Greenhouses are an excellent ways to grow plants, fruits and vegetables all year round. At Camp Conowingo, we are slowly working on a sustainable greenhouse project made out of recycled soda bottles. The project will look very similar to this greenhouse built by Florida Girl Scouts and Girl Scout volunteers.

The upside of using soda bottles as the primary material to create a greenhouse is that the project is made out of recycled materials and the materials are cheap and easy to repair. The clear plastic of the bottles allows sunlight to reach the plants, but keeps the harsher environmental elements at bay. The air inside a recycled greehouse is typically 10-degrees warmer than outside, which extends the growing season for many plants. In addition, this project will keep approximately 1,400 2-liter bottles from entering the landfill.

There are many resources online that can teach you how to build a recycled greenhouse.
Here are a few:

• http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Mini-Greenhouse
• http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/recycled-bottle-greenhouse-build-your-own.html
• http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Build-a-Greenhouse-Made-From-Plastic-Bottles

If you would like to get involved with this project, please contact us at STEM@gscm.org.