I was looking through my blog archives and thought I’d post one of my favorite old posts once in a while. Today’s vintage ITGO post was published during my very first winter of gardenblogging, and it’s still one of my favorites.

5 Reuses for Milk Jugs

I’m a chronic re-user. If I can find a way to not throw something in the trash or recycling bin, I’ll do it. And if it nets me something useful, for free—-all the better. I’m determined to find ways to reuse more of the “stuff” from my recycling bin, so I’ll be making a post like this from time to time.

With two kids under three, one who I’m quite sure is a milk-addict, we go through insane amounts of milk in our house. It seems like such a shame to squish and recycle something so useful (recycling is great, but it still takes energy to recycle, trucks to drive recyclables to the plant, etc….) So I started thinking of ways to reuse them. Two things are important for these projects:
1. Wash the jugs out well.
2. Please be careful with your utility knife!

These projects are easy and quick, will save you money and help save the earth. So here they are, five reuses for plastic milk jugs:

1. Birdbath Dripper
Nothing attracts backyard birds like the sound of water. Here’s a free way to have them flocking to your yard. Start by poking a small hole in the bottom of a gallon milk jug. Put some water in, and see how fast it drips. You’re looking for a rate of about 10 drops per minute to attract birds to your bath. If it’s not dripping fast enough, enlarge the hole a little. Make sure you save the cap for this project. How much you tighten or loosen the cap can also affect how quickly the water drips out. Tighten the cap to slow the rate, and loosen it to make it drip faster. Once you’re happy with the drip rate, hang it from a bracket or shepherd’s hook over your bird bath.

2. Cloche
Protect tender plants from frosts by cutting the bottom off of a 1/2 gallon or gallon milk jug (depending on the size of the plant you’re trying to protect). Keep the lid—you can put the lid on at night to keep warmth in and take it off during the day to prevent cooking your plants. Simply put the jug over the plant, push it into the soil a bit to keep it steady, and your plants will be protected.

3. Scoop
For things like birdseed, fertilizer, and potting soil, a scoop is extremely useful. To make one, use a 1/2 gallon milk jug, with its cap. The handle will be the top of your scoop. Using an exacto or utility knife, cut diagonally around the jug until you have a nice scoop shape. For a bit of a lip to your scoop, keep a little bit of the bottom of the jug intact.

4. Seed Starting Flats
You can use either 1/2 gallon or one gallon jugs for this project. Two to three inches up from the bottom, slice all the way around the jug with an exacto or utility knife. Poke some holes in the bottom of the jug for drainage, using a small nail, or cut small slits. Fill with soil, and you have a perfect seed starting flat. To keep moisture in, you can either keep the top of the jug and simply set it back over the planted seeds, or you can put some plastic wrap or bags from store-bought produce (another reuse!) over the top.

5. Watering Can
For a free watering can that will sprinkle your plants with a gentle flow of water, try this trick. Take a gallon milk jug, with cap. Using a finishing nail (or other fairly thin nail) poke between 20 and 30 holes in the lid. You may need to wiggle the nail around a bit to get the hole to open up. Fill the jug with water, or with your favorite water soluble fertilizer, add the lid, and you have a great watering can for indoors or out. Note: the water will flow better from the cap “rose” if the jug is full–as the water gets lower you’ll get more of a dribble than a gentle rain.

So, there they are: 5 really useful ways to reuse plastic milk jugs.