Hi Everyone, It is time once again to join together for T over at our hostess Bleubeard and Elizabeth. Just share a drink related photo in your post to join us-link in my sidebar.
Hope everyone had a nice Holiday weekend. Saturday I received surprises in my mail box. A handmade card from our Elizabeth-thank your so much. I love these rocking bunnies, a card from a nearby friend, and a little Easter from my new slow mail friend Cathy that sent me local maple syrup treats. Thank you so much for thinking of me
I spent most of the weekend, especially Sunday, re organizing and cleaning up my very full craft room. It really is a happy spot in the house for me-when the clutter is in control. This is a small room compared to my space I had at our woods home. You can take a look here
Since Earth Day is coming up Friday of this week, I thought I would share links for recycling water bottles into something useful.
Water Bottles are really an issue when it comes to the mountains of plastic they produce, and so many end up in our oceans and waters. This is one item in particular I wish manufacturers would research how to make bottles that will decompose in our compost piles. The world really does use too much plastic for so many things.
There are ways to reuse these plastics to expand their use. I have seen shows where people have tied them together to make floating islands out of recycled materials I found this video too
This link is for kids 56 plastic bottle craft ideas for kids There is allot of fun and creative ideas in this post-here are a few photos from this site
Green Living-20 Ideas
How to build a greenhouse from bottles
House walls made from bottles
This was interesting-they used over 600,000 water bottles to change up the plastic and make into walls for this home
All of these bottles are my drink share, but I also enjoyed a couple of cups of Martha Washington's cocoa hulls one day last week.
I put my hummingbird feeder out on the 15th and we had one visitor on the 16th and also one on the 17th. So the cute little hummers are arriving in the Ozarks.
Updated: Oh and I have just reopened my Etsy shop and I have added a link in my sidebar.
When we moved to the lake I brought everything with me-well I always bring my craft room when ever I have moved since the late '60's smiles. It is time for a little de stash. I am going through books now-I have lots of them. Books are difficult to sell, but I would rather try and find good homes for them by selling first before needing to donate them. I just pulled a big stack that I will begin listing this week. These first books are of surface design on cloth-will be offering free shipping
Happy T Everyone
There are many, many things that can be done with the plastic water bottles, but unfortunately, most of them just get tossed and recycling cannot solve the overproduction. I find it very sad that we find fossils and old vessels from the past giving us an idea of what/who came before us, but all anyone will find in the future from this generation is trash that will not break down for hundreds of years or longer. It really is depressing to think about at times and corporations/companies do not seem eager to change their ways because they are profiting from all the crap. I have seen people making bottle bricks -- you have to pack a plastic bottle tightly with non-recyclable trash and then that is used to build walls of homes. I follow an account on youtube that makes fun planters from plastic bottles. I always worry about how they break down and the toxins that they might emit in our extreme heat so am wary of using them for the animals, though there's now a screw on disc for the large bottles from water dispensers that turns them into watering dishes for birds, etc. A lot of people use those here and I do have one on my balcony. Wishing you a good week.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Tammy, thank you for your thoughts. recycling these plastics for sure is not the answer-they all need to come up with different products that will decompose. I did read that coors beer here will be eliminating those horrible plastic rings on those cans-so that is a small start
DeleteYou have been very busy, Kathy. I love all the recycling ideas. I don't buy plastic bottles any more, I get the glass ones. Sorry your weather is so dreary, hope it soon gets better. Hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteHapp T day!
Good morning Valerie, I love glass too and buy glass when I can Happy T
DeleteI do try to use my water bottle daily, so I don't use the one time plastic much. But so many other things come in plastic. Glad yo got your syrup enjoy
ReplyDeleteWe are in for 1 to 3 inches of snow tonight.
cathy
Yes I don't buy the single serve water bottles, as I have more fun water bottles to use-smiles if we have workers over the summer helping us I do buy a case for them as it is sadly easier.
DeleteOh no for snow-sigh I will not complain any more about our rain -hugs
Plastic is the bane of my existence. Not only is it bad for the landfill, our oceans, and our homes, it is good for Russia. Plastic contains oil, and Russia profits from it. I hope to write a piece on the 23rd about plastic, but right now it is just a thought in my head. This is a wonderful, informative, and productive post for T this week, Kathy.
