Round-up of fave plastic recycling projects

Plastic is our worst enemy. It might be great for packaging, but with a life in excess of 450 years, it's definitely not good for planet Earth. I do my best to recycle plastic in as many ways as I can and here are some more great craft projects that use plastic. I think it's fantastic that in the last year so many people have become involved in upcycling plastic in new ways.

 

shabbybeachnest.com

Feed humming birds with this plastic bottle upcycled into a nectar feeder. The flower around the bottle head is made using melted plastic spoons... amazing!

Still one of my favourite recycling projects and one that I do quite often... plastic milk bottles repurposed into nifty storage containers. You could make these containers for storing small delicates in drawers, packing away sewing accessories so that they are easy to find, use them as lunchboxes (yes, they are quite strong), and so many other uses.

danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-recycled-grocery-totes.html

Did you know that you can melt plastic bags to make your own bag designs? Dana made it shows how to fuse layers of old grocery bags together to create a stronger 'fabric' for new bags.

 

 

stuarthaygarth.com

Drinking mineral water has become such an integral part of contemporary culture. There are many brands available and which brand you drink has become a lifestyle statement.

One of the repercussions of this healthy drinking culture is the fact that the empty plastic water bottles are littering our landscapes and filling up our landfill sites at an incredible rate. Stuart Haygarth created a new piece of work that focused on the sculptural beauty of plastic water containers.

Use plastic shopping bags to make a skipping rope, or let the kids make their own skipping ropes. Plastic grocery bags are made into long lengths of plarn and then braided together to make a strong plastic rope.

There are so many ways to be creative and repurpose plastic cold drink bottles. I have used them to make tea, coffee and sugar canisters, to make piggy banks, to make a chandelier and a standing lamp, and I just love the cute storage containers above that I found. I couldn't find any instructions to make the containers, but you simply cut two bottles close to the base so that they fit snugly together.

Plastic juice bottles also make cute money banks. I made a pig and a cow from Oros orange squash bottles.

Be more creative with household plastic waste. Previously featured on Home-Dzine, Eric Barlcay transforms plastic containers into art creations and home decor accessories.