How can I reuse or recycle hotel shampoo bottles?
Back in the day, before I realised what an ecological nightmare they were, I used to yoink the mini shampoo bottles, soaps and leftover shower caps from hotel bathrooms, particularly when we stayed in fancy hotels and they came in interesting bottles and smelled of great things. I built up quite a collection and I know I’m not alone in doing so (hi mum!).
These days we take our own (full size or thereabouts) supplies with us when we go away but I’m also still working through the stack of these little bottles in the back of the bathroom cupboard.
Aside from refilling the empties for gym/spa/pool sessions when you don’t want to lug a full bottle of shampoo or shower gel, does anyone have any other suggestions for reusing these little single-use-size critters?
well, if they don’t have the hotel name on them, you can always refill them and make a spa gift basket for someone.
use them for sand art for kids.
great toy for kids.
wash them, put water inside and freeze them. Once they’re frozen use them to keep your lunch cold.
if you mix paints, or any other liquid.
Donate them (full) to a homeless shelter, shelter for abused women or similar.
Small bottles filled with water and frozen make good icepacks for small injuries such as jamming a finger or soothing a bug bite.
i used them for small beads.
Last Christmas I spent some time checking shoeboxes folk had filled for sending to Eastern Europe and thought how useful those little bottles would be – will be saving any this year for that purpose !
I refill them for when we go swimming. As I only buy my shampoo in large bottles (save on packaging) I can’t take these bottles to the pool so re-using these tiny bottles a must and it’s cheaper if they get left behind.
store herbs in them
Most of them are #1 or #2 plastic, so they can be recycled. I also like the ice pack idea since I take my lunch to work.
I use the lotion ones and continually refill it with my own lotion and keep it in my purse.
Children can make sand art with them.
If you got many of them, turn them into chess pieces, gluing pictures of horses, kings, etc on them. The chock lines on a concrete can serve as chess board.
If you bought a big bottle of mouthwash and it won’t fit in your bathroom cabinet, you can clean out a bunch of the little bottles and fill them with mouthwash.