I’ve spent too much time on the new wikie and almost forgot how to start a new topic. Anyway, I’ve been cleaning and storing empty bottles for months and I’m sick of it. From juice,soda and milk bottles I’ve got them all. Anything that would hold drinking water or toilet water is just filling up my basement so much that I hate to go down there anymore. Plus, everytime I turn around there are more bottles on the counter waiting for me to wash them,sanitize and dry out. So, I’m curious if you are still doing the same thing or have you stopped at some point? How many bottles do you have? And this is in addition to the water jugs,etc that we have stored to fill up at The Time that it’s imperative to do so.
Until you have enough ? Whatever that means to you.
I still save the soda bottles,but have pretty much given up on the rest.
Newname — 20 December 2006, 19:42 I gave up and got a 150 gal aquatank and a Katadyn gravity filter. Fact is, I can’t keep enough bottles to see us through more than a week or two, and figured that much out early-days. (Still have some ‘boilable’ milk bottles though.)
The way I figure it, in the event of pandemic or other catastrophe approaching the level of global thermonuclear war, there’s no such thing as “enough”. On the other hand, if nothing really terrible befalls us, all those plastic bottles will indeed be problematic. I figure for the three of us, I have 200 gallons of store bought bottled water, 100 gallons worth of 5–7 gallon containers for drinking water, and between 150–200 gallon bottles saved from either soda or high quality spring water that we’ve used.
I keep trying to tell myself that’s “enough” (well, that and the Aqua Rain device that lives in a box under a side table in the dining room). Somehow, I just can’t seem to convince myself I’m quite there yet.
I’ve saved hundreds of bottles, glass jars, plastic containers of all kinds. I’ll continue to do so until I run out of space, then I’ll prioritize the items. In a truly “worst case scenario,” plastic, glass, aluminum, etc., will be hard to come by - and these containers have SO many uses already. We start seedlings in them, store everything from buttons to seeds to pet food, etc. Even if the TS never does HTF, I’ll have uses for them.
I must have hundreds clinking around, falling over. I need to wash them out and then store them in plastic or cardboard in the basement. All glass. I feel foolish, but it seems even more foolish to toss them out with the newspaper and magazine for recycling. I’ll keep them for a few years and hope I never need to use them.
I recently stopped storing my empties. I’ve been storing and storing and storing water (330 gallons in 1 gallon and small bottles - all new store bought) and keeping the empties. But in the end, I really just need to buy a large holding tank for my well and a good series of filters to make it drinkable. With a large holding tank that allows me to pump once a week I should be able to keep the pump running with a generator for a year on little gasoline.
Space is not the only issue here. Although my house is relatively roomy, (1500 sqft) I cannot jam every corner of my living space with cans and jars. My BF already thinks I’m a loony toons woman, worrying about panflu and prepping like a madwoman.
He tolerates my efforts because I’ve been practicing numerous different types of recipes (Thai, Tex-Mex, Cajun, Vietnamese, Italian, and working on a few dishes from the Carribeans, where they often open air cook on hearth and spit) so I could learn how to use my storables in fairly edible ways. He’s been having a ball eating them all as he’s my only taste tester. But I do not want to push his tolerance too far by storing containers all over the house.
All I have right now is a 40 gallon hot water tank that is currently in use as…a hot water tank. Perhaps two 55 gallon drums, empty but ready for filling should be all that is needed. I am hoping that it will be enough, or at least hoping water will be restored in enough time between the waves for us to refill the drums and the hot water tank without forcing us to leave the house. Anyone have any suggestions? Would these two large water drums along with my water heater be sufficient?
KellyP- (No…I’m not following you around! :-P )
The Marin County Health Dept just released a letter to the households of 40,000 school kids, and in it they suggest 56 gallons of water for a family of 4 should last about 2 weeks. So, if it’s just you and DH, two 55-gallon drums should last you about 8 weeks, or two months. I have one food-grade water barrel, and it’s full. That should last me and DW about a month of careful usage.
I switched to liquid detergent and have been saving the plastic bottles unwashed on the theory that I can fill them with water at the last minute and have a (weak) soapy solution for washing with.
