Use plastic milk jugs for flower pots!

[NW Admin]

I recently started gardening in an attempt to beat the prices at the store for vegetables. I had a problem though. I wanted to have some indoor vegetables, but I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on flower pots. So I came up with some ideas that I think are really good for the environment.

If you are like me, there are just some things that you have to buy in plastic containers. I buy milk and also white vinegar in large gallon jugs. I have been sending them to the recycling plant, but I realized that if I cut the tops off, they make perfect plant potters. Especially the white vinegar bottles because you can save more of the bottle then you can the milk jugs.

So I just cut off the top all the way down to the handles, poke holes in the bottom for water to leak through, and set them on... get this... plastic used McDonalds salad lids! You can even paint them if you want to make them look pretty. They are working great for me!! I will paint one later and post some pics of it.

[NW Admin]

Ohhh... I forgot to say...

I was trying to find some sort of shelves or something to put all my plants on in the kitchen. I was looking on a website called Craigslist.com for something to use and stumbled across something called a "Bakers Rack". Now I have seen them before, but never knew they had a name, and hadn't even thought of using one. The one I found was already sold and I couldn't find any more that were cheap on the website. So I checked around at WalMart, KMart, Target, etc and they were ridiculously expensive. We are talking $200 to $400. There was no way I was paying that. So, I called all the used furniture stores in Columbus and it seems they are a really hot commodity and no one could hang on to them for very long. FINALLY.... I called this place in the GHETTO... and I mean... GHETTO and they had one for $25! I was worried it would be a junker, but it actually was pretty nice. You could tell it was old, but nothing a good washing and maybe paint job wouldn't fix. Needless to say, it worked out great for putting all my veggies on in the kitchen.

Just wanted to throw that out there for anyone who might want to do the same thing. Don't buy the expensive things because you can find stuff that's just as good used! Remember, consernation is the idea here!

[dlkrebs]

That is a really great idea - the milk jugs and other plastic bottles.
My boyfriends son learned about recycling aluminium on Earth Day and now we recycle aluminium cans and he gets the money for them. There is no such thing as recycling in my apartment complex.

Something else - I'm in a group called Freecycle for the Columbus area anyone heard of it?!? It's awesome - someone else's junk is always wanted by another - it keeps things out of landfills. If there is something that you don't want or something that you are looking for you just post and people reply. It's a great site and I get rid of lots of things there instead of throwing them in the trash.

[NW Admin]

Really? Freecycle? Never heard of it, but it sounds like a great idea. Is there a website for it?

I have noticed some people that drive around our neighborhood picking stuff up from people's trash on trash day. If I put an old lawn mower out there or a broken computer, they come by and snatch it up. I know there are people out there that make money off of that too. I think it's a good idea though. I was just on the hunt for some file cabinets. New ones are like $80 and I wasn't about to pay that much. I didn't care what it looked like as long as it worked. I found this guy on Craigslist who offered two for $5 each. I went to this warehouse where he had tons of stuff. It looked like he might have been one of those people who collects trash people throw out. But hey, I got two file cabinets for $10. They aren't pretty or anything, but they work. Throw a coat of paint on them and no one would know the difference.

[avorrgorrus]

Hmm, that is economical. Plastic can be fantastic

I prefer ceramic for flower pots myself, but at least you are being conservative.