taking the work out of recycling

3 Things You Can Make With Old Plastic Soda Bottles

Sometimes, recycling means sending everything off to a recycling plant. Other times, it means finding ways to reuse items at home. If you have a few old plastic soda bottles laying around, consider reusing them to make one of these fun and functional items.

A Bug Trap

Instead of spraying yourself with mosquito repellent, try luring bugs away from your outdoor hangout area with this homemade trap. Take a 2-liter soda bottle, and use a knife to cut the bottom off, leaving it at a final height of about 4 inches. Use a hole punch to punch 4 holes into the "top" of the cut soda bottle. Space them evenly apart.

Tie a piece of yarn or twine through each of the holes. Then, tie the four piece of yard together. Prepare a mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar to 1 cup water. Hang the soda bottle near your outdoor hangout area, pour in the sugar mixture, and watch the bugs flock to it.

Desk Supply Caddy

You can store paperclips, rubber bands, and more in this recycled desk caddy. Cut the bottoms off of 6 1-liter soda bottles. Leave only about 2 inches of height on each one. Then, set them out in a 2-bottle by 3-bottle rectangle. Use a hot glue gun to attach them in this manner. The six bottle bottoms should all be connected.

Paint the entire caddy with your favorite color of acrylic paint. Use a sponge brush to ensure the paint is distributed evenly. Let it dry, and then start loading it with your desk supplies.

Bowling Pins

On a rainy day, you and your kids can enjoy some indoor bowling. Add about 1/2 cup of sand to each of six 2-liter soda bottles. This is just enough to hold them upright without making them too hard to knock over. Screw on the lids. Then, use acrylic paint to decorate the bottles however you like. You could paint them like regular bowling pins, or be a bit more creative. You could even give the pins some personality by gluing on googly eyes and smiles with a hot glue gun.

When the pins are dry, you can use them to bowl. Choose a gentle ball, like a soft playground ball, and roll it across your living room to knock down the set-up pins. Using a real bowling ball indoors is too dangerous!

With these ideas, you don't have to feel bad about the old soda bottles you have -- they'll be recycled into to good use again.