ReplyDeleteGlad to read you got the card. Looks like your friend really spoiled you with Easter treats!
Have a nice new week!
ReplyDeleteWe try to avoid plastic bottles as we can, but it's helpful to have suggestions for uses for them. Thanks! Happy T Day!
ReplyDeleteHi I much prefer glass too
DeleteHappy T
Love your Tday/EarthDay post Kathy.. It reminds me i haven't started up our recycling since moving to TX.. Recycling here is very limited but i have found it is possible.. One day soon i will start it back up again.. Happy Tday!! Hugs! deb
ReplyDeletethank you It is difficult to recycle here at the lake too
DeleteHappy T
The cocoa tea looks so good. All the best with your etsy shop.
ReplyDeletethank you-I have had it a long time now from soaps to natural dyed fabrics, eco printed clothing--have not sold anything in many years now though-usually a good place to sell products for making things will see how the books go
DeleteLoved seeing all the interesting projects using plastic jugs. We don't have recycling here so it goes right in with our trash.
ReplyDeleteI am going to have a look at your Etsy shop.
Your tea blend sounds good.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
we don't have recycling here either at the lake home. I try to buy glass when possible but we use allot of those gallon water bottles.
DeleteI am just starting to load books in my shop-I am researching prices for the books and then selling on the lower end with free shipping
this is a nice tea for something different Happy T
These are great ideas how to re-use or recycle water bottles. We don't buy and use plastic water bottles and we don't drink soda either; I wish a gallon of milk wouldn't come in a plastic jug. I try to avoid plastic as much as possible, but it is quite a struggle. Everything comes in plastic. Here in our county take-out has to be in compostable containers which is a step in the right direction. Good luck with your Etsy shop.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to avoid plastics and the medical industry uses so much of it too. we don't buy single serve plastic bottles very often at all. gallon of milk in glass would be very heavy but I used to buy it that way years ago-I liked it better in the glass too.
DeleteI like that take out needs to bein compostable containers-they should make that nationwide for sure.
thanks about my shop I haven't opened it back up in years-I used to sell allot of things on there even handmade soaps for awhile.
Happy T
Wow Kathy. You found some great ways to recycle plastic bottles. That bottle greenhouse is pretty cool, as are the bird feeders. This is a great post for Earth Day week, and I really enjoyed it. Now if only I had made a cup of tea to sip as I read. Have a great T day Kathy. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteGood evening Erika, thank you so much-this was fun to look for. I had seen the greenhouse made with the bottles when I was searching for something awhile back-it was too fun not to share Happy T hugs
Deletewow- love the many plastic bottle recycling ideas!! I love the bird feeder one especially:) Your cocoa tea sounds nice...
ReplyDeleteand you have head hummingbirds already? I just put one of my feeders out- earliest ever, but I didn't put the sugar water in yet. Just testing cuz we've never seen one before early May.
Thanks for all the recycling ideas! Happy T day!
Here in sw missouri the hummers begin arriving around april 15th so I put a feeder out then. its been so cold here that I am thinking they may have stopped off somewhere-didn't see any today.
DeleteI liked that bird feeder bottle too and the sprinkler was a cool idea too Happy T
In Germany you pay €0,25 extra for a plastic bottle, bring it back when empty and get the money back.
ReplyDeleteA pain in the "popo" but... it helps Mother Nature - you are right. We fly to Mars and still have this...
Last time in Perth we bought two bottles - as I found a place to refill with drinking water - HA!
Fun - beautiful - projects, though, and... your lake...
Hm. I bought a book, recommended by P - was expensive, was good.
Think I´ll put it in the phone booth for the students to just take.
Maybe a German thing ... here I would need to buy (or have) a parcel, etc, etc, etc, etc....so much time wasted, not worth the 19 bucks the book was for.
Money, time... let´s just have a happy T-Day! Hugs.... Hugz... ;-)
years ago they would have deposits on glass cans etc and same thing return to get money back I have not seen that in years so don't know if still doing that in places in here. I agree enjoy T hugs
DeletePlastic bottle greenhouses are quite popular here, especially in schools, teaching the kids about recycling, growing etc and very easy to quickly collect a lot of bottles for a complete greenhouse when all the kids are collecting! Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx
ReplyDeleteOh wow I love that with the school kids-I had never seen this before I found online. they look like really sturdy greenhouses too-Happy T
DeleteHappy T-day, Kathy. Great info and pictures on water bottles. I watched a TV show on that guy who designs the islands and it was VERY interesting. I would love to live in any of his creations. So innovative. We should all try to make something from them or stop using them. I use very few of them anymore, but used a lot in the past.
