I've started collecting empty gallon milk jugs for winter sowing, which I plan to start at the end of January. This worked so well for me last year, that I hope to do more this year, and to try out more kinds of plants with it.
This kind of winter sowing is a low-effort, low-hassle way to start your hardier garden seedlings for spring. Instead of constantly fussing over banks of seed trays indoors; watering, adjusting plant lights, fighting damping off, I put seeds outside in the protection of mini-greenhouses made from clear plastic containers like gallon milk jugs, plastic salad bar boxes, or two-liter soda bottles. You need a container that will hold a couple of inches of soil, and give the seedlings head room to grow, so don't get anything too shallow.
Starting them out in the cold like this, they don't develop damping off, and you'll never need to harden the seedlings off as you do with those started indoors. For those of us with mold allergies, it's also an advantage to not have the seed trays with their need for constant moisture all over the house.
It's a bit too soon to put them out, so right now I'm just collecting up containers in the garage.
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