From Emily Nuchols’ blog:

It’s Thursday and I know I’m itching to take on some projects in my backyard.

In my search for some inspiration, I found this contest that is calling for creative ways to “upcycle” or reuse plastics.

Check the photo: May Day baskets made out of old laundry detergent caps!

I’m no stranger to turning old plastic bottles and tubs into planters for seedlings, or ironing plastic bags to make a cool tote, but this initiative has renewed my motivation to try more upcycling in the coming weeks. And I’m psyched to see what others come up with as well.

Why? More cool projects with upcycled plastics keep those nasty bottles out of our fabulous ocean.

Try this on for size: every hour Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles. Disgusting, eh?

First off, don’t buy those plastic bottles in the, well, first place. But we all end up with a plastic bottle here and there…so try upcycling. Get creative, have fun! And enter this contest:

From Makezine:

Our oceans today are faced with an increasing amount of plastic pollution. Each year, a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles die by ingesting or getting tangled in floating trash. A key to cutting pollution is reducing plastic consumption. TakePart and Participant Media are teaming up with MAKE and CRAFT to present the Save My Oceans Upcycle Contest inspired by the Disneynature and Participant Media film Oceans. While we encourage recycling plastic so it doesn’t end up in our beautiful oceans, you can defend the environment even more by upcycling or reusing plastics to make something new. Use your creativity to protect our oceans and share your ideas using upcycled plastics by entering the Save My Oceans Upcycle Contest.

This Contest starts on April 15, 2010 and runs through June 6, 2010.

How to Enter: To enter in the Save My Oceans Upcycle Contest, click here to fill out the form. As well as filling out the form, we ask you to post any project photos and documentation to the Contest Flickr Group

What do you win? Well if protecting our ocean and making the world a cleaner place isn’t enough for you, they have an iPAD up for grabs for the winner. So what are you waiting for? Throw on your creative pants and upcycle some plastic today!

Oh, and sign the Save My Oceans Pledge today.