10 Innovative Ways to Upcycle Plastics in Your Home

Worried that you – and your collection of plastic containers – may be doing harm to the planet from your home? Living more sustainably is a great eco-friendly goal, but transitioning towards a plastic-free household is a gradual process. If you have a lot of plastic items that you’re actively phasing out (but that you don’t want to just throw straight in the recycling bin), get creative by upcycling plastic containers into useful, fun and even stylish items with these innovative plastic recycling ideas.

hands using hand sanitizer gel pump dispenser

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Hold Your Hand Sanitizer

Keeping your hands clean has never been more important, so we’re all using a lot more hand sanitizer nowadays. To make it convenient at home, keep a supply within reach in every room – but you don’t want to buy a bunch of small plastic bottles. Whether you buy sanitizer in bulk or make your own DIY version (here’s a how-to), you can wash old bottles of hand soap or beauty products to upcycle plastic containers for your personal hand sanitizer supply.

Young adult playing chess with recycled tin cans, plastic and glass bottles

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Make it a Game

Learning how to recycle plastic can be really fun for families – especially if you make a game of it. Whether it’s for your backyard or for your living room, try making a giant game of chess or checkers with clean plastic bottles. For bonus points, have kids paint or decorate the bottles to make special game pieces. Here’s an example of a giant backyard game board (created by the Backyard Builds team) to inspire you.

white pegboard DIY with hanging plastic bottles

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Plastic for Your Pegboard

Double your fun. This cool DIY pegboard storage system from Backyard Builds‘ Brian McCourt and Sarah Keenleyside solves two problems at once: it makes it easy to get your garage or craft room organized, while simultaneously upcycling old plastic containers like pop bottles. By repurposing plastic bottles into clever see-through storage for small items like nails, screws or even dog treats, you can stay organized while giving old plastic new life.

hand checking a homemade insect house made from recycled plastic bottle and straws

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Bring on the Beneficial Bugs

Beneficial bugs and pollinators can be good for your garden, and you can make use of a recycled plastic bottle and straws to build a insect house (or hotel!)

Recycled plastic bottles used in home garden

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Bottle Up a Balcony Herb Garden

Growing a balcony herb garden

is a great way to bring fresh flavour into your cooking – and you don’t need to spend a lot of money on containers and pots. Instead, use recycled plastic containers to create an herb garden on your balcony or windowsill for a green alternative.

blue bottles upcycled into vertical garden

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Think Vertical

From living walls to hanging planters, we’re all getting more and more creative about finding ways to grow plants in our home’s smaller spaces – and that creativity pairs perfectly with recycling plastic in your home, too. A DIY vertical garden made from upcycled plastic bottles (here’s a how-to from Backyard Builds‘ Brian McCourt and Sarah Keenleyside) is a great way to add a stylish, space-saving element to your home’s outdoor space.

Devil's ivy in reused plastic and glass bottles on wood table

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Plant Life

Whether you’re looking to grow an indoor plant (like these Devil’s ivy plants) in water or you want a pretty clear vase for flowers from your garden, you can use plastic recycling to create your own vessels for indoor greenery.

Aloe succulent plant in a pot made from an upcycled plastic dinosaur toy

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Transform Old Toys

Similarly, recycling non-functional plastic toys into vessels for a container garden is a fun way to give old plastic new purpose. Have toys that can’t be recycled or used for storage? This fun DIY from Worst to First‘s Catherine Yuen turns plastic toys into stylish bookend decorations.

three kids upcycling by crafting with old plastic bottles

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Play Time

Teach your kids about how to recycle plastic – and save money – by repurposing plastic containers and bottles into crafting and art supplies instead of throwing them in the trash. One fun idea for a rainy afternoon? Cut plastic pop bottles in half (make sure the edges aren’t sharp), and then have kids paint on fun patterns or animal-face designs. Once dry, use the customized bottles as a special holder for kids’ paintbrushes or pencil crayons.

upcycled cleaning spray bottles and wooden brush on wood table

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Clean Up

Another way to double up on your green-living lifestyle? Make your own DIY cleaning products – and store them in upcycled plastic containers instead of buying new bottles.