Lifestyle

13 awesome ways to reuse and recycle plastic bottles

Mar 10, 2015

Plastic bottles riddle our lives and more often than not, we pop them in the recycling and think nothing more of them – but do we have to? They actually have a lot of potential! Just check out these 13 awesome ways to reuse them and make bottles into something beautiful and creative for your home.

1. Broom

via Bored Panda

2. DIY jewellery stand

Items needed

2 x one litre bottle
2 x 600ml bottle
knife
scissors
1 x 12-inch threaded rod + bag of same sized nuts and washers

Steps

Cut the bottoms of the bottles with a knife and trim further with scissors
Drill holes the same thickness of the rod in the centre of each tray
If you want the lowest tray to hang your bracelets on, you’ll need to cut between the ‘petals’ of the bottom of the bottle to separate them.
Put each tray between two washes and two nuts and thread through with the threaded rod.
Glue a bead on top and you’re done!

Via EPBOT

3. Bouquet lamp

Items needed

25 plastic bottles of the same size
Heat proof glue or staples

Steps

Cut bottle bottoms off, 2 or so cm from the bottom.
Once all bottoms are cut off, arrange them in the pattern in the picture and glue together or staple
Mould the shape into a sphere and add the bottoms one at a time to keep the shape
Leave a gap for the bulb and make sure it can rest on the lamp once fitted
Secure in place with glue or tape

Via Personalise.co.uk

4. Coin purse

Items needed

2 x plastic bottles
zipper
embroidery needle
regular sewing thread
nylon thread
adhesive tape
scissors

Steps

Cut the base of each bottle
Create a paper guide for the zipper stitching by measuring the circumference of the base – it should be the same length as your zipper.
Cut two pieces of paper the same length as the bottle base around.
Mark evenly spaced holes around the whole length of paper.
Attach to base with tape and make sure straight.
Use the thick needle to poke holes through where you’ve marked, all the way around and repeat
Pull off the paper and get ready to put the zipper in place
Unzip the zipper and attack with tape as you thread the needle through the holes
Overlap the fabric zipper at the ends

Via Flickr

5. Curtains/room dividers

Items needed

30-50 plastic bottles (same size and colour)
Scissors
Needle
Metal rings or nylon wire or tag ties
Curtain rod and rings

Steps

Cut the bottom of the bottles to look like plastic flowers
Use the needle to make holes in the four edges of the bottom
join the bottles using the metal rings/nylon wire/tag ties
When you finish the size you need, tie the curtain rings to the top and hang on the rod

Via So Creative Things

6. Bathroom containers

Items needed

Knife saw
Scissors
Clothes iron

Steps

Saw the bottle at the desired height – you can make your containers as deep or as shallow as you like
Trim edges with scissors to even up
Put iron on maximum temperature and then place the bottle edges on the iron very briefly to get a rounded edge
Fill with cosmetics

Via Pluii

7. Owl vases

Items needed

2 x plastic bottles
white and black acrylic paint
2 x paint brushes, one thick and one thin

Steps

Cut the plastic bottles in half
Paint one white and one black
Draw the owl pattern in the photo with the opposite colour

Via Amazing Interior Design

11. Sprinkler

Items needed

push pin
bamboo skewer
1 x clean, empty 2L soft drink bottle
3/4 inch female x 3/4 female swivel hose adapter (from plumbing section)
extra hose washers

Steps

Rinse the bottle and take off the label
Put one of the red washers inside one side of the adapter (the side that is going to fit over the bottle lip) and secure tightly
Take push pin and poke 8 holes along one side of the bottle and then take the skewer to widen each of the holes
Attach the the garden hose!

Via Clever Crafty Cookin Mama