Watch any news channel and chances are you will hear about another disturbing overflow of plastic and other garbage polluting our environment. While it may seem daunting to overcome the damage that has been done, there is strength in everyone pitching in, in their own way, to reduce garbage and begin to reverse the effects of not recycling.
- Ensure no plastic bottle ends up in the garbage and put empties into the recycle bin, or return your stash for refund.
- Get creative with kids and make old plastic containers into fun new toys. YouTube has endless inspiration to get kids inventing cool new creations. The most inventive one I’ve seen is a jet pack for a children’s Halloween costume made out of old bleach containers. The ideas are endless.
- Use old plastic bottles as containers for a hanging wall garden. Fill with soil and seeds and watch your garden grow.
- Glue old bottle caps together to create uniform new containers for your office space.
- Cut the top of a laundry soap bottle and give your child a cool recycled beach scoop for making sand castles at the beach. How groovy is that?
- An old shampoo bottle can be cut in half to be recycled as a charging station to hold your phone.
- Empty spice containers can be recycled as new spice containers and save you money at the same time! Simply wash when empty, buy spices at a lower price in bags, then add to old spice containers and reuse.
- Recycle old coffee creamer containers by cleaning, then use as snack containers. They pour out snack portions perfectly.
- Reuse old glass jars by filling with tea lights and creating ambience in your living space, indoors or out. Cluster varying sizes and heights for effect.
- The tin tops of cans or jars are perfect for using as garden labels (write on the tops with black permanent marker). Simply hammer a small hole with a nail and it’s ready to hang.
- Are stacks of old magazines or maps taking up much needed storage space? Create a feature wall in your office space by wallpapering one area featuring your favourite places or themes.
- Old egg cartons make excellent organizational storage containers for small objects like paper clips, thumb tacks, and other small items that tend to spill over in drawers.
- Looking to organize your garage or garden space? Spray paint old tin cans and attach to a wall for instant organizational container space for all small tools and garden seeds.
- Instead of throwing away a plate that broke or chipped, learn the art of making a mosaic instead.
- Glass jars and bottles make excellent vases and can easily be embellished with raffia and ribbons to match any décor.
- Use old tools and other metal objects like an artist and create an amazing new sculpture out of used parts.
- Don’t throw away those old wine corks; recycle them into a new bulletin board.
- Glass containers can also be repurposed into new bookends by filling with sand and seashells or other cools objects of your choosing.
- You may think an old wooden chair or stool have seen better days until you sand off the old layers and cover it with a fresh new coat of paint.
- Every Christmas take your stack of greeting cards and snip gift tags for next year’s gifts. Use a hole punch for attaching with ribbon to presents.
Recycling must be a way of life for everyone to positively affect our environment. It doesn’t take long to create a new habit. Set up your own system that works for you and your family and help reduce our environmental impact. Cleaner oceans, rivers, and landfills will prevail if we all pitch in and do our part.