ReplyDeleteFun look into your craft room and I need to join you on the declutter. I will be joining you on the cocao shell tea too today since you got me addicted to it! lol. Hugz
Hi That was the probably the show I watched too-that was really something and the base got more solid as filled in with plants etc very cool
DeleteWe do use allot of the gallon water jugs-because we go through allot of distilled water. We picked up a used commercial coffee pot that makes the best coffee-Larry is like our Elizabeth here drinks allot of coffee. since these machines need serviced to clean I use distilled water to keep it free of lime scale etc. but I don't too much else-well thinking about that more we do use the Ice drink bottles to keep around especially in the summer.
Thanks for checking out my craft room-that deep clean on that side is so refreshing now when I go in there. Perfect project for these cold days right now--this is an interesting tea, it was Martha Washingtons preference over coffee that is a cool site of historic colonial teas
Yes, all those plastic water bottles are really a problem. Hubby having chemotherapy finds it difficult to drink tap water. It tastes ‘funny’ he says, so we buy him bottled water to take into the hospital. So all this is making us feel guilty as we really try to be eco conscious.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about all the ways to use plastic bottles. Very inventive.
Happy T Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
Hi Lisca sometimes we just need to use a bit of plastic. here at the lake they don't have recycling bins or I haven't found them yet. and I have not seen water in glass yet It is fun to search ideas to give them a longer life use for something Happy T
DeleteThe Eldest made a very cute skeleton from milk jugs when she was in first grade. We had Mr. Jellybones for a very long time before he wore out and went to the recycle bin. I think manufacturers should go back to glass bottles that could be returned for a fee like they do with the plastic soda bottles, and then the bottles could be sterilized and reused. Just like was done in the past with milk and Coke bottles. Even though we recycle, less than 10% of the plastic is actually recycled. Your teacup is so pretty. Happy T Day.
ReplyDeleteHi CJ I totally agree with you about going back to glass and recycle and sterilize and use again. more modern technology I would think could make lighter glass bottles but still strong.
DeleteI know and even if we reuse the plastic into something else-it still does not go away. Allot of fun projects for kids for sure Happy T
Oh, my goodness! A floating island! I love it, thanks for sharing. I watched the whole thing. Hibiscus=tropical lettuce? I heard of hibiscus tea before, but not the eating of it. Thanks for a great post.
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon, the floating island was so cool wasn't it I saw it on tv that was around an hour program I think-pretty cool how they built it. I was not familiar with hibiscus lettuce either. Happy T
DeleteOH very nice post Kathy. I have never had cocoa tea, sounds interesting. Good luck on you Etsy shop. It's very dark and dreary here too.
ReplyDeleteHi, we finally have sunshine today but it got into the 20's last night brrrr a slow warm up
DeleteHow lovely to receive all those gifts, so kind of E and those maple treats look delicious too! Wow, how amazing are those recycled water bottle makes - thanks for sharing 😀. Hope you catch some photos of the hummingbirds when they visit, it made me smile when you said about them as it made me remember a hummingbird chasing my hubby's brightly coloured t-shirt on our travels to America (smile!). Happy T Day! Hugs Jo x
ReplyDeleteHello Jo, yes these maple syrup treats were wonderful. oh so fun about the hummingbird when you visited America-they are the sweetest little birds. I tried to get a photo but it ended up too blurry I will be sharing for sure-there are not many here just yet we only see one a day right now Happy T
DeleteLove those recycling ideas, trouble is I dont have the space to save all those bottles unless I start the building process immediately
ReplyDeleteBridget #20
What an absolutely fabulous post Kathy! I love Richart Sowa's island. Your found sop many great ways to re-use plastic bottles!
ReplyDeleteSorry I am not a good visitor at the moment - if we go out at all for any length of time I have to recover the next day - ridiculous!!!! Hugs, Chrisx
Hi Chris, I thought that island was very awesome.
DeleteNo worries-take care of You hugs