How to Recycle Food Containers

We all are constantly reminded of our increasingly overcrowded landfills. While I am not a completely organic housewife, I do like to reuse items. If nothing else, because it is economical to do so! (recycling pop cans is profitable!)But, if you look, you are throwing away some pretty neat containers. My favorite craft show, Creative Living with Aleene, was on many years ago and featured Heidi taking recycling craft challenges from viewers. Viewers actually sent their trash in and expected Heidi to work her crafting magic! It was everyone's favorite segment on the show!

Some items are obvious in their possibilities. We all line trash cans with grocery bags, store left-overs in margarine bowls, (perfect for storing bologna, too!), and drink out of jelly jars. Do you know anyone who doesn't reuse gift bags instead of using wrapping paper? We use old toothbrushes to scrub the grout, keep dryer softener sheets for drawer scents, store buttons and sewing supplies in those metal cookie tins, feed and water the cat out of a take out salad bowl, and use those large plastic containers with handles for mop buckets! But what creative things can we do with these containers that mount up in every kitchen? Maybe we could even use them in a decorative way? Kind of like the rugs made out of crocheting with strips of plastic bags!

Today I noticed an empty oatmeal container on my counter. It is a stiff cardboard and has a plastic lid. I started to throw it away, and the thought occurred to me how much fun it would be to decorate it to wrap a gift in. I am from the generation of decoupage and mod podge! For those of you unfamiliar with the terms, it involves glueing paper on and brushing a substance like mod podge or a watered down glue over the top .

The said container would also make a great storage for pasta or flour, etc. While they might not last indefinitely, they would be good for holding dry items like cereal, rice, etc to keep out rodents. Great storage for knitting needles, ink pens, etc....You could decorate it and cut a slit in the top for a bank....or better yet, a swear box. (You place a quarter in every time you swear!)

Plastic coffee containers with a hand thing on the side sculpted in are great for people like me with problems with their hands. I put all my heavy things like sugar, flour, etc in these to prevent spills and drops. Folgers are the ones I use. You can just buy the coffee in bags and refill, too.

You can do some creative things with tin cans. I glued a fall napkin to one and let it form to the ridges of the can...then I sprayed several coats of cheap hairspray. We still use it years later for ink pens! A friend of mine makes these cute little buckets out of them. She paints them a color, then glues fabric cutouts to them. She applies a gloss for shine. She takes plain wire and makes a handle, curling parts of it around a pencil for interest...She uses an awl to punch a hole on the sides for the handles. At Halloween she uses a fall motif and fills them with pencils and candy.

People are using two liter cola bottles to make those hanging tomato planters like on TV.....I would guess you would remove the bottom, now the top, place the soil and plant inside, and place back on. I am going to try this..I guess you have to attach a hanger, or place the bottle down in a fabric tube to hang...letting the plant come down through the opening of the bottle. Not sure on this one but try it and write an article for us!

We used plastic bottles to line little beach bags we used to make. I think we used bleach bottles.....made a tubular bag, placed it in the bottom for stability. Lately, I was saving plastic detergent bottles for my grandmother to dispose of her insulin needles. You can't just throw them away.

Cereal boxes are a nice cardboard for a number of crafts....I have used it many times. Pringles cans are great for storing sharp knives, scissors or sewing implements.

There is a new orange juice bottle that is shaped like a wine decanter. These have the nicest secure lids. They are great for mixing orange juice concentrate, of course, but they are nice water bottles to keep ice water in. My friend's parents used wine decanters to store ice water..some way they took two metal lids and made a hole in them. They ran some kind of little connector through both, so that it allowed water to pass through and closed it when it was in the fridge. But, anyway, glass bottles make nice water containers. (Or tea, lemonade, etc)

Cardboard boxes, can be used for all kinds of things. The boxes bottled water come in make great carriers to carry covered dishes to a dinner. Smaller boxes can be covered if you want and used to store doo dads or coupons, etc. Check book boxes make good files for bank deposit slips. I used to love to make fashion doll couches out of Velveeta boxes for my daughter and friends. You cover them with padding and fabric...using glue or a glue gun. Then you use a little tube of fabric stuffed like a snake, glueing it around the back like the back of a couch. They can also be little beds. I played with doll chairs made out of small oatmeal boxes covered with wool. They were so much cooler than plastic ones from the store!

Glass jars can be used in so many ways. Two things come to mind that I've seen lately are a little different. Painted bottles and jars are popping up everywhere. I received one as a gift painted as a snowman. The technique involved some painting on the inside and outside. I've seen bottles done in a newer technique, too. In the sixties, bottles were done in a combination of enamel and acrylic swirling. They did pop bottles, wine bottles, etc. The new technique is more darker solid colors...sometimes with scenes painted on them.

Well, you get the idea...and I haven't even started on paper bags....that is a whole other article!