4 More Geeky Ways to Reuse Bottles

Fresh ideas beyond these 13 Coolest Things Made from Recycled Bottles.

August 3, 2009 at 3:50PM by Brian Clark Howard | comment

Recently I wrote about 13 cool things people have made from recycled bottles. The post was a blast, and we love it when things get recycled (or "upcycled") into other useful things. That's why it was exciting to see this piece on Boisdale on Four Geeky Things You Can Do With An Empty Bottle.

I particularly love the whiskey bottle computer case mod (originally from MetkuMods). There's also a cool demonstration of cutting glass with string, making an adorable terrarium and turning old soda bottles into lamps. Fun stuff, and remember that one person's trash is another's treasure!

Inhabitat has a cool story today about a tiny floating campground in Holland. The site also has a piece on a fascinating bottle village. I'm surprised I hadn't come across this when I was doing research before, but it seems that a grandmother (Grandma Prisbrey) had built quite a curiosity out of tens of thousands of bottles in mortar.

The one-third acre "village," in Simi Valley, California, is "an otherworld of shrines, wishing wells, walkways, random constructions, plus 15 life size structures all made from found objects." There's a fascinating little website maintained by the nonprofit Preserve Bottle Village, which includes a map of the place, complete with photos. Check out the uber creepy doll head shrine and Cleopatra's bedroom!

Grandma Prisbrey passed away in 1988 at the age of 92, and her village was damaged by the infamous Northridge earthquake (one potential hazard of building with recycled bottles). Yet the place lives on.

I love this dreamy video of Bottle Village: