Milk bottle planters

I go through 3 litres of milk a week. While the plastic containers are (supposedly) recyclable, it still irks me to see them in the recycling bin. Being a Grade A Cynic, I doubt that much of what I put in the bin actually gets recycled.

In a permaculture system, each element should perform more than one function. So the bottles have already functioned to deliver milk to the system. What else can they do?

I’ve cut the tops out of them to use as dippers in my 60 litre rainwater harvesting bins which sit beside the rows of wicking boxes :

How about growing plants in them? Cut away the top and part of the side, leaving the handle intact. Drill a couple of drainage holes about one-third of the way up from the bottom (so it becomes a wicking container) and fill with compost :

Add a seedling lettuce and voilà :

Hanging on the side of the deck…..rabbits and possums, eat your hearts out! You won’t get them there!

Of course, I don’t expect them to last very long. The plastic will degrade in the sun and they’ll crash to the ground and those pesky milk bottles will end up in the bin eventually, but oh well, it’s a bit of fun, a few extra lettuce leaves won’t go astray and a permaculture principle has been satisfied.