Stop tossing out those plastic utensils. Here's 6 reasons why you should plant them instead

Plastic utensils like forks are used all the time: eating lunch/snack or at a party. When most people finish using their plastic fork, they toss the used fork into the trash without a second thought. After all, what could you possibly do with an old plastic fork?

It turns out, there's actually quite a few things you can do with used plastic utensils, especially in the garden. Keep reading to learn why you might want to plant those utensils instead of tossing them in the trash:

1. Keep the pests at bay: It turns out that plastic forks do a good job of keeping pests away from your precious gardens. Yes, this includes the family cat that you love. The author of Danger Garden recounts her experience, "I figured I would at least buy clear plastic, less visible than white. And it is! I had to get down even with the ground to capture these next pictures of the cutlery art in my garden. So far it seems to be working. Oh and when you want clear…you get the whole set. Forks, knives and spoons…but they’re all good. What furry little kitty bum wants to be caught crouching over a knife?"

She removes the cutlery once the plants come up. Because she chooses clear cutlery, she says the look isn't too bothersome.

2. Label your plants: Use plastic forks as a cheap labeling device. Rabbit Talk blog puts it best. "At the nursery, they had some garden labels you could buy for about $4.50 a pack, with what looked like about 20 in a pack. I have 100 squares in my garden… am I going to spend $25 just so I can label them all?!? Uh… no."

3. Use as decorative labels: You can also make those ugly plastic utensils look pretty like so by painting them.

4. Use as a decorative and functional fence: Wash those used plastic forks and line them up in the soil as a fence. This fence will help keep the squirrels out! Pictured below is the fence in a fairy garden.