Take Climate Action on Earth Day (April 22)

Missed our schools' third Climate Action Day on April 17? No worries—consider building your own self-watering planter made from recycled materials just in time for Earth Day on April 22!

  • Apr 15, 2024, 10:55 AM

On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, schools around the city participated in our third Climate Action Day of the year! This month, the theme is Health, Wellness, and Green Space, which encourages schools to promote outdoor learning and play, as well as stewardship for green spaces.

Did you know? Green spaces help prevent flooding in our city by absorbing rainwater, and also help provide shade.

There are lots of great ways that you can celebrate along with us, like volunteering to help care for a school or community garden or hosting or joining a litter clean up. You can also make your very own green space at home with a self-watering planter made from recycled materials that you might already have on-hand:

Make Your Own Self-Watering Plastic Bottle Planter

Illustrated GIF depicting the steps to make a self-watering bottle planter.

This plastic bottle planter is a low-maintenance way to have your own home garden that not only reuses materials, but also helps conserve water by keeping the soil moist all on it's own!

Materials

  • Plastic bottle
  • Scissors
  • Sharp tool, like a penknife or screwdriver
  • Rope, twine, yarn, or absorbent strip of cloth
  • Potting soil/potting mix
  • Seeds or a seedling
  • Optional: paint or other decorations

Instructions

  1. Use your scissors to cut the plastic bottle in half.
  2. Remove the bottle cap from the top of the bottle. With an adult's help, poke a small hole in the cap using your sharp tool.
  3. Thread the rope or fabric through the hole, leaving a few inches on either side of the bottle cap. This will act as a wick when the planter is complete, allowing water to rise from the bottom to the top of the bottle and up to the roots of the plant.
  4. Then, tie a knot on the inside of the cap so that the rope cannot slide through. Screw the cap back onto the bottle.
  5. Flip the top half of the bottle upside down and place it inside of the bottom half.
  6. Decorate your planter however you’d like before adding the seeds, soil, and water.
  7. Fill the top half of the bottle with potting mix, and plant your seeds or seedling. You could even use this planter to grow edible plants, like basil or mint. Then fill the bottom half with water. Place your planter in a sunny area, and wait for it to grow!

Even more ideas on how you can join us in celebrating our waste-themed Climate Action Day, including other activities and projects that you can do, check out our Sustainability Resource Bank. Share the ways that you’re participating online with us @NYCSchools using the hashtag #ClimateActionDays.