Plastic grocery bags and plastic water bottles – those disposable environmental nightmares – have become iconic in the current green revolution. Which is why plastic grocery bags are banned in many states, with many more on the way. Alas, single-use soda and water bottles are still ubiquitous. And even those of us who refuse to buy them, somehow seem to find ourselves in possession of the little landfill disasters.

So you’ve found yourself with a stash of bottles, maybe from your Couch-to-5k run, or your company-provided lunch, or that one time you got caught on a long drive in the middle of nowhere. Beverage trash still happens to mindful people! But that’s okay. There’re plenty of ways to get creative and upcycle them for new and useful purposes. Here are a few fantastic ideas to get you started:

1. You can construct surprisingly elegant hanging lights, like this incredible plastic bottle chandelier.

2. You can also make awesome standing lights, like this glamorous floor lamp or this awesome desk lamp.

3. Be a DIY exterminator! Make a bug trap to thwart those summer fruit flies that invade your kitchen.

4. Make an automatic-plant watering system, and never let another plant die due to forgetfulness.

5. While you’re at it, you can fashion a simple, small watering can to keep on hand.

6. Freeze your bottles full of water and use them as cold packs in your cooler, or in your cloth shopping bag to keep your cold items cool on the way home from the grocer.

7. Put them to work in your kitchen. Make a citrus juicer! Or a quick funnel!

8. Cut off the tops and use the bottoms as your seed starter pots for your spring garden’s indoor transplants.

9. Or, cut off the bottoms and use the tops to blow giant bubbles!

10. And don’t forget those caps too! You can use them to make mini stamps.

11. Fill them with tap water and drop them in your toilet tank instead of a brick. You’ll save gallons of water each day ... and reduce the risk of harming your plumbing!

12. Make a DIY lava lamp! So fun!

13. Make a super cute piggy bank.

14. This is NOT just another boring old “plastic vase”. This idea from Dollar Store Crafts for a DIY flower vase is a most elegant-looking use of a plastic drink bottle!

15. This is a pretty boring, but very functional, plastic bag dispenser. You could totally paint or decoupage it to spruce it up.

16. Make custom fashion, like these fun water bottle bracelets.

17. Make a coin purse. Amazing.

18. These “flower garland” hangings look so modern and so chic.

19. Save them for the holidays and make strings of stars (WOW) or icicle ornaments.

20. And finally, for the pros, you can set up a hydroponic window garden (double WOW).

Got any other ideas? Leave them in the comments!

Sayward Rebhal writes for Networx.com. 

Updated March 21, 2018.