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Brilliant Reuse Ideas for Your Plastic Bottles

Why recycle that plastic bottle if you can cleverly repurpose it? Popular video of hacks reveals reuse options for the sustainably minded handyman or woman.

Rick Lingle, Senior Technical Editor

August 23, 2023

A video posted last week by Quantum Tech racked up nearly 100,000 views in less than 24 hours on YouTube.

What drew so much attention? The “Brilliant Ideas with Plastic Bottles” video, with a tagline that states “discover a world of innovative plastic tips and hacks that promise to enhance your daily life.”

Who doesn't like to MacGyver stuff around the house or garage while helping the environment? If you reuse it, that's a 100% recycling rate.

More than click bait, the 11 ½ minute video is impressive in content, too. Examples of ingenious hacks include turning various types of plastic bottles and components into a…

  • Lawn sprinkler;

  • Pressurized bladder to lift a workbench;

  • Vacuum accessory tube to reach into a small hole;

  • Heat-shrinkable “bandage sleeve” to repair a broken broom handle;

  • Diffused-light lantern;

  • Dust collector when drilling into a wall;

  • Twist-on broom handle;

  • Drinking trough for pets;

And many more projects await the handy and sustainably minded do-it-yourselfer.

Note that some hacks aren’t so simple, and several use bottle components such as plastic caps, necks, or handles. A scant few do not involve plastic packaging.

Still, it's an astonishing array of reuse creativity. I liked just about all of them…except for the PET bottle made into a broom brush, I mean, why? I suppose for some, it's simply because you can.

About the Author

Rick Lingle

Senior Technical Editor, Packaging Digest and PlasticsToday

Rick Lingle is Senior Technical Editor, Packaging Digest and PlasticsToday. He’s been a packaging media journalist since 1985 specializing in food, beverage and plastic markets. He has a chemistry degree from Clarke College and has worked in food industry R&D for Standard Brands/Nabisco and the R.T. French Co. Reach him at [email protected] or 630-481-1426.

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