You're Throwing Away Empty Soda Cans — Here's A Better Use For Them In The Garden

Soda cans can quickly fill up your recycling bin. If you find that you're continuously tossing your cans away, however, it's worth knowing that there's an easy way to put them to good use in your garden. Soda cans weigh very little, but still hold up well because they're made of aluminum. This design makes them the perfect items for taking up space in the bottom of large planters. When you're growing real plants in very large containers, filling the entire pot with soil can make it extremely heavy. Plus, potting soil is expensive, and most plants only require so much. Placing soda cans beneath the soil in the bottom of your plant pots will help you save costs and move those large planters with ease. Even better, placing soda cans in your planter will increase drainage inside the pot.

Besides soda cans, any aluminum drink container — including beer or seltzer cans — will work great for this nifty hack. Depending on the size of your planter and how much space you want to take up inside, the number of cans you'll need will vary. Even with smaller containers, like window boxes for flowers, adding a few soda cans can help you conserve soil. Your plants will still look beautiful, too, and no one will be able to tell that your planters are filled up with those empty soda cans.

Whether you're trying to fill a tall planter, make a wide pot a little lighter, or help with drainage, soda cans are a helpful solution. To begin, you'll need to get hold of some cans. Helpfully, you can use cans in your planters even if you've crushed them. And though this trick may seem as simple as throwing the cans inside your plant pot, you'll at leasat want to orient them a certain way. Because of the opening in the top of the soda can, it's important to prevent soil and water from getting stuck inside them. After rinsing them out, try setting the soda cans upside down and stacking them inside your planter. Add more soda cans to fill in any gaps at the sides.

If you don't have enough aluminum cans to reuse in your pot, you can use a combination of plastic bottles and cans to fill your planter as much as you need. With plastic bottles, it's better to leave the lid on so that they don't get flattened down. After placing your cans and bottles inside the pot, add in your soil and plants. If you're concerned about the soil sinking down amongst the cans, place a piece of landscaping fabric on top of them before pouring in your dirt.