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6 Ways Your Can Reuse Everyday Plastic Items [Slideshow]

Stephany

Jan 5, 2020

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From milk jugs to cleaning products to water bottles, our homes are filled with plastic packaging. We are often at a loss about what to do with all this plastic and end up throwing it away.

We’ve talked about ridding the world of plastic straws and helping to rid the sea of plastic. Now we’re going to talk about how to reuse, repurpose, and even upcycle everyday plastic items.

Reuse, Repurpose, Upcycle

Reusing everyday plastic items is much easier than many people realize, and it can save you a bundle. Reusing is excellent for the environment and helps keep single-use plastic out of the landfills.

Don’t know where to start? We got you. With so many creative ways to reuse and repurpose everyday plastic items, we’re giving you a GR8 guide to getting you started.

Image by www.moomah.com

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Make a Hanging Garden

A hanging garden makes the most of your vertical space, conserves water, and upcycles plastic bottles all at the same time. And it makes a great hanging feature for your outdoor space. You need 3 plastic containers, approximately the same size, cardboard, seedlings, string, and soil.

Get directions for creating a hanging garden here.

Image by www.deperategardner.com

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Self-Watering Seed Starter Pots

If you want to get a head start on your garden, or just grow some fresh herbs inside, try making these self-watering seed starter pots out of 2-liter plastic soda bottles. They take only a few minutes to make, and give your tender young plants the perfect environment in which to thrive.

Get directions for making self-watering seed starter pots here.

Image by plasticbagcrafts.com

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Crochet a Grocery Bag from Old Plastic Grocery Bags

This one’s pretty meta. Make a grocery bag out of old grocery bags. First, you make plarn (plastic + yarn = plarn), and then you crochet it into a grocery bag. You’ve saved a boatload of grocery bags from the landfill, and the bag you make is much stronger and more versatile than the bags you made it from. Each bag uses about 200-250 plastic grocery bags, and the finished bag is about 13x9 inches.

Get directions for a simple plarn grocery bag here.

Image by http://etsylabs.blogspot.com

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Fuse Plastic Bags and Make Things

Once you learn how to fuse plastic bags into a new and unique material, there’s no end to the things you can do with it. You’ll need plastic bags, parchment paper, and an iron. Then the fun begins. You can turn your fused bags into a grocery bag, a la the plarn tote above. Or get even more creative and try your hand at outdoor floor cushions, wallets, makeup bags, or whatever else you can think of.

Check out the tutorial on how to fuse plastic bags here.

Image by www.frugelegance.com

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Turn Coffee Creamer Containers into Storage Containers

Save your used coffee creamer bottles and turn them into storage containers for your pantry items. Remove the label, wash thoroughly, and fill them with things such as flour, sugar, popcorn, chocolate chips – anything that can pour out easily.

Get directions for turning coffee creamer containers into storage containers here.

Image by Jane Yoo / Rover.com

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Water Bottle Crunchy Dog Toy

This is a super easy dog toy to make, all you need is an empty plastic water bottle, an old sock, and scissors. No sewing required. If your dog is a rough player or heavy chewer, keep an eye on the toy and replace the bottle when needed.

Get directions for the crunchy dog toy here.

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Stephany

GR8NESS Writer

Stephany is a GR8NESS Contributing Editor who writes about pet care, CBD, stress, self care, meditation, time management, brain training, and natural remedies with a focus on the science behind it all. She has three dogs, three cats, walks half marathons, and practices yoga and powerlifting. You can often find her training her dogs or experimenting with new flavors in the kitchen.

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