Take Your Top off! | Recycle bottle caps and help keep the oceans clean

Nov 10

Take Your Top off! project

take your top off

During my  MA in Graphic Design this year I decided to take ‘Pollution in the Ocean’ as my major project subject.

The subject choice was based on the influence the ocean have in our world and in our lives, and how much people know and are concerned about it. Specifically, it aimed to explore the environmental issues caused by plastic debris and its devastating polluting consequences for our oceans today.

The decision to make plastic bottles tops the main concept for the campaign came after a close investigation into the kinds of debris that is out there coupled with the fact that plastic bottle tops are not currently widely recyclable, which means millions end up in landfills, rivers and consequently in the sea.

I have decided to post some of my visual summaries containing the beach litter investigation I did during this summer and a few pictures of the litter on the river Thames.

The pictures below are from:

Chesil Beach, Dorset

Chapmans Pool Beach, Dorset

Frias Cliff Beach, ChristChurch, Dorset

Rottingdean Beach, East Sussex

Thank you to all beach organisers for the support during the Marine Conservation Society Beachwatch events to this project.

Keep me Clean

Posted by Glenda Duarte in All about recycling bottle caps | No Comments

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Nov 9

How to Recycle plastic milk bottle tops

A frequent question on my zero waste is ‘How do I recycle plastic milk bottle tops?’.

Many areas will recycle plastic milk bottles, but as you’ll read in this article, there is a lot of confusion about recycling the plastic tops. Some local authorities ask you to put them on the bottle when recycling, others ask you to remove the tops and recycle them separately and others say to landfill the tops!

Some of you might remember collecting milk bottle tops as children for charitable causes. There are not many charitable schemes for collecting plastic milk bottle tops any more, but there is one company who can help.

GHS will collect and recycle milk bottle tops for the charity of your choice. There is a minimum payment amount of 500 kgs but they will keep track of the amount you send in if you just want to post a small pack at a time.

Why not set up a collection point at your workplace or children’s school? You’ll be able to reduce your plastic landfill waste, help the environment and benefit the charity of your choice too.

Reference, http://www.myzerowaste.com: http://myzerowaste.com/2009/01/what-should-we-do-about-plastic-milk-bottle-tops/

Posted by Glenda Duarte in All about recycling bottle caps | 3 Comments

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Nov 9

How to Recycle Bottle Caps | eHow.com

  1. Step 1

    Make a homemade mud scraper. Cut out a piece of plywood (or use a left over piece from another project) in whatever size you desire. Nail bottle caps side by side with the flat, smooth side down. Cover the board. Now you have a great mud scraper to clean your boots and shoes off on. Just hose it down to clean. Nail bottle caps to a hand sized block of wood, fluted side up. Hold it in the palm of your hand to scale fish.

  2. Step 2

    Flatten bottle caps with a hammer. Make sure they are good and flat. Poke a hole near the top with an awl. Add a hook for earrings or a jump ring for a necklace. Glue them to scrapbook pages as decorations. Put holes in top and bottom and string them together with fishing line for a one of a kind belt. String them in patterns as wall art. Be creative!

  3. Step 3

    Get 16 each of two different kinds of bottle caps and use them as checkers. You can paint them red and black or whatever colors you like but they look really neat left alone, too.

  4. Step 4

    Use caps to hold tiny amounts of paints for small projects. You can also use them to mix tiny amounts of paint for touch ups. Fill with ant, roach or rodent poison but be sure to keep them where children can’t find them. Use them to hold really tiny beads for jewelry making or for any other super small items.

  5. Step 5

    Cut tiny pictures to glue inside the caps. Then cover them well with glue and let them dry. Glue a small magnet to the flat side and use them as refrigerator magnets. Put holiday pictures in them and drill a tiny hold at the top and hang them as mini Christmas ornaments.

  6. Step 6

    Use your imagination to find uses for the lowly bottle cap. They are small enough for little children to find delightful as game pieces and art projects. With almost no cost, you can let them come up with some ideas of their own. They make a great rainy day project.

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Nov 9

How can I reuse or recycle plastic screw-top bottle caps?

We’ve had an email from Am about bottle caps:

As we have a lot of plastic water bottles, and they are easy enough to recycle/reuse… but what about the screw-on bottle tops?

When they are recycled the council insist the lids are not included…and I hate to waste all those little lids.

I always keep a few spare ones in case I lose/drop-somewhere-rank the lid of a bottle I’m re-using. I’ve also used them (usually in pairs for stability) to add height when a plant pot sits too low in the planter – water bottle caps add about 1cm while milk bottle ones are a little wide and not as tall.

Anyone got any other suggestions?

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