(lively music) >>Sustainability is an important thing that everybody should be thinking about.

And as gardeners, there are many things that we can do for sustainability in our environments.

We always have a lot of materials that are plastic, from plastic bags to plastic containers.

So if we can reuse those and keep them out of the landfill, then that will be the best result for our environment.

What I'm going to do today is let's just do a simple project and paint the container, but we can also make it fun.

All we need is leaves that you can collect from your own garden, some spray paint, some tape, and a little sandpaper.

So I have my container here.

All we need to do is use the sandpaper, and we're going to scuff up the container just a little bit.

You just want to get some of that glossy surface off.

(sandpaper scratching) And then it is as simple as attaching a few leaves that we have collected.

And it's basically going to be a stencil.

And we'll add another little piece here.

We just want it to stay on long enough to spray paint the container.

So we can just add on leaves.

Just stick it right on.

Doesn't have to be perfect.

It adds a little character.

(spray paint can clicking) Now when we're ready for spray paint, to protect the table, I even will save my soil bags that I get, and would use that for projects like this.

It's just thinking ahead and using any of the material that we have bought and be able to reuse them to try to keep them out of the landfill.

Now, when you're spray painting, just make sure that you are using nice even (can hissing) coats.

You don't want it to get too thick.

And I can see this leaf is moving, but it's okay 'cause this is just a fun project.

So nice even coats, (can hissing) even on top of the leaves 'cause all we want is just to have the pattern of the leaf and the black will show through that.

So we've got pretty good coverage here.

(can hissing) And let's see if we've got any leaf pattern underneath here, so we can just remove our leaves.

So this is nice little fun decorative thing that we can do, especially when the kids are getting out of school pretty soon.

And you can see where the black is starting to show through.

So get out there, get your hands dirty, painting your containers.

We're keeping these containers out of the landfill is a win-win for everyone.