fdk

With plastic trash choking our oceans, it’s time to put those offenders to good use!

If you’ve heard any sort of lecture on taking care of and improving the environment, you’re sure to have heard of the “Three Rs”: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Reducing is, of course, first and more important. Don’t use what you don’t need, choose things that can be used multiple times over things meant to be tossed after just one use… One easy change that can have a huge impact is purchasing a reusable water bottle that you can take with you and refill as you need, instead of buying a bottle of water every time you need a drink.

But sometimes you’re caught out without your own water bottle, or you are simply unable to find a place to refill your bottle while you’re out and about, and have no other choice but to buy a bottled drink. The next step? Reuse, and here are seven handy items which help you do just that!

1. Bottle cap pencil sharpener (303 yen/ US$2.80)

Mechanical pencils have pretty much eliminated the need for pencil sharpeners, but if you’re an artist using graphite or colored pencils, or simply prefer a good old-fashioned wood pencil to a mechanical one, you’ll find yourself dealing with pencil shavings from time to time. Even pencil sharpeners that have a container to catch pencil shavings tend to be tiny and require frequent emptying. With this ingenious bottle cap pencil sharpener, however, you can turn any empty water bottle into a pencil-shaving catch and not have to worry about dumping your shavings for weeks… months, even!

7

8

And for you Disney fans out there, there’s even Mickey Mouse-ear version.

Images: Amazon

2. Pet bottle smartphone holder/tripod (999 yen/ $9.20)

Great for hands-free video-watching while you’re enjoying a meal, taking notes, or are just sick of holding onto your smartphone 24/7. Also works as a tripod for those timed, large group selfies.

9

Image: Dospara

3. Bottle humidifier (1,800 yen/ $16.50)

During the dry winter months, which Japan in particular experiences, it’s important to replenish the moisture in your home to help prevent the spread of icky cold viruses (which spread much more easily in dry air), and to help keep your dry throat soothed. A standard humidifier can be quite pricey, but this PET bottle humidifier cube is not only a lot more economical, it takes up much less space, allows you to reuse plastic water bottles, and is chargeable via USB port!

2

1

Images: Keihin-oroshi Center

4. The Lightie (under $10)

Twenty-seven-year-old entrepreneur Michael Suttner came up with The Lightie as an inexpensive, practical way to give nighttime lighting to millions of people throughout the world who are either dependent on expensive candles or fuel to give them light after sundown, or are simply left in the dark. The Lightie is recharged by solar energy, and can fit any standard PET bottle to provide hours of light.

5

6

The Lightie is only available for preorder at this point, but if you’re in need of something similar right now, you can do as this Twitter-user did and get the same effect with a water bottle and LED flashlight.

Images: The Lightie

5. Pet bottle wiper (1,236 yen/ $11.35)

Sure to make those outdoor cleaning jobs that much easier. Similar wiper attachments (without sponge) are also available at 100 yen stores for those of you on a budget.

11

12

Images: Amazon

6. RETHINK pet bottle hanger ($7.99)

Shoulder-nipples are never a good fashion look, requiring you forgo typical wire hangers and invest in more expensive wood hangers to fix the problem. The RETHINK hanger isn’t exactly a cheaper alternative, but it can at least help you keep some plastic bottles out of the landfill, while avoiding the dreaded shoulder-nipple at the same time! One net-user made a plea for 100-yen stores to start selling something similar… We’ll be waiting for this, Daiso!

4

3

Images: Amazon

7. Lace Vace (€40-45, or digital design purchase €10/ $46-51, $11)

Who knew plastic bottles could look so good?

13

10

Images: DesignLibero

Have a clever way to reuse empty (or full) plastic water bottles? Please share it with us!

Source: NAVER Matome 
Top image: (1, 2, 3, 4) edited by RocketNews24