Vela Creations is an in-depth resource for off grid living. The site documents our research and experiences, hoping that they might help others interested in pursuing this lifestyle. This blog is designed to document our day to day experiences as we build our new, sustainable homestead. If you are interested in seeing more photos and videos, we have a flickr account at the following url: http://flickr.com/photos/35090117@N05/collections/

Monday, February 2, 2009

Reusing plastic bottles


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We have a new Instructable entered into a Plastic Bottle Reuse contest:
Instructables

In the not too distant past, you would buy milk, sodas, etc. in glass bottles which you would return to the store to be sterilized and used again. Now, with our disposable culture, plastic bottles have replaced this system and have consequently become one of the many banes of the landfills. We need to rectify this wasteful and eco-nomically expensive practice.

The current popular solution to the problem is recycling. However, recycling requires additional energy to process the material into something usable, not to mention the fact that the process itself can have harmful side effects. So a better solution, if you can't avoid the disposable containers altogether, is to reuse them. This requires no added infrastructure costs and concerns. In fact, if you are reusing junk, you are helping to make the initial energy that went into the production of that material last longer and go farther. It’s not just about saving money, but more importantly, integrating your lifestyle with what is available for the least amount of cost, be it environmental or financial.

That said, we have a new article on the site, offering some quick and easy ideas on how to reuse plastic bottles around the homestead.

4 comments:

  1. now how is this supposed to help the economy?

    miss you folks :)

    - trevor

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  2. Hey Trevor! Get back to work on that dome!!

    Nice work on the house A&J!! Get that guest room finished so I can come visit and help out with other chores soon. One of my harbor freight lights finally burned out - thanks for the led instructable - ya'll get my vote! Hi Leo!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the comments you guys! Well, it helps the economy by being a bit more efficient with energy! And there are other reasons...

    @ Trevor - How's the dome coming?

    @ Johnnygizmo - how's the place coming along?

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  4. yes, but if you were to buy a brand new cookie biscuit cutter and butter churn from bed bath and beyond instead, that would stimulate the economy AND create jobs in china. you obviously didn't think this through :) Just kidding. You got my vote.

    Unfortunately, the dome has had to take a back seat for the moment. I've been working mostly on music projects and touring some. I'll be back at the dome at the end of February.

    Glad y'all have a blog now that I can follow.

    ReplyDelete

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