Creative Ways to Reuse Plastic Bottles

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Why Recycle Plastic Bottles

If you're wondering why recycling bottles is important, the answer can best be stated in the form of a fact. 60 million plastic bottles are thrown away every day in the US alone. According to BanTheBottle.net, 50 billion plastic bottles are used every year by Americans, and since the recycling rate is only 23 percent, there are 38 billion plastic bottles thrown out every year. These bottles end up in landfills, and are not biodegradable. They'll be around for decades, producing nothing but an environmental disaster.

Steer Clear of Plastic Bottles (if you can!)

It might be tough to do, but if you can stay away from using plastic bottles, at least you won't be contributing to the plastic bottle usage problem yourself. Just think… if everyone did that, there wouldn't be a problem at all! To cut down on your plastic bottle usage, you could always try carrying a refillable bottle. This is really great for the environment AND for you, because you won't be using as much plastic and you'll be able to put anything you want in it. No more water for you! Fill it up with some juice! Go wild!

How to Recycle Your Plastic Bottles the Fun Way

Sure, anyone can recycle plastic bottles. You just put them in the recycling bin at school or in your house. Simple… and boring. There's got to be a better way to recycle those old plastic bottles and make a new use out of them. Here are some great ideas to help you do just that.

Water Bottle Vase - Your water bottle was made to hold, you guessed it, water. Just because it's done holding water for you to drink doesn't mean that it has to be done doing its job though. There are flowers that need water, and your water bottle is just the water bottle for the job. This is pretty simple, and how elaborate you make your vase is up to you. There are more directions in a link below, but just know that all this takes is cutting off the top of the plastic bottle so that flowers can fit in it. After that, it's just a matter of the amount of the amount of effort you want to put in. You can draw with permanent marker right on the bottle, or wrap it in paper and draw on that. Or maybe you don't want to draw at all. In that case, wrap it in gift wrap.

Make a Fish - As we've already said, plastic bottles pose an environmental risk. This is as true for us on land as it is for fish in the sea, so nothing says "I'm doing my part for the environment" quite like creating a fish out of the very thing that threatens their existence. The cool thing about making a fish from a plastic bottle is that you can use the same plastic bottle you used to create your vase, as we'd be using the part you cut off. There are more detailed instructions below in a link, but pretty much all you do is paint the top half of a plastic bottle with the very top being the fish's mouth. You can decorate it any way you'd like… make it fun!

Wind Chimes - Once again, we've linked to the directions below, but to help you decide, here's what you need to know. The best thing about these wind chimes is that they take one of the biggest threats to the environment and turns it into a celebration of it. Whereas the last two project ideas only required the bottles and something to decorate them with, you're going to need some more materials to make these wind chimes. What you'll need depends on how elaborate you want to make them, but the parts of the chimes that make noise will be what you decide to hang off the plastic bottles, so bring your best noise makers and make something that sings!

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