Reusing or Upcycling Polystyrene (which is often mistaken for Styrofoam) Containers

Resin Identification Code 6: Polystyrene

Going out to eat is lovely, especially when you end up with leftovers for the next day's meal, but nothing frustrates me more than receiving a polystyrene container to house my meal for only a day or so. Commonly mistaken for styrofoam, polystyrene does not biodegrade for hundreds of years and is resistant to photolysis.^[1]

In fact, polystyrene foam is a major component of plastic debris in the ocean, where it becomes toxic to marine life. Foamed polystyrene blows in the wind and floats on water, and is abundant in the outdoor environment.^[2]

Have you received one of these containers?
Thoroughly clean it and reuse it; a number of ideas can be found below, or let us know how you put the pesky polystyrene to use!

• Reuse containers for soup or ice cream as measuring cups.
• Food storage for leftovers in the fridge or bringing a lunch.
• Craft, art, or hobby storage
• Paint trays
• Decorate and use to house a gift.
• Indoor compost container
• Insulation behind switch plates or walls
• Cut up and use as a fill for bean bags or pet beds.
• Cut up and use as a filler in the bottom of a plant's pot.
• Seed germinating trays, just poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage.
• Shred and use as packing peanuts for mailing, storage, or moving.
• Shape and use as a stamp.
• Create weather-proof decorations.
• Cut to size and use as plant markers.
• Cut to size, decorate, and use as a bookmark.
• As a scoop for dirt, seed, or pet food.
  
  
  
  Babel

5 Reuses for Plastic Milk Jugs

1. Watering Can
2. Birdbath Dripper
3. Cloche 
4. Scoop
5. Seed Starting Flats 

Link

Mike

How to Reuse Mesh Produce Bags in the Garden

"Fairly often, when I buy onions or potatoes at the grocery store, they come in a bag made of plastic mesh. I’ve been stockpiling the things for years (just ask my poor husband…) because it seems like a shame to throw away something that could be very useful around the house. The mesh bags are very strong, making them fairly indestructible. And reusing them for something is much better than just throwing them in the trash."  Link

Reuse Vinyl Window Blinds as Plant Markers

The name says it all. For more details go here

Mike

5 Gallon Buckets as Upside-down Tomato Planters

Link



Mike

Reusing Wire Hangers

From Northwest Edible Life

"If you or a housemate work off the farm at one of those jobs that require clean, starched shirts, you probably have a lot of dry-cleaner's wire hangers kicking around the house. We return our wire hangers to our dry cleaners for re-use (better for the earth and helpful to the small business owners who run our laundromat) and they can also be recycled. Some people haven't gotten the message, though, because 3.5 billion (with a B!) of these hangers get tossed into landfills every year. That's a lot of coated wire floating around."

From Lifehacker

A few more garden-related uses for your wire hangers:

• Make a simple wind chime or bird repellent by tying shells, bits of sea glass, or old silverware to the straight edge of the hanger, and hang it from a tree or awning as a decoration or in a garden bed (especially one in which you have corn or berries planted) to frighten birds away.
• Straighten the hooked end of the wire hanger, then use pliers to shape the wire hanger into whichever shape you prefer. Stick the straightened end into a pot, and you have a great, free topiary form to grow ivy or other climbing plants on.
• Use them to make plant labels for your vegetable garden.

Mike

Garden in a Whole Foods Bag

Photo series on how to create the above garden container can be found here


Mike

Make Plant Labels from Recycled Garbage

From mrbrownthumb

Mike

Upcycling Plastic Bottles for Insulation

Here's a interesting project for making insulation out of plastic bottles, 3/4 full of water. From what I have gathered is that you can lay the bottles on side and add different layers of bottles to help increase the R value. Also adding water to the bottles helps add fire protection if they ever were to catch fire. Also adding a small amount of borax to the bottles will also help in case of a fire.  Lastly you can lay a layer of regular insulation over the top or blow-in insulation in between the bottles to help increase the R value.


Mike

Upcycle a Loofah into a Shower Caddy

   Make a shower bottle holder; instructions found here.

Mike

Trash Concrete

How to use trash like bricks.













Mike

Portable Squeegee

A portable squeegee made out of an old windshield wiper blade, instructions can be found here.










Mike

DIY Bio Fuel Briquettes

Fuel bricks from recycled paper pulp and sawdust; can find the how-to here.

Mike

Plastic Bag Recycling- DIY Purse

Learn how to make a purse from plastic bags (here.) Source atomicshrimp.com


Mike

Build a Pallet Adirondack Chair

Here's a neat DIY project which will save you loads. These chairs sell for around $100...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pallet-Adirondack-Chair/

Mike

Upcycling Soda Cans Into Tin Ornamental Boxes

This was a neat project I found from Hack A Day.

Mike