How to Turn Trash into Crafts
How much stuff do you throw away every day? The average four-person family throws away two to three garbage bags every week. While that may not seem like much at first, it can actually add up to a great amount of garbage throughout the year. If you only throw away two garbage bags every week, you are throwing away 104 bags of garbage a year. There are many ways that you can eliminate some of the extra garbage that you have. One way is to start recycling – simply recycle everything that you can, from glass and plastic bottles to leftover foods that can go into the compost pile. But did you realize that you can actually reuse some of your garbage?
Reusing Garbage
Now this doesn’t mean that you should take some old, moldy, smelly item and reuse it; it just means that there may be a better use for the item than tossing it in the landfill. The term garbage actually refers to items that you wouldn’t necessarily think that you could reuse, such as old food and used plastic bags. How could you reuse plastic bags? Well, you can always use them to package items in, and you can use them to hold all of your extra winter or summer clothing, but you can be even more creative than that.
One thing that you can do with plastic bags is to crochet with them! That’s right, crochet! You can make all sorts of novelty items from crocheted plastic strips, including hats and purses. How can you do this? First, you simply need to make some ‘yarn’ out of the plastic bags. You do this by cutting them into one-inch wide strips, which are called “plarn” by those who are into making plastic bag items. Once you’ve done this, you then simply start crocheting! You can find lots of different patterns online to use with your new plarn. But that’s not all you can do with old trash, you can do so much more.
How about those old soda bottles you’ve got laying around? You can, of course, just recycle them, but what if you want to be a little more crafty? If you have children, you can use the soda bottles to teach them about the plant world by making a terrarium. It’s actually a very easy thing to do. Simply take a two liter bottle and some potting soil and pebbles and layer them so that they create a perfect representation of real soil. You then add in some seeds and make sure that the terrarium is in an area where it gets some sun, but not too much sun. Then as the seeds sprout, discuss with your children how the evaporation process waters the plants and helps the plants to grow. This is a great science experiment and a wonderful way to reuse soda bottles.
Do you have a leaky garden hose? Don’t throw it away; you can reuse it by turning it into a soaking hose. Just drill some additional holes in it and put a cap on one end. Then attach the other end to the tap and turn the water on very low. Lay it in your garden or on your lawn and the water will slowly leak out of the different holes and water your plants. You can even leave the hose there and cover it with mulch, or another plastic bag, and you’ll have a great way to make sure that your garden is watered.
Nothing’s better than a glass of wine after a long day at work, but here’s something you can do with that old wine bottle instead of throwing it away when you’re done. You can actually turn it into a lamp! You can search online to find a site that sells a Cork Stopper Lamp Kit. You then simply have to put the cork into the wine bottle and put a light bulb into the socket that is attached to the cork. Plug it in, add a shade, decorate the bottle, if you wish, and you’ve got an amazing and cool lamp!
What about the phone book that you have lying around? Instead of throwing it away, why not turn it into a little organizer? It’s very easy to do, and can help you to keep your pencils and pens in the right place in your home. There are a number of places online that provide instructions on how make an organizer. You can have a few hours of fun and when you’re done, you’ll have a great, unique organizer that no one else you know has. This is a wonderful winter day project to do with your children! Instead of throwing your garbage away, try to think of things that you can do to repurpose it. You may find that you are much more creative and inventive than you ever thought possible.