When Running and Gardening Collide

Question:  What do you get when you mix a cheapskate, a runner and a budding gardener? 

Answer:  A use for old water bottles and race safety pins.

I love hanging baskets and pots in my garden - but do not enjoy the mess and time of watering them.  My solution:  Take my old water bottles, poke holes around the bottom using my race safety pin, fill with water, recap.   When it is time to water, set them in the pot and take off the lid and you have your own mini sprinkler.  Waa laa - an instant watering solution.  No mess, no waste.   

And look, my six pack carton even got a second life.  (Thanks Dad for that suggestion!)

Bonus Question:  What do you get when you take my watering bottles and place them in the hands of small children?

Answer:   Water fights!  And really wet kids!

If you like to run and love our world, check out a couple great posts and ideas from eco-runners like Sam, G.P.'s (Great list of tips), or Beth as she did her first eco-run.  On this weekends run, leave the world a little better than you found it. 

Comments

[Marcy]

Ooooooo Amy that's a great idea!! I'm going to try it. Crafty crafty you are!

[Gretchen]

Ah, nice idea, especially for those of us with a brown thumb (me!) I also use those water bottles as toys for my 1 1/2 year old bodder collie who has a ton of energy and needs a job or he's a pain in the butt! I put a bit of dog food inside, screw the cap on (tight, now that he's an expert at the game)and toss it on the floor. It takes him about 10 minutes to unscrew the cap and get the food out, although it used to be a good 30 minutes of entertainment. Definitely take any label/wrapper off the bottle for this game or the dog makes a mess, and he might eat the wrapper.

[Database Diva]

Great idea Amy! I also like Gretchen's idea about the dog toy. I have a dalmatian who is in constant need of entertainment. I'll give this a try, and hope she doesn't end up eating the bottle before I can take it away from her.

[Amy]

Fabulous idea! I have a big ole Golden that loves to play and needs constant attention. I am like Diva and would need to watch him to make sure he didn't eat the bottle!

[bill carter]

I will admit that I am not nearly as creative and don't have the artsy gene, but I am very much in support of saving our environment. I would also guess that a much greater percentage of runners are pro-environment than the average person.
Of course, I am biased...

[Andria]

What a great idea! I like the idea of using it instead of throwing it away.

[pat monahan]

Amy, I just read some of the green blogs. I think it gave me a headache. It's too big a problem for little ole me.

but, I'm going to try to be green. I promise I will.

Thanks for the great post.

[Mike LaBossiere]

Great idea. I don't buy bottled water (why pay dollars for what comes out of the tap for pennies) but I always end up with bottles from races or meetings. I usually reuse them or toss them in the recycle bin, but I like your idea.

[Lisa]

I love that idea...I'll have to remember that. I'm actually going back to the tap for most of my water nowadays. I'm tired of all the plastic bottles.

Very ingenious, though!