High Quality Cups from Recycled Water Bottles

This Instructable will show you how to craft high quality drinking cups, from used Water Bottles.
As inhabitants of the Earth not owners, we have the obligation to maintain and uphold the integrity of it. Start thinking sideways people. Start re-using,
re-cycling and up-cycling any way you possibly can. Before it's too late.

A great place to start would be the plastic bottle. Simplistic in design, but plentiful in opportunities to intergrate it into different applications.

This is a entry to the "Keep the bottle" contest. Please take the time to vote if you think the idea, is worth me getting a prize for it. I would really enjoy the prize, so please vote.

Step 1 What we will need

We will only need a few basic items.

~ Water bottle

~ Cardboard

~ Sticky tape

~ Stove

~ Frying pan

That's it, lets go!

Comments

[jianqiang]

In 'Firefly', they drink out of cups just like this, not sure which episode, but its at the bar fight

[Lftndbt]

I believe there was a film in '95 called "Tank Girl". I recall seeing them in that movie and also a couple of other places. Maybe "Water world" also.

[Spook-rabbit]

Ah just seeing the name of that wonderful movie makes me laugh, good old waterworld

[fuzzycat57]

This is great. I will use them for camping.

[ycc2106]

These plastic bottles are really solid - used one nearly everyday for 5 years. I could have gone on using it but it was a pain cleaning the mold that started growing inside. If it's cup shaped, I could have gone on for maybe 30 years!

[allison326]

would you plan to wash these by hand or in the dishwasher? are you concerned about the plastic leaching chemicals into your drink as it degrades? Could you coat the inside or the lip with something sturdier?

[dodo91]

if you put it in the dishwasher, it will shrink/melt. HANDWASH ONLY!

[Sylkhr]

I would hand wash them because it may release harmful chemicals such as bpa that might increase your chance of cancer. When you put it in the dishwasher, it will heat up the water alot which will make it more likely to release said chemicals into any drink you put in the cup. Hope this helps.

[romedeiros1970]

BPA is not a concern with this type of bottle. Only polycarbonate bottles have that problem. The dishwasher may partially melt them, as dodo91 pointed out.

[Lftndbt]

Yes definatley.

[Lftndbt]

By hand. No I will through them out after some use. The lip is solid and rigid.

[RiddleOfSphinx]

Wow, and customizing these would be endless too. It's ibles like these that I love so much...easy to do and won't break you financially : )

[dashofthunder]

i didn't think sonic the hedgehog had uses for glass bottle cup thingies

[RiddleOfSphinx]

To hold the shakes he drinks while chowing down on chilli dogs ;)

[Lftndbt]

LoL

[Lftndbt]

Thanks for your kind words. Yes, basic and simple was the main idea. ;)

[DasBus]

Just a note to say that I am voting for this Instructable. Sure, many of the others in this contest are way cool, but this was one of the first ones to enter AND it is one that I plan to use at Burning Man this year. When people come to visit my camp for drinks, I will be serving them in these cups. I'll have plenty of empty water bottles on hand, and I can cross of cups on my shopping list! YAY!!!! Thank you for this idea. : )

[Lftndbt]

WoW!! Thanks heaps! I hope they enjoy them at Burning Man. ;) It's a pity Australia is so far away, I would like to roll up to your camp and get a cool beverage in one of these. This I'ble was the first in the competition. Hence being in Aus I was on lunch when the contest opened where as everyone else was a sleep. One benefit to living in a different timezone.

[DasBus]

There's Burning Man stuff in your neck of the world! Info for Austrailia: http://regionals.burningman.com/au.html and info for New Zealand: http://regionals.burningman.com/nz.html So you have no more excuses! : )

[Lftndbt]

I had no idea of an Australian effort. No excuses at all!

[ChaseReno]

I like the recycle idea but one wonders about the gases being emitted by the melting plastic. I'm no tree hugger but it seems that some tree hugger some where might find this a bad side effect. Regardless, I'm going to give this a try.

[Lftndbt]

Just read the comments below... Lot's of strong debate. It is an interesting topic... Remeber to Vote if you like it. Even the top runners only have a few votes. Your vote could make all the difference.

[random1]

Here in the NE USA poland spring water bottles contain less plastic than most other water bottles and are BPA free. It doesnt say BPA free on the bottle, but I just called the company to ask. He said only the larger more rigid water bottles have BPA.

[Lftndbt]

Interesting indeed!!

[Lftndbt]

Check out the Bottle Lamp as well!!

[jeff-o]

If you live in Canada (not sure about the States), pick up a bottle of iced tea from Tim Hortons. The plastic bottles the iced tea comes in are super-strong; the plastic thickness is at least twice that of other bottles. They would work really well for this.

[Lftndbt]

The lipping method create rigidity.

[Sylkhr]

Translation:
create=creates
Translation over

[Lftndbt]

LoL

[jeff-o]

Oh, for sure. But thicker plastic would produce a glass that might last even longer.

[Lftndbt]

Yes I would agree. However as a degenerative plastic a longer use life, might leed to other issues... Best just to use these for novelty purpose a few times, then throw them away.

[jeff-o]

I'm still not convinced that the chemicals leeching out of a properly washed plastic bottle will do any more harm to you than the chemicals in our food and air, or transferred from our unwashed hands...

[Lftndbt]

Well we can agree though, that it is still better safe than sorry. Best dispose of these after a few uses I would say.

[aceLED]

this is pretty cool but the reason we usually have to recycle these plastic cups is because after awhile (like a couple uses) they give of a chemical thats not exactly healthy for u most people can withstand the chemical its self but some may not be able to for a long period of use if they always use it could become harmfull. I can't tell u exactly what chemical it is and the reason they use the chemical in there but I do know there for one time use maybe 2 or 3 times but don't make this the only cup you use cause we need to find other uses for the bottles thats why this competitions here

[blugyblug]

If you told us WHAT chemical, we would believe it, but this just means that you believe all those stupid myths. Cmon, this is instructables, we never believe such stuff.

[15zhangfra]

hes actuallr right

[madhops0620]

actually he's right. It's a chemical called BPA, or BPA bisphenol A it can be found in plastics and has been known to leach out of the plastic into your drinks, which could potentially increase your risk of cancer. Nalgene recently made new water bottles that are BPA free and so have many other companies, however the risk is pretty low, but increases if the container has been heated up.

[Subvert]

BPA is only in the harder plastic, such as used by Nalgene. Whatever their recycling number is (like 5 or 7 or something high like that), will be your guide for what has BPA in it. Softer plastic like in "disposable" water bottles doesn't have BPA in it.

[dkfa]

Not really, try burning these and sniff the smoke. Won't be very good will it?

[Lftndbt]

Strange comment..