- April 22 is Earth Day, a time to consider our impact on the environment.
- There are easy ways to give items in your home a second life, while also saving you money.
- Cardboard boxes, food scraps, and plastic bottles can all be reused in creative ways.
Now that it's spring, turn empty juice or soda bottles into bird feeders.
Only 10% of plastic bottles produced are actually recycled, according to a 2020 documentary from Frontline and PBS.
They can also be put to use in your home — for example, you can fill them with birdseed. Then, cut a couple of inch-wide slits for birds to stick their heads in.
Here's a step-by-step guide for this child-friendly activity.
Plastic soda and water bottles can also be used as planters for growing flowers and vegetables, like lettuce, in the garden.
To create a pot, the easiest method is to cut the top off the bottle so you are left with a 3-inch deep cup. Use a nail to poke a few holes in the bottom, then fill your bottle with dirt or a seed-starting kit and some water. Finally, add in your seeds and place your new planter in the garden.
Another method is to cut a slit in a plastic water bottle. Using the horizontal slit method is ideal for plants like lettuce that may require 6 to 8 inches between each seed.
Your old plastic milk jugs can also be cut and transformed into scoops for dog food.
Milk jugs already have a built-in handle, making them ideal for scooping pet food. Simply cut the base of the jug, but angle the cut so the side opposite the handle is longer.
This hack works for gallon or half-gallon containers.
If you want to plant an herb garden, an egg carton is a great tool to get your seeds started.
Start by picking out a couple of seeds of your favorite herbs. Then, fill your egg carton with soil and sow each seed depending on the herb's requirements. Finally, give your seeds a bit of water, sunlight, and time to sprout.
Once your seeds have sprouted, you can tear off each paper cup and plant them directly in your garden or pot. Egg cartons make for an easy option because the cardboard will break down on its own as your plant roots itself in its new pot.
If you have young kids who snack on clementines, hold on to the mesh packaging and use it to store bath toys.
Attach two hooks to the walls of your bathroom and fill the mesh bags with your children's bath toys. The mesh easily drains the water and is already designed to support a decent amount of weight.
Hello Homestead has some other creative uses for these mesh bags.
Also try saving the orange peels, as well as other fruit and vegetable scraps, which can be used to make colorful clothing dye.
Try getting the most out of your food before throwing it away by using the food scraps to make unique shades of clothing dye.
Black beans create a chalky indigo blue, avocado peels and pits create a light shade of pink, tangerine peels give way to a light orange, and pomegranate skins make a dark green.
Not only does reusing your food scraps make for a creative project, but the natural dye is better for the environment. It requires less waste and eliminates any toxic runoff into the grass.
To make the dye, start by soaking your ingredient of choice in water overnight. Drain the now-colored water and compost or discard the leftover food scraps.
Then, soak your fabric of choice in a fixative, which is just a couple of teaspoons of alum (found in the spice aisle) and boiling water to help it dissolve. This mixture is then added to a pot of cold water, which your fabric will soak to help the dye stick later on.
Finally, dunk the fabric into your dye and leave it to soak for a few hours until you are happy with the color. Then rinse it in cold water and hang it to dry.
Those vegetable scraps can also be used to make your own homemade stock.
Whenever you're cutting vegetables, put the skins and other scraps into a large bag that can be stashed in your freezer until you're ready to make stock.
Scraps from vegetables including carrots, tomatoes, herbs, mushrooms, and onions (including the skin) can make for a flavorful stock, while also saving you money.
Here's a detailed guide from Serious Eats with more information, including veggies that shouldn't be used.
Keep your glass jars, which are great for holding toiletries next to your bathroom sink.
It's much easier to buy Q-tips or cotton balls in large bags, but keeping a huge plastic bag on your sink is not ideal. A quick solution is to save your glass jelly jars, peel off the label, and use them for storage.
To easily remove a label, fill a pot with water and a squeeze of dish soap and place it on high heat. Then allow your jar to soak as the water simmers, and the label should fall right off.
The large plastic bags can also be saved and used to hold your toothpaste or other liquid products when you travel, so that if they explode, they won't stain a toiletry bag.
If your grocery store offers bulk options, you can decorate your countertop with glass jars full of dry ingredients.
Try to keep your kitchen plastic-free by storing bulk dry goods in reusable glass jars and containers. According to The Washington Post, glass is the best air-tight option. It's odor-free and easy to clean, making it the perfect candidate for kitchen storage.
Glass wine bottles, condiment jars, and jelly containers can also be used to store your kitchen essentials.
Smaller-sized jelly jars are perfect for keeping spices, which you can also buy in bulk to save money and packaging.
Wine and glass bottles with narrow spouts are not only great for storage, but also convenient for pouring your ingredients out in a controlled manner when it comes time to cook.
Alternatively, you can use your glass jars to make custom candles.
Making candles is an easy way to repurpose old glass jars. All you need to do is purchase soy wax flakes and melt them over low heat. Then color your candle by adding in old crayons, and drop in essential oils for scent.
If you or your children like getting crafty, cut down on waste by using an old egg carton as a makeshift paint palette.
If you usually squirt paint onto a plate, you'll notice that space becomes limited quickly and lots of paint goes to waste.
An easy solution is to use an old egg carton, which already has distinct indents for each color. Use the lid of the carton as a space to mix and blend colors.
Instead of throwing out the cardboard roll in the center of your toilet paper and paper towels, try reusing it as a pencil holder on your or your child's desk.
The cardboard roll inside your toilet paper is the perfect height to store pens on your desk. Reusing the cardboard is not only sustainable, but also gives you the creative freedom to customize it to match your space.
First, find an old cereal box or loose cardboard and cut it into a base for your roll. Decorate your base and roll with paint, tissue paper, glitter, or anything colorful you have on hand. Use a hot glue gun or super glue to secure the roll to the base, and you have a crafty new storage option for all your desk supplies.
Or use the roll to organize your wires or shoelaces.
Storing your wires, shoelaces, hair ribbons, or other accessories that usually end up tangled on the floor is a great hack.
When dealing with electronics, it helps to label each roll so you don't have to untangle the wire to figure out what it's for.
If you want to get creative but don't have many materials, you or your children can cut up old magazines or newspapers for collages.
Instead of letting your mail collect dust on the counter or dumping it directly into the trash, try looking at it through a creative lens. The advertisements and bold fonts could be transformed into a mesmerizing collage with just a pair of scissors and some glue.
Another trick for when you want to be creative: Old cardboard boxes can serve as a sturdy base for any art project.
When dealing with watery paint or lots of glue, paper is often too thin and will curl at the edges as it dries. Instead of splurging on canvas, simply cut your old cardboard boxes into the perfect backdrop.
If you want a neutral background, give your cardboard a few coats of black or white paint before you start your project.
Leftover newspaper or paper grocery bags can also be reused as gift wrap for birthdays and holidays.
Wrapping paper creates a huge amount of extra waste. Around the holiday season, Americans throw away 25% more trash than usual, and that extra waste adds up to 25 millions tons of garbage.
Next time you are celebrating a birthday or holiday, try wrapping your gifts with newspaper or paper grocery bags. Not only is this method more sustainable, but it'll also save you money and a trip to the store.