Where do all the plastic bottles go?

Ever wonder what happens to those plastic soft drink and water bottles you send off to be recycled? Maybe you have even lost sleep thinking about it. Well put away the sleeping pills, I’m here to take care of your insomnia.

Remember the tooth fairy? With the current inflation the cost per tooth is breaking the bank, so she’s now moonlighting as the recycle fairy.

Presently, she’s turning plastic bottles into carpet. Did you know it takes 32 2-liter bottles to weave 1 square inch of carpet? That’s a lot of bottles. Some carpet manufacturers use up to 528 million, nonbiodegradable bottles from landfills each year. Good news for the environment — a lot of work for the tooth fairy.

What other home products are made from recycled plastic?

How about picnic tables. They are so durable that a 50-year limited warranty accompanies most of them. The tables are virtually maintenance free as they require no painting, they are not appetizing to termites and they won’t rot. The plastic used to make this product is a commingling of used plastics, including milk jugs. How many gallons do you have to drink to make one table? 6,428.

Discarded plastic represents 30 percent by volume of all solid waste, so though you might be quite full after drinking all that milk, remember, you are helping the environment.

Instead of using wood for your deck and/or fence, consider using recycled plastic. The plastic can be worked like wood, yet does not splinter like wood. Here, again, it is unaffected by insects, rot and fungus, and it lasts up to 15 times longer than wood.

Furniture designers are getting creative with this recycled stuff.

The other day I was shown a picture of a dining table with the base made of recycled plastic. Three ribbon-like, S-shaped curves acted as the support. The separate top can be either glass or, you guessed it, recycled plastic. The table was actually attractive in a modern art sort of way. It would fit right in at the Guggenheim museum.

Fiberfill for pillows and sleeping bags is being made from the recycled plastic. Doesn’t sound too comfortable, but I am sure they know what they are doing.

Some bath tubs, sinks, shower stalls and swimming pools are made of reused plastic products. Paint brushes, scouring pads, combs, telephones and even freezer insulation can be produced from the soft drink bottles and the milk jugs.

Where do the plastic liter bottles come from originally? Heck if I know because even they are made of recycled plastic. How many times can plastic be recycled? Almost indefinitely.

So even though it might be a hassle to carry those recycle bins out to the edge of the driveway once a week, keep in mind that you are keeping the tooth fairy’s operation in the black.

Rosemary Sadez Friedmann is an interior designer and the author of “Mystery of Color.”