I have posted a video on my bucket shower and we know we can store food and stuff in them. I am interested to see your creativity. What are some other uses that you have found for these buckets?
slop bucket.. garbage disposals might not work.
gardening.. picking
feeding fish
feeding farm animals
saving food for compost
carrying water
catching water
mixing concrete
fire fighting
putting fish in while fishing
carrying compost to garden
picking up sticks for fires, wood stove
carrying fertilizer
bathing/ sponge bath
toilet
food storage
laundry
we use one for food/paper waste for the compost pile. we dump everything into it, and because its smallish, you have to empty it often. and you dont want food waste sitting in the kitchen for long anyways. and it has a handle.
we have way to many cans going on in our kitchen right now. We have recyle can, garbage can, compost.. no meat or animal products can. We put all of that down the gargage disposal now but would need something for that if we had no garbage disposal. If anything was to happen we would burn our paper and who would care about recyling... but we would probably want to save all the jugs. I can remember my grandparents having all these different containers when I was young. They had a burn pit and they reused anything possible.
Cheaper than Dirt has a ceramic insert you place in one with another 5 gal bucket under it. Ypu punch holes in the bottom of one and in the top of the other. It is a water filtering system. I'm thinking of buying some.
I have made a water filter out of 2 3 gallon bucket. A bunch of 1/16 inch holes in the bottom of one, insert pilow case folded over edges, fill half way up with sand,another pillow case folded over edge and 3 layers of cotton cloth on top of that. Cannot take credit for it. Got the idea ,,,,,, somewhere and just tweeked it. Works good.
Great ideas, I like the one about recycling. That has been a problem for me. I haven't even considered using them for the veggie scraps before going to compost. I have a large pantry that they would fit in nicely Thanks. I kinda feel stupid for not thinking of doing this before LOL
5 gallon buckets can be used as a potty with some plastic liners and a seat of some sort
For my veggie scraps I use the small plastic containers that prepackaged mixed greens come in sitting on the counter and then transfered the watse to a plastic bag lined 30 gallon galvanized can all winter......... then put the whole hot can full of waste directly into the compost pile once we had a thaw...... along with a bunch of fresh horse poop....... getting ready for next springs use
You can make a helmet!
You can paint it cammie and give it a cushion lid, and use it as a stool/extra storage when you are hunting!
You can make a toilet!
You can use em to marinade large animal parts (Dont use the toilet one...)
You can use it like a drum!
Yeah, in my school our drumline has a show where they beat on trashcans and such. It's really cool! But, since Im in the band and I play the trumpet, we aren't supposed to like the percussion. We don't consider them real musicians. We have a joke that goes "How do you know that the percussion is knocking on your door? They don't stay on beat." Yeah, ya godda be in the band to get that silly band nerd humor!
I use buckets all around the house and garden. In the garden they hold fertilizer, compost, etc. I have one with holes drilled in the bottom that is used to rinse veggies before they come inside. Keeps a lot of dirt out of the sink that way.
I use them to brine turkeys for smoking. They're a perfect size for that and if I remove a rack from the fridge, they sit in the bottom perfectly.
I have a few in the garage full of bolts, nuts, parts and scraps that I find uses for now and then. I also keep long extension cords wound up in buckets. It's easier to grab and go and it helps keep them untangled.
A friend made outdoor winter candle holders. Fill bucket with water. Let most of the water freeze outdoors. Punch hole in top and drain water from centre of mostly frozen bucket. Remove rest ice from bucket by tipping upside down. To use, put several wherever you want light and put large candle into the cavity where the water was. Makes a beautiful accent to any winter driveway.
Back home we grab two 5 gallon buckets. 1 white and 1 orange. Mount a light bulb in each and hang the white bucket on the outskirts of camp while the orange one hangs above the camp, table, etc. Most of the bugs head straight for the lit up white bucket leaving campers with un-inhibited night vision and alot less bugs around the middle of camp!
compost. fill with materials as necessary. you might have a problem with predators and health inspectors and their white gloves. a label on a old 5 gallon "barrel" or bucket i would suggest. good size for container gardens.
container gardens. fill and sow seed.
seat. flip and place pillow over.
water storage for green house heat holders.
fermentation bucket.
fish holder.
chicken transfer or transport utility.
chicken bath. a inch of water and let them go to it.
After a hurricane in S florida knocked outg our electricity for over 2 weeks our Haitiian neighbor showed us how to make a washing machine.
1. cut 2 1x 4 pieces of wood just long enough to fit inside the bucket
2. tightly screw the wood from the outside of the bucket through the 1 in side of the 1x4 on opposite sides of the inside of the bucket.
3. find a small rock and scrub it clean
4. put the dirty clothes in fill 1/2 - 3/4 way with water add some detergant add the rock if you are doing jeans or very dirty clothes
5. seal the bucket and send your kids outside to roll it up and down the road
6. empty out the dirty water and fill with rinse water and repeat #5
We had kids pushing buckets up and down the sidewalks that week.
* the buckets don't go straight but you can take an extra lid and glue it to the bottom and then they go much straighter but still not perfect.
Make stilts
Make working on a ceiling less of a stretch. Use two sturdy buckets (minus handles) and a pair of old shoes to make your own mini-stilts. Drive screws through the shoe soles and into wood blocks inside the buckets. Or punch holes in the bucket bottoms and tie or strap down the shoes.
Make a Christmas tree stand
Fill a bucket partway with sand or gravel and insert the base of the tree in it. Then fill it the rest of the way and pour water on the sand or gravel to help keep the tree from drying out.
You mentioned a stool. I use the smaller 3 gallon buckets alot for stools as when weeding the garden, painting a table etc. It really saves on stress on the knees. It works real well in the garden. It's easy to move around plus once I finish weeding, my small hand tools go in it to carry everything to the garage.
Self-watering container garden. It takes 2 buckets. Cut a hole in the bottom of one. Set a kitchen funnel in it. Cut a hole in the side of the other one, near the bottom. Stick an oil funnel in it. Nest the first bucket inside the second one, use the oil funnel to fill with water.
Haven't tested it yet, but saw the plans and thought I would collect buckets to try it with next year.
Bet it works with 4 gallon cat litter buckets too. I can pick those up at recycling day. If you have rural recycling, you could probably do that to. If you're urban/suburban, they're an easy curbside shopping item.
Step-stools for small children/reaching high pantry shelves. I have one I keep cat food in in the kitchen (little bipedial kibble munchers aka kids can't get the lid off). My 3-y-o drags it over to the sink hollering "I helpie you" while I'm washing dishes. My 8-y-o uses it to reach the shelf I keep the cocoa on.
Next spring I am putting up gutters w/ large garbage cans to catch rain water. I will install a water hose w/ cutoff valve so I can water plants with them or other needs.
I will fasten screen over the tops.
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