down.
- Wrap a piece of paper around the bottle.
- Take a marker and trace a cutting line around the bottle.
- Cut along the bottle on the line.
- Flip over the bottle top and insert a strip of fabric.
- Make sure the fabric is in contact with the soil.
2. Create a Piggy Bank Made From a Reused Plastic Bottle
Recycling plastic bottles can help you save money in a variety of ways. Make a piggy bank out of plastic bottles and start making money with your creativity. You can paint the entire bottle to conceal the quantity inside. You can also make it transparent so that you can see how much money you’re spending.
3. Make a Beach Bucket From Laundry Detergent Containers
When there’s a mountain of laundry to be done, it’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, when the washer churns through load after load and the detergent bottle runs out, try to save it for a rainy day. It can be cut up and turned into a beach bucket, much like the scooper project above.
4. Vertical Garden
You can use empty drinking bottles to make a vertical garden. In order to do this, you will have to cut a hole in the center of the bottles after holding it flat on the ground, ensure that the cap is still on and fill it with soil, after which you can insert little seedlings and watch them grow over time, but before you do all this ensure that you clean the bottles of whatever substance that was in it before.
Source: Rosenbaum and Luciano Huck
5. Spoon Lamp
This is another fun art and craft venture that you can even bring your little siblings on. To do this you will simply have to collect all those plastic disposable spoons as well as a 1-liter empty plastic bottle, remove the heads from the spoons and glue them all around the bottle until you can barely see anywhere on the bottle.
6. Plastic planters
Have you ever thought about replacing your miniature plant pots with plastic bottles? Well yes, this is an awesome idea. All it takes is just for you to cut the bottle in half, grab some paint to design and decorate, fill it with soil then add your plants in, it s easy as that.
7. Pencil Organizers
If you are actively losing your pens and pencils, there is also a solution for that. You can use plastic bottles to create pencil organizers. All you have to do is to get some plastic bottles and make an opening whether vertically or horizontally, decorate as you wish, and voila your very own pencil organizers.
8. Reuse Plastic Bottles to Make a DIY Sprinkler
Who doesn’t recall running through the front yard sprinkler as a kid? Or trying to cool day after a humid day? Recreate this experience for your children by making a simple DIY sprinkler out of recycled plastic bottles. You can do it by simply poking holes in a 2-liter bottle. Ballpoint pens that are no longer functional can also be recycled to make a more efficient sprinkler.
9. Reuse Coffee Creamer Containers for Snack Storage
Are you looking for a long-term strategy for organizing your kitchen counters? To save space on snack storage, repurpose old bottles into snack containers. They make pouring a breeze, allowing you to take any kind of food with you on the go. Sugar, salt, and other related items can be stored in recycled coffee creamers.
10. Make Airplane Toys From Shampoo Bottles
You must not overlook children. During bath time, keep them busy with airplane toys made from recycled shampoo bottles. That’s what I call going full circle. This project can be accomplished in a number of ways, so use your imagination to paint, stick, and glue various elements to the bottle’s exterior.
I hope these will help all of you to find better use for our plastic bottles instead of just throwing them away the second we are finish. Let us remember that Plastics consistently make up 80% of all marine debris studied. There may now be around 5.25 trillion macro and micro plastic pieces floating in the open ocean. Weighing up to 269,000 tonnes.
Thanks for stopping by and again Happy Global Recycling Day from us to you.
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