We’ve had an email from Katharyn:

Can you tell me what alternatives I have to plastic milk bottles from the supermarket? I tried to get a milkman to deliver but they told me I don’t get through enough milk to warrant them adding me to the route but I seem to generate lots of empty milk bottles! I can recycle them at the supermarket but I would rather not use them in the first place.

I think the milkman – with their reusable glass bottles – is probably the best route here to go down here – such a shame they won’t deliver. How about talking to your neighbours to see if you can up the order?

Some local wholefood stores also stock milk in glass bottles – talk to them about whether you can return the bottles for reusing or whether they should be recycled with other glass bottles.

If you have to keep using your supermarket, buying in bulk would reduce the amount of plastic used per pint but then you’d have a lot of milk to get through. Milk can be frozen but it can be a little separated on thawing – perfectly fine for cooking with but a little less palatable on your cereal. Any advice on freezing milk?

Any other suggestions?

A question from my mum – something she mentioned on instant messenger a few weeks ago but I forgot until now ;)

The night we were chatting about it, she had just found a collection of them in a drawer during a clearout. The bottles she has are brown glass, about 6cm (2.5inches) tall but pretty narrow, with a plastic cap and a plastic thing at the top to make drips happen. Other, equally small bottles, come with a pipette instead of the drip thing.

So basically we’ve got some very small bottles that will be tricky to clean out – any suggestions?

Mum thought kids could use them for playing shop – since they’re more kid-size than adult-size – but couldn’t think of anything else. Ideas?

Last week this little lady –> arrived in my email inbox.

She (I’m presuming she’s a she, from the eyelashes and pink scarf) is the work of Dutch artist Carolien Adriaansche.

Carolien makes all sorts of wonderfully cute creatures out of old rubbish – like our friend here, who has a bleach bottle body as well as her lightbulb head, and the three guys below, who are just so full of personality that it hurts :)

Carolien also uses other plastic bottles – like those thin ones that all purpose cleaner comes in – to make headless beasts.

Using the handles for their ever-quite-gormless mouths, they have drink bottle caps for eyes and ears/horns made out of rubber gloves, plastic coathangers and even toe separators. Very cute.

See more of Carolien’s work on her website – click her name, then anywhere on the pink & blue guys, then her name again and on the big “C” for the galleries.

Following my post at the start of the month about Jan turning pop bottles into flowers, Jennifer Houck got in touch about some art she’s made out of old rubbish.

I have made quite a few things out of plastic bottles and caps. Our recycler only comes once a month, and will not take bottle caps. So with overflowing amounts of caps and bottles, I decided to see what I could do with this surplus.

This picture she says is playing with colour and texture of the original bottles but in other photos she sent, she painted the bottoms of clear bottles with marble-effect paint – which I think highlighted the cool, and often pretty shapes, of the bases themselves.

She’s also made these really fun figures out of old bottles – using the curved shape of the bottles to full advantage on the bug’s wings and chicken’s tail – and papier mache from old magazines. I like them a lot and am very tempted to give it a go myself.

• How can I reuse or recycle … plastic bottle tops?
• How can I reuse or recycle … the bumpy bottom of pop bottles?
• How can I reuse or recycle … beer bottle caps?

(Are you, or anyone you know, making art by reusing/recycling random old stuff? If so, let me know and I’ll feature it here.)

Not a usual “How Can I…” post but I had an email from Jan (who comments as twinks) yesterday about the flowers she makes from old plastic drinks bottles and I thought it was worth a mention.

She says:

These were among the first flowers I made from all those plastic bottles that accumulate in and around our lives. They have become much more sophisticated over time with subtle colouring and more shaping, and they LAST for at least 7 years even outside (that’s how long mine have been outside even through brutal Canadian winters).

She’s written about them on her blog and in case anyone fancies giving it a go themselves, I’ve put some instructions from Jan in the comments section (below).

(Are you, or anyone you know, making art by reusing/recycling random old stuff? If so, let me know and I’ll feature it here.)

• How can I reuse or recycle … plastic milk bottles?
• How can I reuse or recycle … big squash bottles?
• How can I reuse or recycle … shampoo bottles?
• How can I reuse or recycle … plastic bottle tops?
• How can I reuse or recycle … the bumpy bottom of pop bottles?
• How can I reuse or recycle … water cooler bottles?