Building a Recycled Birdhouse
Good recycling involves not only sending off trash properly for reuse, but also trying to use things you have to fulfill the need for new things. This is a form of recycling many people have forgotten. Many will happily toss plastic containers in the blue bins, then go out and buy bunches more. Or turn in things and then buy brand new products that they could have made for themselves out of items they just recycled.
Item in point: birdhouses! How many birdhouses do people buy each year to hang up around the yard, made of bright wood, painted all sorts of colors. Instead, you can make a birdhouse out of materials you already have at hand.
Milk Bottle Birdhouse
Make sure you rinse out the bottle thoroughly first. Cap it again tightly, and poke tiny holes in the four corners of the bottom of the jug. This will allow any rain that gets into the birdhouse to drain out.
Next, cut an entrance hole (maybe 2.5" in across) on one side, for the bird to get in. Make the hole larger or smaller if you are trying to target a certain kind of bird for the house. Make a small hole beneath this, and insert half a pencil (eraser side out, and no tip on the other side!) for a landing perch.
Make sure you empty the house out each fall, so the old nesting material does not get moldy!
Birding Basics
Birding Tips and Photos
Birding Help Hints Tips and Information