Oh those would be great as planters to wall off little patio areas. Restaurants that set up patios in parking spaces might want them, or people in rowhouses wanting to wall off their back porch from the neighbors’ etc.
My great aunt had a worm farm and Jimmy Carter would buy his worms from her. This isn’t relevant, you just unlocked a memory and I had to tell someone lol
That’s amazing actually. What a random connection. Life is silly and I love it. Of course Jimmy Carter bought worms from a local worm farm. He’s so wholesome.
This is the main deal! Where did they come from and what did they once hold? Is it chemical, besides the plastic they are made from? Do you have a steady flow of these items? Not to be a total downer but:
They are all likely leaking micro plastic into whatever they will hold in the future? All exciting, but woah.
I would definitely try to give some away in your neighborhood, like in a Buy Nothing group. 100 is just too many. Can I ask how you ended up with so many?
You could turn them into waterproof bike panniers, I’ve seen guides online on how to DIY similarly shaped plastic trash cans into panniers so I bet these would work!
Fill some with blankets and it could be a shelter for homeless cats if positioned near a shady area, I would try to use to blanket to cover up the open bottom
This is a lovely idea, but please don't use blankets when providing shelter for outdoor animals. STRAW is the way to go. ("Hay is for horses, straw is for strays.")
The animal can nest into the straw quite nicely. You can easily replace straw when it gets soiled. Straw doesn't hold moisture as much as cloth. In the winter, this is critical because a damp blanket can freeze and actually "glue" the animal to it.
It looks like they either have big holes or big dents in the bottom, meaning a lot of suggestions here won't work.
The recycle symbol suggest they are high density polyurethane which is VERY recyclable. They can be recycled into bottles, grocery bags, milk jugs, recycling bins, agricultural pipe, base cups, car stops, playground equipment, and plastic lumber.
Recycling facilities near you should take them, but call ahead, obviously.
Worm farm, layered composting bins, or attach them to the wall you've got shelves and storage. Also depending on the weight of them they could be part of a cat's climbing wall and then if they're safely cut and like filed so there's no sharp plastic you can have some of them being like open so they can crawling and curl up in them.
For soil, you can layer almost any dirt- purchased or dug up- with straw and get a lot more bang for your buck, so to speak. We've had great success with this. Just be sure to water frequently.
Just stood up like regular above ground pots! Drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Grow your potatoes, wait forever, then dump everything out into another larger bin or a tarp to harvest potatoes. I’m not sure about what soil!
I’ve read that just old leaves work great for potatoes. You put in a layer of leaves, lay down your potatoes, cover with leaves. As they grow, continue to add leaves and when you’re ready, dump to harvest and start growing again!
Another gardening thing: around where I grew up, moles and voles were an issue in some parts of the garden. If there was something whose roots I knew would be very interesting to them and sensitive to disturbance, I would take a plastic pot, saw off the bottom or otherwise make a hole, and use a staple gun to staple a couple layers of chicken wire or one layer of hardware cloth on the bottom. Then I would dig a hole and submerge the pot up to the lip at the top. An extra bonus for super well draining soil or hot areas where you might forget to water is that the plastic retains water better. The downside is you have to worry about things getting root bound depending on what they are. Most plants are able to send roots through the bottom of the pot, but some plants have life strategies where they have really shallow roots that stretch far. So use your best judgment for what to put in there.
for recycling, you should be able to take them to your nearest plastics recycling facility - hdpe is quite a common plastic for recycling and can be turned into various things like pipes or even recycling bins.
as for other uses for them, they'd make good planters - if you're into growing your own food, if you drill holes in the sides you could even grow mushrooms out of them, being this deep they'd also be good for potatoes i'd say.
if they come with lids, they may be a good size for compost bins.
realistically i don't think you'll be able to repurpose all hundred, but you can definitely do something with some of them. i also like the idea someone mentioned of using them as housing for stray cats!
Those appear to be water meter boxes…. “There were tons of em just stacked up sitting there… on a utility yard..” if you try to scrap or sell those you’ll probably have a visitor come see you at home within a day or 2, posting that shit on here may be enough to trigger it
They are junction boxes I’ve since learned. Surplus to requirements and now my responsibility to reuse/repurpose/recycle. Better than going to landfill.
