Recycle with your kids Tip # 4: bottled water

OK, get this.

The global consumption of bottled water has reached 154 liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004.

And the United States leads the way as the world’s leading consumer of bottled water (26 billion liters). If each bottle was even half a liter, imagine how many empty bottled water containers that would be.

How many are recycled? As of 2003, only 12 percent of “custom” plastic bottles were recycled. MSNBC counts that number as 40 million bottles a day that went into the trash or became litter.

Imagine that.

So consider these tips on recycling water bottles. Seriously, we need to do more.

From Homemom3:

I wasn’t sure the age, but asked my 10 -year-old son and he said you can make toys out of a water bottle. I asked he said shakers, which I knew but then he said a car.

Items:
1 water bottle (empty)
2 sticks
4 water bottle caps

You’ll need mom and dad to cut holes in the bottle in two places. Place the stick through and attach the wheels using the caps. You’ve got yourself a Recycle Bottle Car.

From geekbearinggifts:

Our local schools collect bottles and cans which have state redemption values, and use them to buy equipment and supplies for the classrooms that collected them.

From Sharon Jones:

“WHAT CAN CHILDREN DO TO REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE?”-with the help of an adult-make toys from things inside the house-old plastic bottles can be cut and used for pail and shovel, make instruments from paper tubes…etc…so much fun!

From Mary Dunigan:

My four children love the Water Bottles so much that they use them to create Plants homes in the backyard. They fill them with dirt, plant seeds in them and watch them grow. After they grow, we put them in the ground so they can watch them grow. They also like to reuse them on trips to put there favorite drinks in and since they have sealed tops with drinking tops, they make less of a mess on the trip.

Thank you so much for these tips, ladies.

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