Selfsufficientish.com

... I'm into my second week of reducing my reliance on plastic and one of my quests was to buy milk in glass bottles but this works out at an astonishing £667.04 for a years average milk use for my household where as buying in plastic from Asda equates to a cost of £417.69 but I'm left with the bottles. The rumour is that recycling is doomed and plastic are being dumped into land fill sites so I need to reduce and reuse rather than recycle.

So the question is ........

101 uses for a plastic milk bottle are .......

1.

Cleaned out, they can be good for holding home-made laundry liquid, or powder.

Bottoms cut off, and turned upside down: a funnel

Tops cut off, and a candle inside: a luminary (as they are called, in these parts)

Keep one for ant poison, well labelled

Plant feeding mixture: well labelled

Cut up into strips and use for plant labels.

7 cut carefully into a scoop with handle for scooping out feed etc

LBR wrote:Cleaned out, they can be good for holding home-made laundry liquid, or powder.

Bottoms cut off, and turned upside down: a funnel

Tops cut off, and a candle inside: a luminary (as they are called, in these parts)

Keep one for ant poison, well labelled

Plant feeding mixture: well labelled

The home made laundry liquid is rattling my " I wonder what happins if.... part of my brains so in recipies would the green fairy soap do or does it have to be one of the posh baby type "pure" soaps?

8. Home-made wine when you've run out of prettier bottles
9. put on top of canes to scare birds away

10. carrying rainwater from a water butt into the house to water the plants or herbs (especially useful if you are in a first floor flat and the water butt in downstairs)

Cut off top & bottom, place over delicate seedlings for protection. Leave in one piece, c/w lid & use to "bulk-out" the freezer, if contents are getting low.

12. They make sturdy leak-free beer pitchers at picnics/festivals

bryony wrote:12. They make sturdy leak-free beer pitchers at picnics/festivals

Oooh! No! You need the 6 pint bottles for that

pumpy wrote:Leave in one piece, c/w lid & use to "bulk-out" the freezer, if contents are getting low.

Doh ! I'm an idiot ... we both are idiots (OH & me).
I always make bulk soup for OH to take for lunch during the winter and she is always looking for suitable sized freezer containers ... never even gave a thought to empty milk containers, so a big thanks for that

Rosendula wrote:9. put on top of canes to scare birds away

9a, put on top of canes to stop you poking your eye out.

13. Use to make up a bulk lot of fruit squash & pop in the fridge, especially in summer - nice cold squash!

14. This is for the crafters... carefully cut around 3 sides of the bottle, and fold the 4th side to make a sort of 'hinge'.
Pop a ball of yarn inside, feed the yarn end thru the open top & tape the bottle closed. Now you can have the bottle on the floor & the yarn won't go scooting all over the place while you are knitting/crocheting!!

15. Use one for storing buttons/press studs/even cotton reels as long as the top is big enough!

16. Great storage containers for lentils/oats/raisins/ anything else that comes in packets.....

17. Keep one with water and scrrenwash mixed in the car for filling up the washer bottle. They get emptied so quickly in this weather and salt on the windscreen can completely obscure your vision if your washer isn't working.

18. Chop the tops off and use the bottoms to start your seedlings in.

19. As well as making plant labels, make labels for jam or gift tags.

20. Cut interesting shapes out of them (use a punch or craft cutting machine if you have access to one). Thread them together to make jewellery or belts or make funky buttons, brooches or hair ornaments.

21. You can decorate the cut out shapes with peel-offs and coloured permanent markers. Make book marks, christmas decorations, garden or children's mobiles.

22. Use the lids in the bottom of your plant pots upside down. They make tiny little water reservoirs that stop the plants drying out.

Oh - what a shame I get my milk from the milkman. Can you send me a few so that I can play too?

On the other hand you might discover that what you are saving in money is actually costing you more in time to go to the supermarket. So it might actually be cheaper to have the milk delivered in glass bottles after all.

Cheers
Zoe

Thomzo wrote:
On the other hand you might discover that what you are saving in money is actually costing you more in time to go to the supermarket. So it might actually be cheaper to have the milk delivered in glass bottles after all.

That's just as I figured, it is more pricey but cost less on petrol and time.... and keep the local kids in a part time Job (seems to be all 15/16 year old kids working on our round)

23. cut a slit in the lid and use as a piggy bank

>>>>SNIP

Thomzo wrote:
Oh - what a shame I get my milk from the milkman. Can you send me a few so that I can play too?

On the other hand you might discover that what you are saving in money is actually costing you more in time to go to the supermarket. So it might actually be cheaper to have the milk delivered in glass bottles after all.

Cheers
Zoe

some good ideas from everyone here so thanks to all. As for the cost Zoe, it was around £270 per year extra to have 3 pints delivered per day in glass bottles over plastic from shop. As I shop most days it's not a chore but also I have a stash in the freezer so it's not a problem when compaired to the price of doorstep deliveries for me.....sadly but thanks for the point.