When you throw your old plastic water bottles away they end up at the dump. Once there they can take well over 100 years to decompose. As they do decompose they release harmful methane gas in the air, and toxic sludge into the ground that ultimately ends up in our groundwater, and lakes/beeches. So instead of pitching your old plastic water bottles use one of our 5 ultra cool uses for your old plastic water bottles, and you’ll be on your way to eco-bliss.
- As a substitutes for sandbags. If you live in a place that receives a good amount of annual snowfall chances are you put sandbags in your trunk in the winter to gain better tractions. The downside to sandbags are they can bust open creating a mess, plus they are really heavy. Why not simply pour sand in your old plastic bottles, not to mention this way when you get stuck in the snow you can simply unscrew the cap on the bottle and dump the sand around your tires, and away you go!
- As a Water balloon filler. Instead of dropping five bucks on a water balloon filler, simply pour some water in your old bottles, place the water balloon over the spout and tip over the bottle with the balloon still attached to fill your ballon.
- Use a Piggy bank. Who doesn’t need to save money these days. Instead of dropping your hard earned dollars on a piggy bank why not create a green piggy bank by refilling your old plastic bottles with your change. BTW you may have to cut off a portion of the top to be able to fit quarters, and nickels down the hole.
- Use as ice packs. Fill your bottle about 2/3’s of the way up (water expands when it freezes) then place in the fridge. Then when you need an ice pack just grab your old bottle. Plus once the ice melts you could even drink the water.
- As a funnel. Whether your working on your car or mixing together those pancakes made with hemp, everyone has a need for a funnel. Just cut the top off your bottle and you’ve got one!
Got your own unique uses for old plastic water bottles? Tell us about it! You can also check out this site for more cool ways to reuse your old water bottles. Also please note the jury still seems to be out regarding whether its a good idea or not to reuse plastic water bottles.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 am
Good ideas! I’ve been wanting to make a piggy bank!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I found a couple more good things to make with old bottles for ya.
I made an incubator for some seeds I’m germinating. Hack a bottle in half, drop a Jiffy starter in the bottom, and pour in some water. Allow the Jiffy starter to expand fully, and make sure there’s a little water left on the bottom. Then stick your seed down in the hole.
Cut a vertical split up the side of the top of the bottle so you can force it down over the bottom (this can take some wranglin’). Last of all, I like to unscrew the cap (where you can easily add water if needed, but you shouldn’t need to) and squirt in just a little water from a spray bottle. This gets water on the sides, which encourages evaporation/condensation, and jumpstarts the process.
All you need to do is keep it out of strong sunlight, warmish, and make sure the bottle has some condensation on it all the time (which indicates it’s not drying out).
Of course once the seeds start to sprout you’ll want to let them dry out a bit or they’ll rot. Start taking the top of a little at a time to “harden” them off and then you can transplant the who Jiffy starter into it’s final growing spot.
I also saw this: http://www.spike.com/profile/babblin5/video/2928522
Cool video on making a 2-liter into an LED powered mini-greenhouse.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
LOL I like the video Lucius, solid advice…if you only could have told me this a week ago before my house plant died
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I used a push pin to poke a few holes in the cap of a 1 liter bottle, and now use it to water my potted hot pepper plants.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I use water bottles to water my fruit trees below the mulch. Just cut off bottom of bottle, get rid of lid and stick upside down into the soil next to your tree. You can now water the tree closer to the roots. This is particularly useful when you live in an area with limited rainfall where you cannot afford losing water through run-off.