3 Fun Ways to Upcycle Your Water Bottles and Celebrate Earth Day
Earth Day is all about showing our respect to our planet and celebrating our love for nature. The holiday capitalizes on promoting environmental awareness and making a positive change towards protecting the Earth from reckless negative human impact.
One way to lead a more conscious life in this regard is to adopt some standard recycling practices that will minimize our waste footprint.
Plastics, for example, have become a huge environmental problem. In the USA alone, over 35 billion empty water bottles are thrown away each year, and only 12% of them are being recycled.
In order to handle this problem, we should acknowledge the importance of recycling plastic bottles. Giving a second life to plastics in the shape of clever DIY projects is also another step towards reducing plastic waste.
Here are a few upcycling ideas that could really inspire you and motivate you further to upcycle your water bottles.
Plastic Bottle Bird Feeder
This creative project will both minimize your plastic waste footprint and will benefit the wildlife. Upcycle the bottles you no longer need and build a feeder that will provide nourishment for birds even in the cold winter months.
This is a great family project that your kids would love. It will teach them an important lesson in compassion, and mindfulness of the environment.
To create your own upcycled bird feeder you need a clean, empty plastic bottle, any size will work, a utility knife, a puncturing tool, a couple of 8 to 10 inches long sticks, a screw hook, and glue.
First, screw the hook to the bottle cap and seal it with glue to make sure it stays there for good. Then cut holes in the bottle big enough to fit the sticks in. Make sure both ends of the stick can be used by birds to rest upon while feeding on the seeds in the bottle. Seal the sticks with glue so that the holes don’t get bigger with time.
Move on to cutting feeding ports in the bottle using the utility knife. Each should be 1 to 2 inches above the sticks. The ports should be about ⅛ to ¼ inches wide. Then fill the bottle with seeds and if your ports are too wide seal them with paper tape, and hang the feeder on a tree where the birds can reach it.
Soda Bottle Lantern
Another great idea for upcycling your empty water or soda bottles is to turn them into fun and amazing garden lanterns.
The soda bottle lanterns are a wonderful way to get creative with your kids. Together you could add a romantic feel to your backyard. Such mood lights would definitely make your patio or garden more cozy and magical.
It’s an easy upcycling project: all you need is some plastic water or soda bottles, a sharp pen, scissors, tissue paper, school glue, hole punch, fabric strings, and flameless candles.
Begin by drawing a line around one of your bottles measuring the length you want your lantern to be and then carefully cut around the line. Prepare your glue by mixing 3 parts of it with 1 part of warm water until you get a paste.
Cut your tissue paper in the shapes and sizes you want it and lay the pieces in the glue paste so they can get saturated. Once that’s done, place your tissue paper pieces on the bottle, creating the whimsical designs of your choice, and set the bottle aside to dry.
Finish by punching holes around the rim of the bottle with the puncher, and pass your strings through the holes to create loops that can be tight and used to hang your lanterns. Put your flameless candles inside the lanterns and hang them in your garden to create a celebratory atmosphere.
Bathroom Soap Dispensers
Glass jars and bottles are 100% recyclable, however, the recycling process is quite energy-intensive and not always the most sustainable. To help reduce your glass waste you can instead upcycle your glass bottles and turn them into beautiful vases, or soap dispensers, or even candleholders.
What about crafting a fancy, one-of-a-kind soap dispenser? You can use empty water or beer glass bottles. You’d also need a pump that fits in the bottle of your choice. IT would be great if you go for one that has a locking feature in order to prevent unwanted spillage.
To complete this DIY project simply wash your bottles, cut your pump straw to match the height of the bottle. Make sure you cut the tube at an angle rather than straight across as to ensure that the soap will dispense properly. Then fill your bottle with soap, place your pump in and you’re ready to use your new upcycled soap dispenser.
About 50 years ago we selected the date of 22 April to honor Earth Day. On this day we are all to get back to our roots and celebrate our love and respect for our planet. We are to remember that we should try to live as if each day is Earth Day. We should prioritize our recycling projects. We could make recycling and upcycling fun with some DIY projects and pass the love for nature and environmental awareness to our children. Let’s keep our planet clean together for the new generations to come.
From Poland Spring Water to Fiji Natural Artesian Water, Beverage Universe has all the drinks to buy online and conveniently delivered to your door without having to lift any heavy cases of beverages.