The 2 liter soda bottle. Super cheap and readily available. Offer to help clean up after a party and you can go home with an armload of them for free! Once you’ve emptied the contents, don’t throw that bottle out! Here are the top ten ways for the preparedness crowd to reuse two liter bottles.
1. Store water. 2 liter bottles make great water storage containers. After the original contents have been emptied, wash the bottle thoroughly, rinse with a 10:1 water bleach solution if desired, and fill with fresh tap water. Screw the lid on tight and write the date on the bottle with a permanent marker so you’ll know when it’s time to rotate it (6-12 months after filling). These bottles slide easily under beds or behind couches! Make a holder for your bottle from paracord and it’s ready to bug out with.
2. Purify Water. Solar Disinfection (SODIS) uses sunlight and clear plastic bottles to make water safe to drink. Clear plastic bottles are filled with water, then laid in the sun for at least 6 hours. The sun’s UV-A rays combine with heat from the infrared rays to pasteurize the water. To use your soda bottle for SODIS, it must be clear, and this method works best between 35 degrees north of the equator and 35 degrees south of the equator (which includes some of the southern part of the United States). http://www.sodis.ch/methode/anwendung/index_EN
3. Store food. Smaller grained foods can be stored in emptied 2 liter bottles. Wash and disinfect as you would to store water in them, then make sure they are thoroughly dry before filling with food. Add an oxygen absorber for extra freshness and longer storage life, then screw the lid on tight, mark the bottle with the date and put it in your food storage. You might need a funnel to make the filling job easier, which brings me to use number 4.
4. Make a funnel. Cut the top of the bottle off about where the curve starts turning into the straight sides. Remove the lid and you’ve got a funnel. To use this funnel to fill other 2 liter bottles, you’ll want to tape them together to secure the funnel during filling since the necks will be the same size.
5. Make a tiny container using two tops. This is slick. Use it for medications, spices, or little valuables. http://briangreen.net/2011/02/plastic-soda-bottle-lid-capsule.html
6. Make a broom. Step by step here or here’s a video showing how. Because there’s always something to sweep up. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-broom-from-2-liter-soda-bottles/
7. Make a bowl. Cut the bottom off the bottle and use it as a bowl. Yes, there are little bumps in the bottom of your bowl, but that’s just part of the joy of improvising.
8. Then you can make a spoonto go along with that bowl you just made. Cut as outlined below. It gets thicker at the bottom, so be extra careful not to cut yourself! If your handle isn’t sturdy enough, attach a stick to it.
9. Shoes. Fashion either a pair of sandals or muck shoes out of your 2 liter bottles. Might want to add traction to the bottom somehow . . .
10. Build a boat. Here are a couple of 2 liter bottle kayaks in action.
http://www.zandvleitrust.org.za/art-peninsula%20paddle%20bottle%20canoes%20at%20zandvlei%20june%202013.html
But wait! There’s more! Here are some fantastic bonus uses for 2 liter bottles:
11. Make a mini greenhouse to start your plants. Like the ones here. Or just cover a small pot like this. My daughter brought plants home from school once in a 2 liter bottle they had just cut in half. Planted in the bottom half and taped the top half back on with the lid removed. After the plants get somewhat established (before they shoot through the top of the bottle), remove the top half. It worked really well.
12. If you have lots of bottles, you can build a full size greenhouse! For real. The neighbors might think you’re crazy, but they already think that about you, don’t they? I know mine do. Plans at this link.
