Plastic is a problem and it has been for a while, but thanks to the work of many environmentalists, we are finally seeing the frightening depth of this issue. Plastic is a great material for many reasons but we need to be conscious of our buying habits and lifestyle choices: single-use plastic needs to be a thing of the past. Recycling plastic bottles is good but it’s not enough. The amount of plastic found in packaging these days is utterly shocking and more often than not, this is single-use plastic that cannot be recycled. Recycle, reuse, reduce. If you can’t recycle it, but must buy it, think about reusing it. There are so many great ways to reuse your plastic and today I wanted to show you what I have done recently to reuse some of my plastic waste.
I was strolling through Pinterest the other day looking for eco-club activities to do on my next placement and I came across a few plastic bottle planters and decided I wanted to reuse my plastic bottles. I have reduced the amount of plastic bottles I buy, but sometimes I forget my water bottle and need to buy one from the shop. I’m human it happens, so I had a few plastic bottles in my recycling bin. Before I start, some people might say ‘but you’re not using all of the bottle, what about the scraps?’ – There are ways you can use the entire bottle but my bottles were a bit of a weird shape so I couldn’t use them all. Luckily, they’re plastic bottles and so can be recycled so just pop the scraps into your recycling bin like you would normally.
I went and picked up some spray paint because I wanted to jazz mine up a little bit, but you can just have them plain too. If you’re local to Ormskirk, I picked these up at the paint store that’s just down the road from the library. The girls in there are really great and they advised me to pick up some plastic primer so the paint doesn’t chip away over time.
I actually picked most this stuff up from home bargains. They have a really good gardening section and I got the herbs from B&M Bargains who have a variety of different herbs and flowers to grow yourself. I picked up some compost and some plant food and came home very excited to grow my own greens!
They’re such an easy way to reuse your plastic bottles and also save money on herbs and flowers. I had a lot of fun doing this and it didn’t cost much at all. Thanks for reading and I really hope you try this out, or at least just make better decisions about plastic!
Amy