A gardener has shared a "brilliant" hack for re-using plastic coronavirus tests - and it's gone viral on social media.
Amy Davis is turning used negative lateral flow tests into plant labels and the clever trick has been watched more than one million times on Facebook, BristolLive reports .
Amy said she decided to get creative when she realised she had ran out of plant labels. The gardener, based at Flourish Garden Care, Buckinghamshire, said she had "no idea" her video would go viral.
She explained: "January is a time when I start thinking about seed sowing. For most plants, it’s too early to begin but it gets me excited for the Spring and I enjoy planning what I’m going to grow.
"As I was sowing I realised I hadn’t got any labels to hand. The week before I had done lots of lateral flow tests, all negative, which I hadn’t thrown away yet. I thought to use it as a label, so washed it and discovered they could be split apart and then put back together in a different configuration.
"As a side thought, I got my husband to quickly film it so I could share it on my gardening Facebook and Instagram pages. I thought others may think it could be useful but I had no idea it would go viral!"
The video has been shared more than 13,000 times with more than one thousand comments.
"I've been amazed by the positive response and how fast and how far it's been shared," Amy added.
"Literally every household has LFTs, and I’m sure people look at all that plastic waste and feel concerned about the huge quantity being disposed of. Unfortunately LFTs are necessary and at the moment there’s no biodegradable alternative. All we can do is reuse it.
"There has also been a massive surge of people taking up gardening due to lockdown. These labels are useful to those with houseplants, balcony planters, small and large gardens, allotments and more – it’s something everyone can do.
"With the cost of living rising it pays to be inventive so buy less and upcycle more."
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