Earth Day is on April 22nd and it’s our 2nd time participating in the annual Earth Month Blog Hop. Last year we joined in on the recycling portion (no surprise there, right?) of the Natural Parenting Event with our post on How to Re-Use Absolutely Anything to Grow Plants In, and since this year is all about finding fun new uses for the materials and recyclables you have on hand we will have lots to contribute!  Take the challenge with us!

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True to Form

Last Week’s Challenge was to up-cycle plastic into something fun, and as you would have expected, we decided to meet that challenge head on, with a really easy DIY Juice Jug Greenhouse project. We’re really sticking to our guns with this growing stuff as we meet this week’s challenge, paper or cardboard, again with a way to up-cycle it into something you can grow plants in. You got it, Up-Cycled Paper Pots.

Up-Cycled Paper Pots

Basically there are two ways to turn old newspapers into pots, with a Paper Pot Maker, yes it’s a thing and it works tremendously well, or by folding paper into a box.  

Using the Paper Pot Maker

Materials:

• Paper Pot Maker
• Newspaper

Directions:

1. Cut the paper into strips, about 10″ long by 4″ wide
2. Roll the paper around the handle portion of the Paper Pot Maker, making sure that the newspaper overhangs about an inch off the bottom of the roller
3. Fold the bottom overlap in to close, and press firmly and turn the newly made pot on the roller, into the disc portion.
4. Carefully slide the pot off of the roller, and repeat.  Many. Many. Times.

Using Origami

Materials:

• Easy Origami or There’s a pretty good tutorial here
• Newspaper

Directions

1. Use the origami instructions of your preference to make a box, you can see how I did it in the image below
2. Cut the newspaper into either 6″ or 8″ squares
3. Repeat over and over again until you’re really really good at it, and you’ve used up all of your newspaper.

How To Use Your Up-Cycled Paper Pots

Same as you would any other pot for starting seeds, start by adding quality potting soil, add water to moisten, add your seeds, cover with a bit more soil, and place on a window sill.  Cover with a film of plastic wrap, or a clear lid from something else, and watch for your seeds to germinate and grow.

When your seedlings are ready to be transplanted to the garden, after hardening them off for a week, you can simply put the entire pot into the garden.  Make sure you’ve tilled in some organic matter and dried manure, dig your hole for the seeding, and place the whole pot right in.  Pack the soil in around and you’re ready to grow.

Be sure to check out all of our other posts on Seed Starting, like our Top Ten Ideas for Seed Starting, and all of our other great Green Living Ideas   The Garbage Deodorizer Pucks are a personal favourite. 

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