DIY Crafts Plastic Bottles

As the saying goes, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." Perhaps it's no coincidence that the words are in that order. Before you think about reusing plastic water bottles, first think about ways you can reduce the use of them in the first place. For example, instead of buying bottled water, you could filter your water instead, and carry a reusable stainless-steel canteen with you on-the go. If you must buy bottled water, however, before throwing those used plastic bottles into the recycling bin, you may want to first think about ways you can reuse them. Here are just a few suggestions.

Make your own Holiday Decorations

Holiday decorations can be expensive. Between streamers, banners, Christmas ornaments, and Halloween displays, the cost adds up. Instead of taking the recycling bin out to the curb this year, you can use the empty water and soda bottles and cans to make your own decorations. Water bottles have been used before to make Christmas angels, tree ornaments, Halloween jack-o-lanterns, Thanksgiving pilgrims, Easter baskets and much more. Instructions for these crafts can easily be found on the web. All you have to do is type the idea into a search engine and see what results pop up.

Reuse Them for Educational Purposes

Water bottles can also be used for school science projects. Make your own plastic bottle tornado or ocean display. You can even build and house your own ant farm inside of a plastic bottle as a hobby. A plastic bottle rain gauge makes a great tool for any scientific study on weather. If you're a parent who would normally throw your old bottles into the recycling bin, save them for your children's educational use instead.

Kids Arts and Crafts Projects - Bottled Water

When your kids want a break from educational experiments, they can still use old bottles for arts and craft projects, such as plastic bottle animals, dolls and noise makers. Fill old liter bottles with sand, and create a miniature bowling alley in your garage or outside on your driveway. Why buy your kids a toy cell phone, when you can string two plastic bottles together to create an old-style telephone?

Practical Everyday Items Made from Empty Water Bottles

If you're not in to crafty projects, you can reuse old water bottles for practical, everyday purposes. Make your own ice pack for injuries. A plastic bottle funnel can be put to use in the kitchen. You could even made a pool raft using an abundance of old bottles, a fishing net and painted plywood. For more specific information with links to detailed instructions for a variety of projects using empty bottles, view this article: " How to Reuse Plastic Water Bottles."

Selwa writes for Filters Fast, a leading retailer of air filters, water filters and many other related filtration products. She has a passion for the debate on bottled water vs. tap water, along with other environmental issues, and reflects these interests in her writing.