Trash to Treasure Challenge

By: Sarah Hieta-aho

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That old saying holds true even today. There are many people right now, who cannot or may not want to purchase containers for their garden. Either they do not have the money to spend or they want to find creative ways to reuse items they already have.

If you have a workplace, school, family member, friend, or neighbor who absolutely refuses to stop buying plastic items even though they know how bad they are for the environment—you can stockpile these and use them in your garden! Besides raiding trash and recycling bins, I also asked my local Buy Nothing Project group if they had any “trash” I could collect!

Here is a list of common household items found in the trash or recycling that you can use in your garden to start seeds:

• Egg cartons (plastic, styrofoam, or cardboard)
  
• You can even use egg shells or citrus peels!
• Yogurt, ice cream, butter, or margarine containers
• K-cups (Keurig coffee cups)
• Jell-O, applesauce, or pudding cups
• Any size plastic drink bottles, jugs, or boxes
• These will need to be cut, but you can use the tops for other garden projects!
• Clamshell containers and condiment cups from takeout and fast food
• Old plastic kitchen storage containers (like Rubbermaid or Tupperware)
• Produce boxes from pre-packaged items at the grocery store
• Plastic, styrofoam, or paper cups
• Empty toilet paper rolls
• Baby formula containers
• Coffee cans
• Old ceramic pottery (mugs, bowls, vases, tea kettles and cups, etc)
• Colanders (metal, plastic, or ceramic)
• Glass jars or dishes
• Cement blocks 
• You can even use these as the border of your garden bed and plant in the holes!
• Aluminum soda cans or tin cans
• Ice cube trays
• Muffin or cupcake pans, bread pans, or baking dishes
• Old cooking pots
• Cardboard boxes, shoe boxes, Amazon shipping boxes, or tissue boxes
• Thicker plastic or cloth bags
• These are great because you can hang them. I don’t recommend thin and flimsy plastic as it breaks too easily.
• Some people even use old shoes and boots!

Above: My first batch of seeds that I started in egg cartons, yogurt containers, butter and margarine containers, mushroom boxes, and water bottles. I used old storage bins to easily move the seeds around my backyard and wood clothespins to label what vegetable was planted.

Above: I cut off the tops of water bottles, used condiment cups, and an egg carton to start growing onions. I kept the tops of the water bottles for other DIY gardening projects.

Above: Titan Sunflowers sprouting in a styrofoam egg carton.

Above: Transplanting melon seedlings from plastic apple containers into garden mounds and a cucumber that had sprouted in the bottom of a water bottle.

Notes: 

• There are pros and cons to using different kinds of material. For example, the benefit to using cardboard egg cartons is that you can tear apart the pods to plant directly in the ground as they will decompose on their own, while the benefit of using styrofoam or plastic egg cartons is that they seem to hold moisture better for your growing seedling. If you live in a hot, dry climate using styrofoam or plastic egg cartons might be a good choice due to how fast water evaporates in the heat.
  

Unfortunately, metal containers are likely to overheat, which can stress your plants and damage their roots. I would suggest using metal containers in colder climates or indoors. Here in LA, I found it to be way too hot to use metal.

• Empty toilet paper rolls are great because like egg cartons, you can plant them right into the garden and they will decompose as the plant grows!

If the container doesn’t have holes in the bottom, you will need to use a tool like a nail or a needle to punch holes in the bottom for drainage before filling with soil and your choice of seed. I found that for plastic containers, using a pair of pliers to grip a large needle was the easiest way to punch holes. Before using that method, I had used a pushpin, which gave me nasty blisters on my fingers.

For containers that you can’t put holes in like ceramic or glass, fill the bottom with stones or wood mulch before putting your soil in and then be careful not to overwater.

• ​For individual water bottles, drink bottles, jugs, or boxes, you will need to use a tool like a box cutter, x-acto blade, or scissors. I found the easiest way for me to cut water bottles was to use a box cutter to make the initial cut and then scissors to finish the job.