Happy to speak to any visitor who may wish to visit.
All is see is worm bins! 🪱
Fun fact: worms taste with their bodies. Everytime I feed my farm, I imagine them slithering over the papaya or avocado peels in pleasure 😊🪱🪱
So, if the bottom is an indent and not a hole, you could drill a hole in the rim for a shaft and make water wheels. If done right you could make several and sell them. They could be decorative or functional depending on your location and availability of moving water.
My husband gets plastic containers from a farmer who buys cattle feed in them. He has made an incredible pot (the containers, not the plants) garden. He put PVC spouts in the bottom, on the side, for bottom-watering and they have small vent holes in them. We have made so many tomatoes that I got tired of making salsa and started giving them away. We’ve also grown squash, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, okra and several types of herbs. They alleviate the need for picking weeds out of the garden rows. It’s the way to go.
Haha they are. All above board though. Surplus to requirements and recycling company wouldn’t take them. Reuse / repurpose is better than recycling that’s where I’m at.
Not sure why you’re being downvoted though.
I garden and turned filing cabinets into raised garden beds. I would do the same with these!
Oh those would be great as planters to wall off little patio areas. Restaurants that set up patios in parking spaces might want them, or people in rowhouses wanting to wall off their back porch from the neighbors’ etc.
Start a worm farm!
My great aunt had a worm farm and Jimmy Carter would buy his worms from her. This isn’t relevant, you just unlocked a memory and I had to tell someone lol
That’s amazing actually. What a random connection. Life is silly and I love it. Of course Jimmy Carter bought worms from a local worm farm. He’s so wholesome.
I got worms! That’s what we’re gonna call it. We’re gonna specialize in werm farms.
Great idea
Compost bins?
Worm bins!
That was my first thought
What are they? Where did you come by them? Do you have a picture of what the insides look like? An estimate of their volume?
This is the main deal! Where did they come from and what did they once hold? Is it chemical, besides the plastic they are made from? Do you have a steady flow of these items? Not to be a total downer but: They are all likely leaking micro plastic into whatever they will hold in the future? All exciting, but woah.
I would definitely try to give some away in your neighborhood, like in a Buy Nothing group. 100 is just too many. Can I ask how you ended up with so many?
Turn them into housing for stray cats..
You could turn them into waterproof bike panniers, I’ve seen guides online on how to DIY similarly shaped plastic trash cans into panniers so I bet these would work!
Ask a local garden center or club if they want them
Fill some with blankets and it could be a shelter for homeless cats if positioned near a shady area, I would try to use to blanket to cover up the open bottom
This is a lovely idea, but please don't use blankets when providing shelter for outdoor animals. STRAW is the way to go. ("Hay is for horses, straw is for strays.") The animal can nest into the straw quite nicely. You can easily replace straw when it gets soiled. Straw doesn't hold moisture as much as cloth. In the winter, this is critical because a damp blanket can freeze and actually "glue" the animal to it.
Thank you so much for educating me!
vermiculture bins
It looks like they either have big holes or big dents in the bottom, meaning a lot of suggestions here won't work. The recycle symbol suggest they are high density polyurethane which is VERY recyclable. They can be recycled into bottles, grocery bags, milk jugs, recycling bins, agricultural pipe, base cups, car stops, playground equipment, and plastic lumber. Recycling facilities near you should take them, but call ahead, obviously.
Worm farm, layered composting bins, or attach them to the wall you've got shelves and storage. Also depending on the weight of them they could be part of a cat's climbing wall and then if they're safely cut and like filed so there's no sharp plastic you can have some of them being like open so they can crawling and curl up in them.
Potato planters
Sounds like a good idea. How would you go about using them like that? Stood up or buried and what sort of soil?
For soil, you can layer almost any dirt- purchased or dug up- with straw and get a lot more bang for your buck, so to speak. We've had great success with this. Just be sure to water frequently.
Just stood up like regular above ground pots! Drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Grow your potatoes, wait forever, then dump everything out into another larger bin or a tarp to harvest potatoes. I’m not sure about what soil!
