It’s Earth Day, so what better way to celebrate than by taking all your old, empty essential oil bottles and up-cycling them! The possibilities are endless for what you can do with them!

Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• Do you like to create your own customized blends? Use your empty bottles for storing your own essential oil blends.
• Do you take essential oils in capsules? The easiest way to fill capsules is with a dropper cap. If you take specific oils or oil blends in capsules on a regular basis, putting those oils in a separate bottle with a dropper cap will make filling the capsules much easier!
• Do you use hand sanitizer, air fresheners, or breath sprays? Simply add a misting spray top to an oil bottle to create your own personal spray!
• Do you or your kids like to paint? When you are down to just a couple drops left in a bottle, you can add a little paint to have a more pleasant smell when painting.
• Do you like your bathroom to smell fresh? Create a little room diffuser by mixing Jojoba Oil and 5–10 drops of essential oil in the bottle. Place rattan reeds (cut to 4–5″ tall) in the oil mixture. After a few hours, the reeds will suck up the oil and disperse the scent into the air.
• Do you like to take essential oil baths? When you are down to a few drops of oil left in your bottle, remove the cap and orifice reducer and place them and the bottle in a jar of Epsom salts. After a couple days, the Epsom Salts will absorb the oil. Just sprinkle some Epsom salts in your next bath, and enjoy the aroma! You can add multiple “empty” bottles to a jar of Epsom salts depending on the scent you want.
• Do you have empty 5 ml bottles? These little bottles are an excellent size for traveling. Refill these small bottles with the oils you use most often to create your own travel pack!
• Do you travel a lot? These essential oil bottles are the perfect size for carrying a few days worth of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, tooth powder, carrier oil, etc.

Are you getting excited yet at all the possibilities for upcycling your old and empty bottles? Well, let’s talk about how to get started.

First, you’ll want to gather your empty oil bottles. These next few steps are easier to do in bulk unless you are planning on still using the last few drops of oil. You may want to get a small bin or basket that you can throw your empty bottles in as you use your essential oils so they will already be gathered for you.

Next, you’ll need to decide if you want to use the remaining few drops of oil in the bottle. If you do, set them aside or group them together so you’ll know what oils are which and can leave the cap on while washing off the label. If not, remove the caps, orifice reducers, and as much of the label as you can; then place the bottles in a washing bin.

Fill the bin with scalding hot water and a little dish soap. Adding a few drops of lemon oil may help with this process. Once the water has cooled down a little, attempt to remove more of the label. Repeat the process until most of the label is removed. If you still have a little stickiness left, place a drop of lemon oil on the bottle. Rub the oil around the outside of the bottle for a minute before washing off.

If you don’t want to reuse your old caps and orifice reducers, you can always buy new caps at Abundant Health™ for about a quarter each. Abundant Health™ also carries various labels, including blank labels, preprinted labels, and vinyl labels that you can use as you repurpose your bottles.

Here are some ways our customers have repurposed their old oil bottles:

• I like to use my [upcycled bottles] for gifting at holidays, birthdays, etc. The brown glass bottles wash easily and a quick dip in scalding water and they are ready for new oils, labels, and tops and they are ready to go……I love to up-cycle every chance I get. — Ronda Wheeler
• I make up “sample” oils for my daughter to try while away at college. — Laura Anne Novotney
• Bottles are perfect for carrying smelly, leaky liquids like apple cider vinegar.  I keep the drop reducer on to make it more airtight.   (I’m a flight attendant, who is always finding solutions for carrying my stuff!  Also, like to travel light at home or working.  So…I love the 5ml bottles & tiny sample size bottles from Abundant Health!) — Dolly

Do you have any ideas for what to do with your old bottles?