Many of us survive off of bottled water and often drink other beverages out of plastic bottles. And, they’re hard to avoid.

Quite simply, it’s difficult and expensive to satiate all your thirsty needs with beverages packaged in glass, especially if you travel a lot. But even when you use plastic bottles, there are ways to extend their life cycle beyond one beverage.

Oftentimes, local faucet water quality is low enough to raise safety concerns, making bottled water the next best option – to say nothing of the convenience of an on-the-go plastic bottle beverage. However, the result of plastic bottle usage is that we are filling landfills with waste that could otherwise be re-used. Not to mention the health risks associated with exposure to plastic.

Here are 4 unique and fun ways to upcycle plastic bottles.

Before we dive into what you can do with used plastic bottles, let’s look at where we are today with a few astonishing statistics. Some 50 billion bottles of water are purchased each year, and despite existing recycling programs, 80 percent of these bottles end up in landfills. About 17 million barrels of oil are used to make bottled water annually. Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water and the plastic leaches toxins into the water, which has been linked to reproductive problems and even cancer.

Upcycled Ideas for Plastic Bottles

1. Decorative Flowers

Cut off the bottom end of the plastic bottle, a few inches up its length. Then, use scissors to cut strips, from the cut edge to just below the cap. Fray the strips by pulling them up and flattening them, creating a petal-like effect. Use a marker or paint to decorate the “petals” and you’ve got yourself a flower. Make several flowers and connect them together with wire to hang them around the house or in kids’ rooms.

2. Water Sprinkler

This is just pure genius. Attach the top of the bottle with the end of a hose. Fasten the two together so that the hose perfectly enters the bottle without any leakage and that it is exceptionally secure in place. Poke holes at the bottle of the plastic bottle and turn on the water. This apparatus can be used to water plants or for play.

3. Paint Project

The bottom of most plastic bottles also has a flower appearance. Dip the bottom of plastic bottles into various colored paints and press them against paper to create consistent flower designs. This is a great craft activity for children who will be proud of their clean-cut and colorful designs!

4. Food Storage

If you don’t have a Zip-Lock bag around, take a regular plastic bag and make your own seal-savvy feature. Cut the top of plastic bottles a few inches down the throat. Store grains, legumes and other food products in a plastic bag and push the top of the bag through the underside of the cut plastic bottle and up through the open top. Press the edges of the bag down and over the edges of the circular opening and secure the cap. You’ve got yourself an easy-to-open-and-close, tightly-sealed storage bag.

Related on EcoSalon

Levi’s Makes Wearing Garbage Fashionable with ‘Plastic’ Jeans

9 Ways to Ditch the Bottle Once and for All

DIY: 10 Things to Make From Plastic Bags

Photo Credit: Steven Depolo

The post 4 Ways to Upcycle Plastic Bottles appeared first on EcoSalon.

 Check out America’s hottest upcycled fashion designers making wonders from waste!

Upcycling means taking waste materials from factories with leftover scraps or from consumers who no longer want their used goods, and creating something new, functional and incredibly chic with it. As one of the largest producers of waste in the world, the U.S. needs designers with clever ideas for how to give new life to everything that would otherwise end up in our ever-expanding landfills. Luckily, we’ve got some pretty amazing ones to be proud of. Five are highlighted below. Find your next treasure, sustainably and creatively made from someone else’s trash!

1. Armour sans Anguish
Oakland, CA based Armour sans Anguish is a collection of whimsical and romantic dresses, tunics, and bridal wear made entirely from found and recycled materials. Designer Tawny Holt uses vintage tablecloths, bedsheets, nighties and prom dresses to piece together one-of-a-kind garments that evoke wood nymphs, Greek goddesses and flower children. The Asa collection offers dreamy everyday dresses, bridal gowns, flower girl dresses and thematic bridesmaid dresses perfect for your summer or early autumn woodland wedding.

2. Looptworks
Founded by Scott Hamlin and Gary Peck, Pacific Northwestern Looptworks is the answer to a better solution for the billions of pounds of waste produced by large name brand apparel and sportswear companies. The result is a company that sources top quality, leftover materials like leather and performance textiles from premium producers, creates functional and aesthetically pleasing designs, and pays a fair wage for the production of these re-fashioned items. To top it off, Looptworks offers a lifetime guarantee for each product, as the company believes that the phone and laptop cases, iPad sleeves and garments it offers should be made well and made to last.

3. Piece x Piece
The team at Piece by Piece collects sample fabric swatches at the end of each production season and crafts them into gorgeous, wearable attire. The label has turned the concept of patchwork designs from hobo hippie-wear to sophisticated, chic and edgy everyday garments that help keep thousands of textiles from the landfill. Since the fabric chosen for each garment is selected from an ever-changing stock of luxury discards, each piece is naturally unique and limited edition, but also designed to be timeless. As the team states “Our mission is to create beauty from this waste, and progress toward a new philosophy about what waste really means and how we address it. We hope you enjoy our work as much as we do.”

4. ReMade USA
Shannon South, the genius behind ReMade USA, has created a fantastic service where customers can send their vintage leather jackets into her studio to be artfully crafted in to incredibly fashionable, high quality and one-of-a-kind bags, purses and clutches. These completely personalized creations give new life to garments that would otherwise sit in closets or end up in the trash. Each jacket is carefully deconstructed and reconstructed according to the style preferences of its owner, resulting in an accessory that is unique and looks like new. Make sure to also check out Shannon’s amazing collection of handbags made from remnant luxury leather from the furniture industry!

5. ReUse Jeans

So, almost everyone in the U.S. wears jeans, which are in fact part of our national style definition. Unfortunately, the denim industry is extremely toxic, wasteful and exploitative. That’s why ReUse Jeans has come out with an awesome denim collection that is made almost entirely out of recycled fabric. These fashion forward and affordable jeans are made from denim with 80 percent recycled content obtained from factories in China, helping to clean up the waste of the apparel production hub. Choose from skinny styles, bootcut, pastel colors, bright shades and everything in between!

Images: Armour sans Anguish, Looptworks, Piece x Piece, ReMade USA, ReUse Jeans

Related on EcoSalon:
The Unbelievable Value of Upcycling Clothes 7 Ways: On Trend
12 Jewelry and Accessories Designers Upcycling Wonders from Waste

The post Our 5 Favorite Upcycled Fashion Designers from the USA appeared first on EcoSalon.