Uses for Plastic Bottles
I’m a big believer of thinking outside the box. It opens your eyes to opportunities and resources you may not have noticed before. One of these is plastic bottles.
Plastic bottles are one of the most common and most useful pieces of trash you will ever find for survival. Plastic bottles show up as trash all around the world, but to a crafty survivor, this trash can become treasure.
I’m guessing you have, seeing as how Americans throw away approximately 35 billion of them each year. Unfortunately, only about one-fourth of them get recycled, due in large part to people being too lazy to do it.
Recycling your empties is clearly the way to go here, but you may want to keep a few empty plastic bottles around because they could come in handy. There are many uses for plastic bottles, including a number that fit in well with a survival situation. As they say, one person’s trash in another person’s treasure.
Some of the uses we describe below are ones you have probably already been involved with. Others you may have heard about but never attempted. And still others are ones you might want to try to see how they work for you.
So, here’s a list of them. Maybe you have a few others in mind that we don’t mention here.
- Liquid carrier. This is the most obvious, and intended, purpose of a water bottle. Staying hydrated in a survival situation could very possibly save your life. Keep in mind that the more clear the plastic is, the more likely the liquid could be influenced by outside elements, including heat.
- Water filtration. Starting with finer material such as sand, then layering other items including gravel, grasses, cheesecloth or a coffee filter, etc., into the bottle, you can create a water-filtering device. Turn it upside down, cut off the large end of the bottle, pour the water in and what comes out the drinking end should be filtered.
- Food scoop. After cutting off the top of the plastic bottle, you can use it to scoop certain foods from larger containers into bowls and cups. This would include grains, flour, sugar, pet food, etc.
- Heating water. Suspend plastic bottles filled with water above an open fire so that the flames barely touch the bottoms of the bottles. Leave the bottle caps off to allow steam to escape. In addition to heating water for coffee or tea, you will have purified the water with this method.
- Purification. On a sunny day, if a clear plastic bottle filled with water lies in the sun for six hours or so, the water should be purified. Remove any labels first. This method is not as effective as a water filtration bottle, of course, but it could eliminate some contaminants in a pinch.
- Cordage. I have to admit, this is not one I would have thought about right away. But if you cut a plastic bottle into thin strips and attach those strips, you can get a very nice length of cordage out of it. You need a sharp knife, and one option is sticking that knife into a tree stump and using both hands to move the bottle against the blade.
- Funnel. This one is very basic, but there could very well be a time when you need a funnel and don’t have one. Cut your bottle in half below the taper and take off the lid. The tapered end will be the top of your funnel.
- Storage: Put small survival items (like first aid kit) inside a plastic bottle to waterproof it.
- Solar Light: Fill a clean, clear plastic bottle up with water and some bleach. Then put it into a hole in the roof. The water will diffuse sunlight, making a surprisingly bright light.
What other unconventional uses have you found for using plastic bottles? Share them in the comments section, I’d love to hear.
Try using plastic bottles (#5 microwave safe, etc)…Crystal Geyser or others whose plastic does not leach into already contaminated drinking waters from some sources. Then one can always use a plastic bottle (cut off the top OR the bottom and use them as water “holders” for measured amounts of water to each plant…in addition to which the water goes to the “root of the matter” and does not simply evaporate above ground uselessly. Or, when you have saplings or smaller plants as a greenhouse…to protect the tree/bush/plant from bugs, and the cold for example. There is no limit here….not for anyone with an imagination of how to do things better.
2 litre Pepsi bottles make excellent mini seed starter greenhouses!! You can start your seeds outside and in the dead of winter!! Cut a “roof” and tape it back on with clear packing tape. This is so you can access the seeds. Also, leave the cap off! I have indoor greenhouses and the 2 litre bottles worked much better!
I have recently heard that most plastic bottled waters contain fluoride. I heard that Smart Water is good. I am sure there are more. Do you know?
I am 71 and have been 100% dependent on my Gastric feeding tube for all my nutrition since 2013. I use a 140ml syringe to gravity feed my home blenderized meals. I discovered that a 32 oz. PowerAde bottle with the bottom cut off, makes a great tight fitting funnel for gravity feeding an entire meal without having to refill my smaller syringe multiple times. The inverted bottle plugs securely into the syringe and does not leak at all. There are nearly one half million tubies in the USA, many of whom could benefit by learning this.
Bug traps – Cut off the top 1/3 of the bottle. Invert the 1/3 portion 1/2 way into the remaining portion of the bottle. Fill it 1/2 way withened tea or coffee. Hang it to a sting fastening it 6” above your head. The bugs go in because they smell the sugar. But the bugs cant figure out how to get out. Hence, the bugs drown.
