Turn Packing Paper Scraps Into Eco-Friendly Plant Pots

From plastic starter pots to harmful insecticides, there are many common gardening tools that inadvertently hurt our environment. Luckily, there are plenty of alternatives if you're keen on sustainable gardening. For example, you can make sustainable starter pots that you can plant directly in the ground with scrap packing paper. 

For this project, all you'll need is a cylindrical glass container and packing paper. You can also opt to use newspaper. Either way, the material you use should be 100% paper without any plastic coating for this to truly be eco-friendly. Once you have your materials together, you can easily pull off this DIY in less than a minute. Start by picking a glass container about the size you would like your pot to be. To make the pot, wrap the paper around the glass much like you would wrap a gift. Fold your scrap paper into a rectangle. It should be a little shorter than the height of your glass container. Now lay the glass container on the edge of the paper, leaving some excess paper below the bottom of the container. Wrap the paper tightly around the glass by rolling it long-ways.

Once the paper is wrapped around the glass, place the container upside down. Fold in that excess paper against the bottom of the container to create the base of the pot. Flip the container right-side up again and press the bottom against a hard surface to reinforce the paper folds. Slowly remove the glass container from the paper, and you're left with an eco-friendly plant pot that is perfect for starting seeds indoors.

Once you have a collection of DIY paper pots, you can fill them with garden soil and organize them in rows inside a short cardboard box. Pack them in as tightly as possible so they can brace against each other for more structural support. Some veggies you should start indoors include tomatoes, broccoli, and peppers. You can start flowers and herbs inside as well. Once you have your seeds picked out, plant them directly in your paper pots, labeling each one so you don't get them mixed up. Place your box near a sunny window or under a grow light. Use a spray bottle to spritz the soil rather than flooding the pots with a watering can. This will assure your seeds stay in place and undue moisture won't compromise the structural integrity of your paper pots.

Each plant will have slightly different requirements when it comes to transplanting. Outdoor soil temperature will be a major factor to consider. Some cool-season plants may need to get transplanted earlier while others may not do well outside until the last frost. Pay close attention to the instructions on the back of your seed packets. Once you've confirmed that your seedling is ready to transplant, dig a hole about as big as your paper planter and plop the whole thing in. Cover the paper pot with more soil. Planting your seedlings in their biodegradable planters can reduce transplant shock. This also helps cut back on time and materials needed while gardening. Your pot will naturally decompose in the soil, and your plant will thrive!