Recycling

Have you ever seen those Glass Globe Plant Watering devices? They are blown glass orbs with stems that slowly water your plants. You fill them up with water, stick them into the soil of your potted plant, and leave it. As the soil loses water, the glass globe releases more into the soil to keep it saturated.

They are a pretty nifty tool for those of us with not-so-green thumbs, but they can be expensive. While looking through Pinterest, I found a couple of homemade alternatives to this “As Seen on TV” product.

Glass Bottle “Waterer” (As Seen on Pinterest)

What you need:

• Glass bottle of some sort
• Old wire clothes hanger (optional)
• Marbles (optional)
• Scrap cloth (optional)
• Cork (optional)

There are a couple of different ways to transform that ordinary glass bottle into a constant water supply for your container plants. However, before you start on this GIY craft, check the watering guidelines for the plant you would like to make this for. If it needs to be watered daily, this is a perfect way to do that!

One way to make this watering device is by filling the bottle with water and plugging it with a cork that you have poked additional holes into. Once you test that the cork has enough holes for the water to escape, place the wine bottle upside down into the soil at a slight angle. If you want to add support to the bottle once you stick it in the soil, try unwrapping a wire hanger and rewrapping it around the bottle to make a stand.

Another method to ensure that your bottle is slowly releasing its water (you don’t want to release the water too quickly and cause it to be over-watered), is to put marbles in the bottle before filling it with water. Only fill the bottle about a quarter of the way with marbles so you can test it and add more water to create your desired water flow.

In any case, a good suggestion that I found was covering the mouth of the bottle with a piece of scrap cloth. This prevented soil from clogging up the neck of the bottle while still acting as a wick to steady the release of the water.

Any method that you choose will require adjustments. Make sure you monitor your new watering device, and if it isn’t working how you would like, try a different method. Make sure you check to see that an occasional air bubble is floating to the top of the upturned bottle. This is a sign that it is working!

What other homemade solutions do you have for watering your plants?

Calling all moms and dads! Do you want to teach your kids the value of a dollar? Well here is a fun way to do just that. Grab a pop bottle and turn it into a piggy bank. It’s a great craft that you and your kids will enjoy, and it is teaching them to be frugal and green all at the same time. Sure you could have them return that pop bottle for its $0.05 deposit, but this idea makes cents too!

Step 1: Wash and clean the bottle of your choice. (Try to pick one with a wide mouth so you can easily pour out coins later.) When dry, carefully use a box cutter to make a coin slot in the top of the bottle.

 

Step 2: Pick out what you would like to use as legs. You can use old paper towel rolls, old spools, even marshmallows! Glue them to the bottom of the bottle and let dry before proceeding.

Step 3: Let your child decide how they want to decorate it. You could use tissue paper, scrap paper that is lying around the house or paint it! Use googly eyes, or just draw them on.

 

Step 4: Once your piggy is all dried, it will be ready to start collecting your child’s spare change.

Remember, the sky’s the limit with this little project. It can be any animal you want it to be, and you can substitute most any of the supplies that we’ve suggested. Best of all, when your kid wants to see how much is saved up, you don’t have to break the bank to find out—just unscrew the ‘snout’ and pour out the coins. Happy saving!

 

 

While opening a brand new box of tissues the other day for my desk, I remembered the hanky my Dad used to always carry around when I was little. It had come in handy on numerous occasions, and saved countless boxes of tissues and napkins. I asked him later that day if he still carried one around with him, and he answered with “Of course!”

In that moment, it dawned on me: Why didn’t I carry around a hanky instead of using the new box of tissues? I carry one when hiking, so why not make it a habit? I decided to do some digging on the idea of hankies and found a few interesting articles that all seemed to focus on the first R: reduce.

In case you didn’t know it, December 26 is Thank You Note Day! It seemed fitting to inspire our green fans to make their own thank you notes on this day. Think of all the paper that accumulates around your house, especially around the holidays. There are post-it notes, shopping lists, printed directions to a holiday party, and not to mention wrapping paper! Reuse them in any way you see fit.

We’ve been having a lot of fun the past two weeks with our Green It Yourself Contest! The contest was created after we started our Green It Yourself blog series. The blogs offer you ways to put a green twist on “do it yourself” projects.  We’ve truly been inspired by our fans’ creativity and appreciate all the entries. If you have another idea, feel free to submit a blog here explaining how to make your project but don’t forget to include pictures!

Without further ado, here are our three winners chosen at random from all our entries.