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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

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Supported by Generation Green

Reuse and grow

Explore creative ways to reuse items by making a unique plant pot.

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You’ll need

  • Scissors
  • Clean, unwanted items like footballs or shoes
  • Clean, dry items of recycling
  • Plants or seeds
  • Compost
  • Gravel or small stones
  • Gardening tools
  • Watering cans
  • Trays or plates
  • Sticky labels
  • A sharp screwdriver or nail (optional)
  • Block of wood (optional)
  • Hole punch (optional)
  • String (optional)
  • Plant labels (optional)

Before you begin

  • Collect some unwanted items that, with a bit of imagination, could make great plant pots. You could keep it simple and reuse fruit punnets or get creative and give old shoes and footballs a new life! We’ve shared some ideas below to get you started.
  • If you’ve done Litter splitters, you might be able to turn some of the items of litter you collected into planters.
  • Different plants have different needs, so think about the seeds or plants that will work best for you. How will you choose suitable planters? Do they need to have good drainage? How much space do your plants need to grow?

Plastic bottles

Take the lid off, then use sharp scissors to cut it down to size. Plastic bottles make great hanging planters – just use a hole punch or nail to create some holes in the sides to thread some string through.

Fruit punnets or vegetable trays

These are often perfect as they are – you might find that they already have drainage holes.

Yoghurt pots

Start small with individual pots, which are great for growing plants from seeds.

Punctured footballs or basketballs

You don’t need to throw away old footballs. You can turn them into great hanging planters:

  1. Cut around the ball about two thirds of the way up, then remove the top so you can see (and plant) inside. An adult should help with this, and you’ll need to be really careful.
  2. If you want to hang your planter up, make four holes that are about three centimetres below the rim. They should be equally spaced around the ball. Thread strong twine or thin rope through the holes so it meets at the top, then tie a knot.
  3. If you want to attach your planter to a pallet, fence, or wall, use nails or tacks.
  4. You could plant into the ball or cut some slits in the sides so plants can poke out from all angles.

Old shoes or trainers

Remove any laces and pull the tongue out so you have as much potting space as possible.

Old wellies  

You’ll probably want to cut the top of the welly off, so you can reach the bottom (and the plants get enough light). Check out this video for instructions.   

Safety checklist

Use the Safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional coronavirus-related controls to think about may include:

  • Set up a hand washing station that you can use throughout the session.
  • Wash hands before and after using any shared equipment.
  • Clean any shared equipment before and after use.
  • You could ask people to bring in their own containers to turn into plant pots, to avoid multiple people touching each container.
  • Consider how you manage activities requiring close supervision (like making drainage holes). You could use increased instruction, face coverings, and extra cleaning, for example, or you could make the drainage holes before people begin.
  • Remind everyone to stay a safe distance apart at all times.

Reduce, reuse, recycle  

  1. The person leading the activity should ask whether anyone’s heard of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’. It’s important to dispose of waste responsibly, but people can also help to protect the environment by reducing the amount of waste they create, reusing items, and recycling things that can be recycled.

Find out more (and learn why recycling alone isn’t enough) below.

  1. Everyone should talk about what they can recycle locally. How do they send different things for recycling?

People could chat about what they can put in their recycling bins at home, and what they need to take to a recycling centre or collection point (for example, at a supermarket). What about things that can’t be recycled? You can find out about recycling in your local area on the Recycle Now website.  

  1. Everyone should share examples of when they’ve reused something in a new way.
  2. The person leading the activity should explain that creating plant pots can be a great way of reusing items that would have otherwise gone to landfill (or been recycled). Using rubbish to grow plants helps the environment in two ways – by adding more plants and reducing rubbish.

Putting something in a recycling bin doesn’t always mean it’ll be recycled. Sometimes recycling isn’t processed properly, and if it’s contaminated (for example, if people haven’t cleaned items properly) it may be sent to landfill.

Processing recycling to turn into it new items also takes up energy. Our recycling is often sent to other countries – over two-thirds of the UK’s plastic waste is sent overseas. This uses lots of energy and leads to lots of pollution.

The way we recycle plastics can also cause problems. When we recycle plastic, we shred it, melt it down, and turn it into pellets that are used to create new products. Unfortunately, these pellets are easily spilled so they can end up back in our environment as a form of microplastics (small pieces of plastic less than five millimetres big). Microplastics can get into our oceans and harm the wildlife there.

Recycling is important, but it isn’t perfect. That’s why we have to think about how we can reduce and reuse too.

 

Environmentally-friendly gardening

  1. Everyone should talk about why growing plants can be good for the environment.
  1. Everyone should think about ways that they can be environmentally-friendly while they’re gardening.
  • Avoid non-native invasive plants, especially if you’re planting outdoors. Check out Good thymes in the garden to learn more about invasive plants and the effect they can have. 
  • Choose plants that are pesticide and peat-free.
  • Choose seeds that are organically grown and not genetically modified.
  • Choose peat-free compost (or make your own).
  • Grow some wildflowers to help pollinators like bees. They love flowers that have lots of pollen, like primroses and marigolds.
  • Reduce your food miles by growing some fruit or vegetables that you can eat. Why not try tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, herbs, lettuce, or cress?

Peat is a thick, muddy natural material, that’s really important for our planet. It’s made slowly in bogs – it takes thousands of years for partly decomposed plants to become peat.

Peatlands provide a home for many species. Peat can hold 20 times its own weight in water, so it can help reduce the risk of flooding. When peat is dug up and sold for people to use in their gardens, it damages important environments.

Using peat-free compost is one small way to fight climate change and protect wildlife.

 

Make your pots

  1. Everyone should make their own plant pot to take home after the session.
  2. The person leading the activity should help everyone cut their items down to size and make holes for drainage (if needed).
  1. Everyone should line the bottom of their plant pot with gravel or stones to help it drain, fill it with compost, and put in their plants or sow their seeds.
  2. Everyone should label their plant pot so they can remember what they’ve planted. They should stand it on a tray or plate to catch water or figure out a way to hang it up.
  3. Everyone should take care of their plants by watering them when the soil begins to dry out.
  4. Everyone should enjoy their plants as they grow. How do they change? What do they feel like? Do they have a smell?

Reflection

How did it feel to get stuck in and create a piece of nature? What was it like giving an unwanted item a new life? 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Gardening and nature

Everyone must wash their hands after the activity has finished. Wear gloves if needed. Explain how to safely use equipment and set clear boundaries so everyone knows what’s allowed.

Rubbish and recycling

All items should be clean and suitable for this activity.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Sharp objects

Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Hand and electric tools

Inspect tools for any damage before each use. An adult should supervise people using tools, and people should follow instructions on how to use them correctly and safely. Tools should be properly maintained and kept sharp.

Use an appropriate surface and make sure materials are stable and supported when you’re working on them. You should cut and drill away from the body and in an area clear of other people. Be extra cautious of trailing cables and water when using electric tools. Always use a cordless tool if one’s available.

  • It’s up to you how ambitious your reusing is. You could keep it simple and use things like punnets and yoghurt pots, or get creative with more unusual items like old shoes or footballs.
  • It’s up to you how much detail you go into – you know your group best, so adjust the information to work for them. Some groups might be really curious about why you’re using peat-free compost, while others may be less interested, for example.

Adults can take a step back or get more involved depending on how people are getting on. People could also work in pairs and help each other.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Think how you can use what you’ve learned and the skills you’ve developed to make a difference in your community. How can you help everyone to reuse, reduce or recycle? What green spaces could you create or help look after?

Get everyone involved in choosing what to use to make the plant pots and what to grow.