However, in an urban setting where everyone's cramming up for every tiny piece of land area, gardening may seem to a lot of people an unrecognized dream. Fortunately, there's a simple solution for this: Container gardening.
You've probably heard of container gardening before-some of you might even have undertaken it back in grade school or high school. Did you know that some countries actually take container gardening very seriously as a means to provide more food and nutrients to their citizens? In these worsening economic and environmental times, I think container gardening should be taken up outside school. Not only will you be using recycled materials, you'll also be making do with your small spaces and make them look better. Here's how.

What You'll Need:
• Plastic bottles, like Coke 1.5 litre bottles you have lying around. Transparent bottles are preferred over dark-colored ones as the latter tends to absorb too much heat-not good for the plants.
• Sharp cutter
• Potting soil, but if you cannot afford it, you can always make your own potting soil by mixing part loam, part coarse sand and part slow-release fertilizer.
• Seeds, particularly herbaceous plants. Herbs and flowers are popular choices.
• Saucers (optional)

What to Do:
1. Cut a small hole in the center bottom of the bottle, around the size of a one-peso coin. Be very careful when using a cutter, you might end up hurting yourself.
2. Cut off the top portion of the bottle, enough so that you end up with a funnel shape. Start from when the bottle starts to angle upward. Take off the cap.
3. Now put a slit on the "funnel" running from the edge around ¼ of its distance towards the mouth.
4. Insert the "funnel" inside the bottle, the wider opening facing downwards. Make sure it fits snugly inside.
5. Put in your soil. Leave in at least two inches from the soil to the container's opening. If you intend to put mulch in it, fill up the container up to ¾ with soil.
6. If you intend to have your container garden indoors, bottles should be put on saucers to prevent spillage. However, if they will stand on solid ground, you can leave them be.
7. You may then proceed with planting your seeds or transplanting small plants inside. Keep an eye out for weeds growing in your containers, as well as pests.

Take this great space-saving idea a step further by nailing your bottles on a plywood wall or attaching them to on a wall outdoors. Line up your bottles starting from arm's length going down. This will make your garden more manageable and more pleasant to the eye-not to mention making up for all of your carbon footprints!

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