However, I sure have a lot of them. A friend who is a prepper too is putting his in plastic trash bags and hanging them from the ceiling in the basement - I may have to do that also.
anon for this time? --- Sounds like a pinata party in the making if nothing ever happens
anon for this time — sorta wish you hadn’t mentioned that about the liquid detergent bottles. Now, I’ll have to do the same thing as I hadn’t thought about saving a drop or 2 of detergent. Good Idea. Does anybody know how long the bottled water will last? I had heard about 1 yr but don’t know for use. My cases of water don’t have an expiration date on them and some of getting near to one year old.
I have a bleach bottle that I mixed bleach and water in a 10:1 ratio. I use this for the final rinse of wine bottles (with metal caps), then I pour the solution back into the bleach bottle for the next time. I have about 8 water-filled wine bottles stored in the basement so far. We *are* getting crowded out with empty jars, both glass and plastic.
We seem to keep eating the roasted nuts from Sam’s Club (that we’re supposed to be storing), so those large plastic jars came in handy for some of the oatmeal in the 50-lb. bag from Honeyville.
I continue to clean and collect the empty milk, juice and soda bottles. In a worst case scenario I can share them with those in my neighborhood that are not prepared. I can not afford to feed the entire neighborhood - but I can give many of them the gift of water….
I also gave up on saving bottles and storing water. I got two different filtering systems and a cover for our swimming pool and that is going to be our main reservoir. I know I’m blessed to have it available.
I bought three cases of water with 27 8.45 oz. boxes of water ,and each one has a straw of it’s own to the case. It has a life expiration of 5 years. and then I have two 45 gallon blue water barrels to fill. and I have been keeping all my empty soda bottles that I have washed out. I put them in trash bags and hung them up out in the garage. since it’s just me and the dogs I think I’m pretty well set. and I do have a Katadyn Hiker pro with extra filters put away too. and four bottles of Potable Aqua tablets and four packs of Micropur purification tables. so think I am set for a while anyway.
Water will be the first prep item I plan to re-focus on in the new year. We have 4 7-gal. Aqua-Tainers, 4 5-gal. collapsible containers and about 25 empty 3-liter water bottles and 1-gal. vinegar containers. Also have 6 pkgs. of Micropur tablets. Now it’s time to get serious. Two 55-gal barrels and an AquaRain purifier -if we need to use pond water (yum!)- are the next purchases on my prep list.
I do the same as a few people have mentioned..store them in trash bags. I do keep the lids in a gallon plastic ziplock baggie. I have that stuck to the fridge door with a magnet. It holds a lot and is a nice conversation piece. :)
I don’t drink sodas, so no bottles. Worried for a while how to sterilize water the sodis way without a stash of bottles, recently read that solor ovens work just as well using with glass canning jars. End of need for soda bottles. (Gotta practice the solar oven.)
Pandemic flu may or may not happen. I’m not going to run my whole household or life around the possibility. 50 gallons in the water heater, another 50 gallons in 5 gallon containers in the garage and several cartons of half liter water bottles, a river a mile away, a wagon to pull bottles of water home from the river, a solar oven to steriize the river water. Ideal? No, ideal would be a well in the back yard but I’m in a suburb, no wells allowed.
Water needs to be in the containers now - too many stories of communities suddenly being told the water is contaminated. Or water lines break down, when that happens there’s no time to start filling containers.
For last minute if there’s time, I have two portable swimming pools to set up and fill, and tarps to throw over them to reduce evaporation. At over 150 gallons each, that’s a lot of water.
City Slicker, I think you’re wanting to just store empty & grab & use if necessary to share, but I just wanted to revisit the issue to make sure everyone reading remembers that the milk cartons cannot be cleaned adequately to eliminate bacteria — they’re not made to last long so they will eventualy crack or split if you’re trying to store water long-term and the water can pick up bacteria from the inside of the carton no matter how hard you try to clean it, even with Clorox. For a method to hand off some of your water to a neighbor, it would be OK but you can’t be sure they will put the water in a suitable container once home. If I were you, I’d take a permanent marker & just write on the empty jug NOT SUITABLE FOR WATER STORAGE or something like that, just to make certain that they can see that once they get home with your water container & hopefully do something about pouring it out into a pan or pitcher. I commend you for preparing for them in such a way, every little bit helps!
I’m still saving all empty bottles - used to fill them up but now just save empties. Will fill up when the time comes. Plan to keep savings…easier to disribute to each kid on a daily basis to conrol inventory!
