Tag Archives: Reuse

Newspaper Planters w/ Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens!

Here at Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, we are all about reuse and recycling. That’s why we were so thrilled to team up with our friends at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens (PMG) this past Sunday for their monthly PECO Family Jams event, where we helped 54 adults and children make planters from newspaper and tape. Each participant walked away with soil and seeds, too!

You can check out the pictures here, but we encourage you to try the project at home as well. Below are simple instructions to get your own garden started with paper you already have lying around at home!

And, in case you missed it, our friends at Keep America Beautiful launched an exciting new PSA campaign encouraging recycling and reuse – check out www.iwanttoberecycled.org while you’re giving your leftover newspaper a whole new, green life as a planter!

How to Turn Newspaper into a Planter! 

Step 1: Cut a section of newspaper in half. Use only one layer of newspaper per pot.

Step 2: Cut the section again, in to quarters.

Step 3: Take a small round container. Roll the paper around it, leaving about an inch (2.5cm) overhang at one end where you will fold it in for the bottom. Don’t roll too tightly or it will be too hard to get the jar out later.

Step 4: Roll the bottom in.

Step 5: Tape the bottom shut.

Step 6: Take out the jar. Turning it right side up, fold in the edges all around the top. Then fold it in again for stability and a shorter pot.