Everybody knows the environmentally conscious mantra: “Reduce, reuse and recycle”. Even though recycling has been taken to ever greater heights, the first two Rs (reducing and reusing) are often forgotten. By reusing what you already have, you can save a tremendous amount of money by significantly reducing the amount of stuff you will need to buy new, and in turn, decrease the amount of garbage headed to the local landfill.
The options are literally limitless and only dictated by your imagination and creativity. Here are a few ideas on how you can do your bit for the environment by finding new uses for old items:
Old books
Books are a good example of how junk can be turned into something useful. Old hardcover books are ideal to use as a makeshift safe for valuables and cash. By hollowing out the inside pages, you will have created the ultimate secret hiding place. To make, you will need a relatively thick hardcover book. Open the book to a spot that is at least 2,5cm from the back. Use a pencil and a ruler to draw a rectangle in the middle of the page with a border of approximately 1,5cm to 2cm from the edge of the page. With a craft knife, cut the rectangle out. If you score the edge heavily, you will be able to cut a number of pages at the same time.
Large, heavy hardcover books can also be used to make novel bookends. You can stack them on top of one another and perhaps even arrange them leaning against one another at different angles, and then gluing them in place – they will serve as a functional and aesthetically pleasing way of propping other books up on your shelves.
Old clothes
You can make all kinds of useful items from old clothes. For example, you can refashion jeans into novel and trendy remote holders. Simply cut off the legs of a pair of jeans, stitch the leg area closed and attach some velcro to the waist to form a closable bag. Then stitch a rectangle of fabric onto the one side of the waist area, which can be tucked between the mattress and your bed’s base – this allows the denim “shorts” to hang out, forming a cute organiser for remotes, glasses or TV guides.
The fabric from old clothes can also be used to recover old and dated lampshades – giving them a whole new lease on life. Funky T-shirts with eye-catching prints or clothing made from attractive material can easily be used to fashion striking scatter cushions or sewed together to form a novel quilt. This is an original way of turning your keepsake T-shirts into trendy décor items. Fabric carrier bags can also be easily fashioned from old T-shirts or clothes. Old socks or ones that have lost their partner are the ideal item in which to store delicate items, such as glass Christmas decorations for example. They can also be used to stuff into shoes, so that they don’t lose their shape.
Old crockery
Old plates and saucers can be used to make all sorts of things. A plate can easily be made into a Christmas table centrepiece by covering it with a garland and gluing on pine cones. Old china cups can be used for candle holders. Old cups can also be used as shelf dividers – simply place a board between two coffee cups, then add an extra shelf by placing two more cups and another plank and so on. Glue them all into place once you have positioned them.
Pieces of broken crockery can also be reused for mosaic or as filler in pot plants. Use pieces of a broken clay pot or ceramic dish to help drainage and prop up undersized plants to reduce the amount of costly potting soil you will need. Place the shards at the bottom of the large pot until almost half the pot is full, then add a layer of plastic foam pieces or a mixture of gravel or pebbles (you can also use wine corks), and then fill with potting soil to the top.
Some other great ideas
- Old newspapers are ideal fire-lighters and it is an excellent material to wash windows with.
- By poking a few holes into the bottom of old yoghurt cups, you can turn them into excellent seed-starting pots.
- Old shoe boxes can be covered with attractive wrapping and used for aesthetically pleasing and practical gift boxes or storage containers for photos, toys and various knick-knacks.
- Reorganise your garage by using old jars to store various screws, nails and bolts. Alternatively, use old glass jars to store spices in, or turn them into novel hurricane lamp-type candles.
- Collect small pieces of old soap, smash them all up into little pieces, place in an organza jewellery bag and store in your clothing or linen cupboard – the soap will repel insects and keep your clothes smelling nice
There are lots of great ways to turn junk into treasure. The next time you're thinking of hauling off a load of junk take a second look at the stuff to see if there's something you can make. It's fun to recycle junk into nice crafts and it helps the planet as well. – Antonella Desi
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