Skip to content
Home » What To Do With Empty Milk Jugs

What To Do With Empty Milk Jugs

• Save those plastic milk jugs for Halloween or Christmas time and used them as coverings for outdoor lights that you set out in the yard.  Cut out the bottoms and fit them nicely over lights that mark the perimeter of your yard.  It makes the glow that much bigger and brighter. Dianne H

• In concerning the “Trash into Treasures”, Old Milk Jugs can be cut to shape (with the Cap left on) & used as a Scoop for Fishing Boats for those who River Fish. They are cheap & work well. They are used to scoop any water out of the bottom of Your Boat.  Thank You,  Mr. M. S.

• This summer when picking blue berries and black berries, we took empty milk jugs, cut off the spout and down a few inches on the side opposite the handle to make a large opening. We then wore a belt that we threaded through the handle of the milk jug. This freed both hands to pick the berries and prevented us having to constantly move a bucket along. The jug was in excellent position to be able to pick the berries and drop them right in with no bending. Laura R

• I rinse out the milk carton (plastic jug) and poke a small hole in the bottom. Then I hang it in the tree directly above my birdbath. Adjusting the tightness of the cap, you can control the speed of the dripping water for the birdbath! Works great and the birds love it!  Also keeps me from having to fill it so often in this 100 degree heat:) Another great use for a cleaned out carton is a toy for the dogs!! My Great Danes love them! They carry them by the handles and kick them with their feet! Cheapest dog toy made, and like kids, they like it better than the expensive ones, too. Keep up the great work. Carol A.

tulips#2_reworked33

• Punch holes in the bottom of your jugs, use a screwdriver so the holes are sort of large. Set the jug near a plant in your veggie garden and fill with water. Do not cap. Water will seep slowly out into the soil  and keep it nice and moist. Very helpful in our drought-prone Texas climate. Michelle

• Something to use old milk jugs for:  A container for your toilet brush. Also keeps me from having to fill it so often in this 100 degree heat:)  Dana

• I suppose that I used the most common use for old milk jugs…I cut a hole in the bottom, and stuff it with my plastic grocery bags. I tie a twistie around the top and hang it in my laundry room.

• Another great use for a cleaned out carton is a toy for the dogs!! My Great Danes love them! They carry them by the handles and kick them with their feet! Cheapest dog toy made, and like kids, they like it better than the expensive ones, too.  Keep up the great work.  Carol A

• We freeze water about half way full and put them in a rabbits cage on hot days so the rabbits won’t get over heated.   Milk jugs make great funnels, just cut off the bottom and put top in oil spout for your car – Lori K.

• Take old milk jugs. Slice off the bottom and use as mini greenhouses for pepper plants. Here the in pacific northwest, we are short of heat and sun.

• Empty #10 cans. Spray paint white. Stretch cotton cloth (with no interesting weave) over the top and secure with tight rubber band. Make sure it is as tight as can be. Mix a solution of white glue and water.  About 2/3 glue to 1/3 water. Spread over drum and down sides a smidge. Let dry. Take rubber band off. Tightly tape around edge. (Colored tape is pretty, electricians, duct or scotch tape works too). Decorate and use your drum.   Rebecca C

• Fill them with fruit juice, kool-aid, lemonade, etc. when going on a picnic or camping and freeze them. Put in the cooler to keep the food cold and drink as it defrosts.

• Great for holding onto in the pool to do aerobic exercises with.

• Can’t be beat for mixing powdered milk in. Funnel in the milk and water, put the lid on tight and just shake the heck out of it. Does a good job of mixing.

• Cut the bottom 2 inches off and poke holes in the bottom of a 1 quart jug and put it on the sink to keep the ‘scrubber’
in.

• Cut out a medium sized hole opposite the handle and use to store legos blocks, Barbie clothes, crayons, etc.

• Cut the bottom off and use the rest of the jug as a scoop for dog food, bulk foods, grain, etc.

• Every school year, the grade school teachers always ask for milk jugs for building an igloo in the classroom. So, we ask all the neighbors for theirs, rinse them out and bring to school. The kids build it in their classroom and it is so much fun!

• Another good use is to use as a buoy on our small lake for the boats. Milk jugs are always donated to my children’s school and daycare because they use them for everything from holding legos, to holding paint, to  creating games with them.  Jackie N.

• Following in your footsteps, I do the same (fill with water and freeze) but I then keep them in my freezer to cut down on the cost of running the freezer. It’s cheaper to run a full freezer than it is to run a freezer with lots of empty space in it. Love your newsletter!
– Cindy

• 1.  If you cut the tops off diagonally to spare the handle, they can be used for scooping dog food – or other things.
2. They are an asset for science fair projects!
3. They can be filled with sand, dirt, pebbles, or marbles & used as weights.
4. Cut off the tops & they can be used to quarantine sick fish (if you keep aquariums).
5. We often re-used them for ice tea& water for picnics & trips & such.
6.  They can make good sandbox toys, if cut in half (the edges can be a little sharp (not like a knife) but duct tape around the edges or melting the edges slightly with a lighter can fix that if you’re concerned         Sky

• My grandmother took milk jugs and cut the jug in half lengthwise saving the handle. Then she took a round punch along the opening and put several holes. She strung ribbon through the holes and sewed a small pillow and blanket and created a doll bed with a handle for me to carry around with me when I was little. Ann F

• 1.  Cut off the bottom of the jug about inch from the bottom. Use the bottom as a saucer for a flowerpot and the top as funnel.
2. Put water in the jug up to the level of the handle (so more water surface is exposed to air) and let it sit uncapped for a few days. Use this water for houseplants — it’s better than water straight from the tap because the chlorine has escaped.
3. Put the jug on its side with the handle side on top. Cut the jug at an angle, from just above the handle on the top to the bottom side at the bottom of the jug. now you have a scoop for potting soil, birdseed, dog food, etc.
4. Two milk jugs with sand in them, when hung on a broom stick can act as a barbell for exercising, but I’m not sure how to keep them from falling off the end!
5. Fill the jugs halfway with water and freeze. Cut off the top of the jug about 2 or 3 inches from the level of the ice. Make a bunch, set them outside with votive candles in the center on the ice. Now you have luminaries!
6. Fill jug with water (it must be very very clean), cap and store for use when the water is turned off as a result of hurricane, tornado, etc. Even if you don’t want to drink this water, it can be used for pets, bathing, cooking, flushing toilets, etc.,
7. Keep a jug full of water in the trunk of your car in case your radiator overheats. – That’s enough.Gerry S.

2 thoughts on “What To Do With Empty Milk Jugs”

Leave a Reply