The bottom has a massive hole in already. Swipe through the pics
A screen and rocks would work? 🖖
I’ve read that just old leaves work great for potatoes. You put in a layer of leaves, lay down your potatoes, cover with leaves. As they grow, continue to add leaves and when you’re ready, dump to harvest and start growing again!
Another gardening thing: around where I grew up, moles and voles were an issue in some parts of the garden. If there was something whose roots I knew would be very interesting to them and sensitive to disturbance, I would take a plastic pot, saw off the bottom or otherwise make a hole, and use a staple gun to staple a couple layers of chicken wire or one layer of hardware cloth on the bottom. Then I would dig a hole and submerge the pot up to the lip at the top. An extra bonus for super well draining soil or hot areas where you might forget to water is that the plastic retains water better. The downside is you have to worry about things getting root bound depending on what they are. Most plants are able to send roots through the bottom of the pot, but some plants have life strategies where they have really shallow roots that stretch far. So use your best judgment for what to put in there.
for recycling, you should be able to take them to your nearest plastics recycling facility - hdpe is quite a common plastic for recycling and can be turned into various things like pipes or even recycling bins. as for other uses for them, they'd make good planters - if you're into growing your own food, if you drill holes in the sides you could even grow mushrooms out of them, being this deep they'd also be good for potatoes i'd say. if they come with lids, they may be a good size for compost bins. realistically i don't think you'll be able to repurpose all hundred, but you can definitely do something with some of them. i also like the idea someone mentioned of using them as housing for stray cats!
Share them with friends. They are a great size for a wastebasket, bucket (assuming there are no holes in the bottoms), planters, etc.
Rain barrels
Free on Facebook marketplace, let everyone be creative!
You could put up slats on the ceiling of your garage and use these as slide-in storage above your car. (if you have a garage!)
Those appear to be water meter boxes…. “There were tons of em just stacked up sitting there… on a utility yard..” if you try to scrap or sell those you’ll probably have a visitor come see you at home within a day or 2, posting that shit on here may be enough to trigger it
They are junction boxes I’ve since learned. Surplus to requirements and now my responsibility to reuse/repurpose/recycle. Better than going to landfill. Happy to speak to any visitor who may wish to visit.
Ok pal, Save it for the judge
Is this the melty plastic you can reform?
Planters good!!!
You could use a couple a small trash cans
All is see is worm bins! 🪱 Fun fact: worms taste with their bodies. Everytime I feed my farm, I imagine them slithering over the papaya or avocado peels in pleasure 😊🪱🪱
Those look perfect for kratsky/dutch bucket. I'm jealous.
Never heard of them. Just researched and combined with a tray I agree this is awesome.
i think planters is a great idea!!
Turn them into Ice baths!
Send them to me!
Strawberry tower!
Drill holes in them and attach them to a rear bike rack to make a slightly silly cargo bike
Make a pontoon boat or floating platform
Ammo storage.
Those are much bigger that I thought. Is the bottom indented or is there a hole straight through?
spray foam + planking - floating dock/swim platform
So, if the bottom is an indent and not a hole, you could drill a hole in the rim for a shaft and make water wheels. If done right you could make several and sell them. They could be decorative or functional depending on your location and availability of moving water.
Swipe through the images. It’s a hole.
That is not obvious in the pictures. You can't see grass or light so it looked like it was an indentation, a deep on to be sure.
My husband gets plastic containers from a farmer who buys cattle feed in them. He has made an incredible pot (the containers, not the plants) garden. He put PVC spouts in the bottom, on the side, for bottom-watering and they have small vent holes in them. We have made so many tomatoes that I got tired of making salsa and started giving them away. We’ve also grown squash, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, okra and several types of herbs. They alleviate the need for picking weeds out of the garden rows. It’s the way to go.
id grow some great outdoor in them.
Organize long handled tools, mops brooms. They won't tear your walls up. Post for free. They'll be gone, in no time.
🤣🤣 Mon the auld jb23 boxes🤣🤣 Openreach will be after ye for aving them
Haha they are. All above board though. Surplus to requirements and recycling company wouldn’t take them. Reuse / repurpose is better than recycling that’s where I’m at. Not sure why you’re being downvoted though.
Fill with concrete and now you have some new concrete blocks. You could also mount them to a timber frame and make a garden wall.