City Slicker and I’m-workin’-on-it --- one of the uses I’ve had for used milk jugs is to fill them with water and then freeze them. The water isn’t potable, but they make great ice blocks, and when we lose power, the freezer stays cold longer. We had a full-size freezer until a couple of months ago, so it was easy to store them. Now I have to sort of juggle things in the new side-by-side freezer/fridge. I currently have 5 jugs frozen, and use them in an ice-chest for patio parties.
This may sound silly to some of you , but as I use up our home canned products I use the jars for home canned water it’s easy clean and cheap!
Bronco Bill - I have about six milk jugs filled with MILK!!! Like you, I figured they’d make good ice blocks should electricity go out, but I wanted to make sure I had milk too, at least for a limited time. I buy them six and eight at a time at Costco and freeze all but the one jug I will be using, and they do very well frozen. If I need to use it, I take one frozen block out and slowly thaw them inside the regular refrigerator. In one day, they are fully usable and just as good as the day I bought them.
Strange thing is, when milk freezes, it bulges out and makes the plastic jug looks round and bulgy. The milk also changes into a yellowish butter-like block that makes it look as if it’s spoiled, even though it is not spoiled.
KellyP from CA --- I’ve seen that too! I think they bulge out ‘cuz there’s no real room for expansion in sealed milk jugs…and the discoloration is most likely from the milkfat freezing. I dunno…never really studied freezing milk before, but you’re right—doesn’t hurt it one bit!
There is nothing in the world better-tasting than fresh, ice-cold milk.
I’m saving enough milk jugs to fit in the plastic buckets I got at bakeries. Filled, they’re good as ballast for the tarp I use to collect rainwater. Filled with tiny holes, they’re fine as slow drip for plants in raised bets (although the holes get plugged eventually and have to be re-poked). I also use them in bathroom & kitchen to collect water until it runs hot, then either water plants or pour the water into the washing machine for the next wash.
All excellent ideas! I keep about 6 2 or 3 ltr. bottles on the top shelf of my upright freezer just for the purpose of having them for coolers if need be. Or if I get a great deal on something, I can clear off that shelf & put in meat or whatever, until I get it processed & stored correctly, then I put the bottles back on the shelf to refreeze. Meantime they just sit in the kitchen out of the way, waiting to be of service again.
I buy milk also for freezing — I open the jug, pour out about 2 inches in a glass, seal it back up and freeze, that keeps the expansion from splitting the sides of the jug. And gives me a full glass of milk by the time I’m through adjusting them! You’re right BB, nothing as good as a big TALL glass of ice cold milk!
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Thanks for this thread, as I have noticed saving the empty soda liter bottles, seems to be a compulsion. I have thrown trash bags full of empty plastic bottles up in the attic.
“Help, I’m prepping and I can’t stop!!” - What’s wrong with this bottle collecting, is that I have a well pump and a generator, as well as a pool and nearby clean stream. There are also artesian springs locally with water pouring out of pipes for public use, in walking distance. I really don’t need these hundreds of bottles, but I make justifications that I can give them to neighbors.
Sounds like good enough justification to me! Seriously, I know what you mean, once you know a practical use for something, whether it awakens our hoarding tendencies or what is just beyond me, all I know is that suddenly plastic bottles deserve a respectable place in our household!
My downstairs bathtub is not used so I am filling it with the empty soda bottles. I had repair men in yesterday to fix the toilet. They never said a word about all the bottles(at least 30). We even talked about a past neighbor who was a hoarder. I had forgotten about the bottles until they left. Guess they just put it down to a kookie old lady who is a ‘closet’ hoarder!
shenVal, that’s soooo funny! I have my guestroom tub covered up with 2 pieces of plywood small enough for me to handle to remove them, & they’re piled high with toilet paper & paper towels! Curtain is always closed. If I were smart I’d remove all that, fill the tub then put it all back, but I don’t want mold to grow!!
Mold!! I didn’t think about that before. When TSHTF I was intending to fill our bathtubs with water for toilet,etc.I know mold goes fast in humid conditions but maybe if a window was opened abit it would take longer. I’ve got our unused tub loaded with plastic storage containers. They contain med supples,etc. The plywood is a good idea as it would double our storage.
A dollup of bleach would at least retard the mold in those tubs full of nonpotable water.
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