The Topo Chico Wall

My husband and I drink a lot of Topo Chico and being somewhat of an eco-warrior, I had to find a solution to reusing these plastic bottles. My first idea was to use the bottles to make a greenhouse - I had seen the idea previously. The bottles would be strung together to form the walls. But then nature happened and this project is a result of that.

• 10-15 plastic bottles
  Tip: When selecting your plastic bottles, try and use sturdy bottles. I have learned that some of the small plastic water bottles are too flimsy and collapse under the weight of the sand. Its also easiest to thread together when all the bottles are the same size.
• Exacto knife
• Sisal rope, approximately 7-9 feet
• Sand, or other filling material

Step 1 Start saving your plastic bottles.

Slice off the bottom of your bottle and remove the plastic label.

Repeat this step until all bottles are cut and cleaned. I have 13 bottles per row.

(Having a kitten as your side kick makes this fun and challenging!)

Step 2

Now that you have trimmed off the bottom of your bottles you will have lots of plastic debris. Rather than throw in the hole that is our local dump I take another plastic bottle and stuff it with the garbage. This is the beginning of my other project - but deal with your trash or you will see it floating in the sea.

Step 3

For the last bottle in your string you need to cap it off. Take your twine and feed it thru the last bottle opening and then put the cap back on. You might have to fray the end a bit to get the cap to screw on.

Warning: If you have cats around it is almost guaranteed they will chase after the sisal rope and all the bottle caps will become play toys.

Step 4

Once all the bottles are cut and the bottom bottle is threaded, now stack the bottles on the sisal rope. They will nest nicely if you are using the same brand of bottles.

After all bottles have been thread find your ideal hanging place, mine is the greenhouse.

Last step!

Fill your bottles with sand or whatever else you choose. I chose sand because I live on the beach and have plenty around.

But also, because of the sand, I now have weights to hold my greenhouse from flying away. We sometimes get 20+ knot winds and my flimsy greenhouse wanted to walk away. Now that I have my Topo Chico Sand Wall I feel secure it will survive.