How to garden using toilet paper
Reduce, reuse, recycle is one of our unofficial mottos. But if I’m real with you, reducing the amount of toilet paper we use is sometimes out of our control. So what to do with those naked rolls and paper packaging? Recycling them is the next obvious thing, but my recycling bin is already looking kinda full and the garbage truck is only coming in 5 days. Which leaves one thing left to do: reuse. Give me any excuse to get crafty and you can bet your bottom I’ll take it.
We’ve already turned our finished toilet paper rolls into smartphone speakers, Christmas crackers, and stamps. So, what’s next? Gardening accessories obviously.
Use TP rolls as seedling starters.
Many plants don’t like to be disturbed once they start growing… they’re basically teenagers. Transporting them from small pots to bigger beds can mean transplantation shock and root damage. Toilet rolls not only make great starter pots for seedlings, but are also fantastic portable planters. Once your beans, peas, or carrots are ready to hit the big time (or the roots start coming out of the bottom of the roll), they can be planted in the soil and the roll will disintegrate without a trace.
Pest control
Bugs, like moths, are known to lay eggs in the stems of certain plants, while cutworms are often guilty of gnawing at healthy seedlings. Toilet paper rolls can act as security for your seedlings, stopping nosy bugs from getting too close, asking for your plant’s autograph, and ending up in a very messy lawsuit. To protect your seedling from moths, cut your paper roll in half, wrap the base stem of your plant with it, then tape it shut. Mama moth has no chance of getting in now. If it’s cutworms you’re bothered by, make your very own cutworm collars by cutting your roll 3 inches in length, then pushing it into the soil around your seedling, protecting your plant baby.
Origami a flower.
Live in a shoebox of an apartment in a concrete jungle? Same! Gardening may not be a viable option for you, but that doesn’t mean you should be excluded from our crafty outdoorsy activities. Here’s an idea: make your very own tulip garden. Simply keep the paper packaging of each toilet roll, spend a rainy Sunday afternoon on the floor of your living room, and hey presto, you’ve got yourself your very own indoor flower garden!
Getting crafty at home? Share your garden creations to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter and tag us @whogviesacraptp so we can admire your handiwork. And, of course, you can pick up your materials here.