Save empty vitamin bottles to hold small twigs a wooden match, and used dry Kleenex for the purpose of having dry materials for a fire.
Keep 6 – 10 such items in your auto trunk, etc.
Good advice, thanks Robert!
We have used vitamin, pill, and other such bottles for fire starting supplies; small medical kits; activated charcoal for fire starting and for water filtration; food mixes for “instant” meals; holding fatwood (to stop allergic reactions); storing old wasp nests for fire starters; as candle molds; distribute small amounts of bulk food supplies to others in an emergency. Possible uses are vast.
If you live where your water can freeze up water pipes keep several for flushing stools. Also good to keep several for at least dishes. I have plants in several rooms and keep at least one gallon for quick watering. AS always be sure they are cleaned out good. Change when you feel like it.
I use empty plastic laundry soap bottles filled with water for short hopefully, power outages for bathing and toilet flushing. (Am on a well) also beach bottles.
Frank, thanks for some ideas, I do save a lot of the
bottles so we can reuse them again. Why people
don’t do this is a good question. Thanks for just
doing all that you do.
Fellow Patriots,
Water is a great stopper of radioactivity — gamma radiation, neutrons, etc. that occur in nuclear explosions or releases. Consider putting together a “wall” of bottled water, the thicker the better, such as 2 feet, or even create a safe room with walls consisting of bottled water behind the walls. While the wall would not withstand a blast, if reinforced with steel it may protect from over-pressure. The water in the bottles will help to absorb deadly radiation.
L fill them almost to the top with my filtered water and put them in my freezer. It takes less energy to freeze the water than the same space of air in the freezer. Yhus, I save money now and have it available to drink in an emergency.
We fill and freeze water bottles to use as “ice” in our cooler. Keeps the food dry and cold and can last days where ice will melt within one day.
I’ve recycled 1Liter soda bottles to automatically feed and water potted plants that require daily attention. Poke one or two pinholes in the cap, fill the bottle with water a drop or two of liquid fertilizer, invert it into the potted plant near the roots. Check every 3-4 days and refill as needed. If going out of town for 7-10days, I use 2Liter bottles instead.
I do something similar with washed enima bottles. I know it sounds gross, but; they have a hole in the syringe. I fill the bottles almost to the top with water and turn them upside down into my African violets. I push the syringe down close to the roots. Give the bottles each a gentle squeeze to unblock any dirt that may have gotten into the small hole. Viola’!
“Then put it into a hole in the roof. The water will diffuse sunlight, making a surprisingly bright light.”
Put a hole in your roof? Who in the hell comes up with this? Think I would rather be in dark and dry…
Thank you. That’s exactly what I thought.
IF you have a hole in your roof (like in a garden shed or garage or survival shelter) this works very well. It plugs the hole because it is flexible and gives light at the same time. He didn’t suggest “putting” a hole in your roof. And we can’t always get to a roof to patch or repair right away. I’ve seen videos of this being done in 3rd world countries to great advantage.
You might find being dry in the dark loses its charm quickly when you have to cook or do other chores!
In Girl Scouts, we made wonderful canteens out of jute and soda or water bottles. Long pieces and some macramé, 10 year olds had no trouble making these. Leaves the hands free.
With caps on, they make excellent flotation devices: suspend supplies in cool water to preserve, tie around watertight packaging to float supplies, tie around a pet or child during floods or necessary stream crossings. They can be bundled under a solid surface to create floating decks or temporary bridging.
Always learn from Frank but this one is a blooper. BPAs in plastic bottles is well known carcinogen. In this post you offer many solutions that reuse plastic for human consumption. Not good. Here is what just one doc says:
“Dioxin and another one, �BPA,�Bisphenol A,�These two products are connected to plastics and that has been associated with a whole host of health issues including birth defects, cancer. A variety of things,” said Dr. Patel.
The chemical make up of plastic is a concern. There are limits to using plastic for storage. Heat and contact with “wet” food or drink increases the opportunity for leached chemical (BPA) contamination into the food. That said, keeping dry foods in plastic jars prevents insects, moisture and chemical leaching. Oats, barley, dried beans, sugar, flour, seeds for next season(with clean paper to maintain moisture levels, prevent mold.) Agree that a mayo jar is perfect for a mini first aide kit or matches & fire starters. Make sure heat has not warped the threads, so lid is secure and include a layer of plastic wrap or foil there if the jar is to be left long term-exposed to moisture like in your car trunk. thank you for making people aware and more self reliant. Keep up the good work. Deb P.
I believe you would have to heat the plastic to get that action. Partial correction.
There are lots of BPA-free plastic bottles on the market now. Most people look for them now in everything they buy in plastic.
I use 16oz plastic Coke bottles to store .22 LR bullets. Holds around 400 rounds.