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If you walk into my house at any given time, you’re bound to find a few items lying around the toy area that aren’t quite what many would view as toys. My son’s play kitchen is fully stocked with real items– empty milk jugs, honey bears, coffee creamer bottles, and more. I love to repurpose items when I can (and of course, recycle them when I can’t), because I’m just not a huge fan of the thought of so much waste going into landfills. One of my new favorite crafts, though, is to take all of those little bottles– the ones from juice or soda or water– and make them into cool toys, like this great city. It’s so easy to do, which means your kids will love joining in on the fun, too!

You really can use any size of plastic bottle for this project. Best not to use glass, as you don’t want anyone to accidentally injure themselves, but plastic bottles of varying shapes and sizes are great. Just like no two buildings are exactly the same, no two bottles in your city will be exactly the same, either!

Your next step is to paper mache the outside of the bottle. You aren’t doing this to add stability, you’re simply trying to make the surface a little more accepting of paint, so only one layer is fine. I like to use a ratio of 2 parts glue to 1 part water for my paper mache, but your own favorite recipe for it is perfect. This is also a perfect project for getting rid of newspapers that you might have otherwise tossed in the garbage– rather than throwing them away, newspapers are perfect for projects like this where they can be reused! I also like to roll newspapers into small beads and make beaded bracelets– the possibilities with paper are endless!

Allow the paper mache to dry completely before moving onto the next step.

The painting part is arguably my favorite part of the entire project. I love watching my little village start to get some personality, and kids love this part best, too– it’s the part where imagination comes to life. Using an old egg carton as a paint container is a great way to reuse that item before you toss it out! I always like to do my best to get at least one more use out of something like that before I throw it out (but a sturdy egg carton can be rinsed and used multiple times until it falls apart!) If you don’t use your cartons for paint, you might also see who in your area has chickens. Many times, those who have chickens love getting egg cartons– I even know a few in my area who give a discount on eggs if you provide your own cartons!

I found that it took about 2 coat of acrylic paint to achieve the look I was going for and to totally cover the newspapers. But, the recycled newspaper is a much better paint surface than the plastic of the bottles themselves!

After the bottles dry, it is time to add details– windows, complete with lights and curtains, can be added into the buildings. Letters can be painted on to show which building is the bank vs the grocery store.

Once dry, the new city buildings are ready for play! What I love about the buildings is that they provide a fun project for Zach and I to create together, and also that they’re a fun way to use items that we would have otherwise thrown into the garbage.

I really do dislike the fact that so many things these days goes to waste. It seems a lot of what we buy is in a package inside of another package, and while that does great things for freshness or convenience, it really isn’t the best possible way to do things in terms of environmental friendliness. I personally love to re-use bottles to make an indoor bowling game, turn broken plates into new art, and recycle the cans we do buy. But what I most love is passing on those ideas to Zach, so when he grows older, he continues to be a little bit more conscious of the world he is living in. With Earth Day coming up, now couldn’t be the better time to have this discussion.

Kids are surprisingly open-minded about the concept of re-use. I like to get Zach’s help in being a little more environmentally friendly, so I will:

1. Ask for his help tending compost.

2. Get him to help me plant seeds in our garden.

3. Encourage him to help me sort the recyclables.

4. Ask him to count how many incandescent bulbs will need to be replaced with CFLs when they burn out.

5. Replace our dead batteries in toys with a more eco-friendly choice, like Energizer’s EcoAdvance Batteries.

It’s the first battery on the market to use recycled materials, which makes it a great choice for being better to the environment by taking old batteries and making new ones from them, creating less waste. But, you’re not sacrificing power with these babies– these are Energizer’s longest lasting alkaline batter ever!

This new product is available in AA and AAA, so you’re able to switch out the batteries in a ton of toys (once the old ones die, of course!) Energizer EcoAdvance Batteries are seriously the perfect battery to stock up on because they last up to 12 years in storage, and they’re really great because I feel like they’re a pretty guilt-free way to keep Zach’s toys going… and going… and going.

We picked our batteries up at Walmart the last time we were there, and I’m already loving them. As our family works to become more eco-friendly, I’m happy to not have to feel guilty about using batteries, because Energizer is creating a product built on my new mantra of taking something old to make something new.

And, to celebrate the launch of the brand new batteries, Energizer is giving away $1,000 in gift cards! You can enter to win right here on the blog.

 
GuiltFreeEnergy Giveaway – $1,000 in Gift Cards

You can learn a little bit more about Energizer EcoAdvance Batteries and going green by visiting BringingInnovation.net. Of course, you can also always connect with Energizer on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

I want to know how you bring innovation to your home by re-using items. Do you have any items that you love reusing? Tell me all about it in the comments below!