5 Creative Uses for Soda Bottles

By Kiera Butler

At this point soda really shouldn't even be appetizing. As we all know, it's full of empty calories from high-fructose corn syrup, rots your teeth, causes childhood obesity, blah blah blah. So why do I still find myself circling back to the nutritional wasteland that is Safeway's soda aisle? I'll tell you why: cherry coke. It's been a favorite treat since I was a teenager, and despite my best intentions, I don't think I'm going to give it up any time soon. I figure since I can't do anything about how bad soda is for me, I'll at least try to make it a little better for the planet. Our friends at AltUse have a bunch of good ideas for reusing empty plastic soda bottles:

1. Keep your yarn tangle-free: With a box cutter, carefully cut a large door in the side of the bottle. Insert your yarn into the bottle through the door. (You can tape it shut if you wish.) Reach into the spout, grab the end of the yarn, and pull it through. You can put the top back on the bottle when you want to store your yarn.

2. Make a funnel: Create a make-shift funnel by cutting the top off of a plastic bottle.

3. Water your plants automatically while you're away: Make a small pin hole on the bottom side of the bottle. Fill it up with water. Leave the water bottle inside a plant pot, hole side down. Water will slowly leak out. Lasts for about three days.

4. Keep your picnic cold: Make ice cubes that don't drip: Fill empty plastic water bottles and then put 'em in the freezer. Be sure to leave some room for the water to expand as it freezes.

5. Trap wasps. Cut the top off a bottle. Put something sweet into the bottom, then insert the cut-off portion back into the bottle, but upside down. Tape it in place. Wasps come in, but they can't get out.

(borrowed from motherjones.com)