February
2008
Some of My Favorite Ways to Recycle
Creative ways to recycle - ready, set, go!
1. Give stuff away for free through an online network like The Freecycle Network or Craigslist.
2. Start giving away your books - the ones you’ll never read again - to your friends and encourage them to continue the trend. Or, take your old books to a coffee shop. Those places always seem to be in need of something funky laying on a coffee table or bookshelf.
3. Save water from half-empty water bottles and water your plants.
4. Not sure what to do with your old cell phone? Find a recycling center. Those old phones often go to charity.
5. Feeling creative? Want to try something new? Are you a paper freak? Try making your own paper.
6. Old sneakers weighing you down? Have some time on your hands? Tie the laces together and throw them over a power line. (A joke, by the way, but why do people do this??? I’d like to hear from someone who has an answer!)
7. Have a favorite useless collection? For example, championship t-shirts, old CDs (or cassettes, sorry!), or coins from Africa from your trip in 1972? Turn them into art. O’Leavers’ walls are completely covered in classic record sleeves. Very cool.
8. Take old magazines and shoeboxes to elementary schools. The art teachers might put you in their will. (If the mags are a little… off color… take them to a college! Those college art profs are crazy!)
9. Recycle stuffed animals! Apparently drummers could use them to dampen the sound inside their drum? Or give them to your pets or an animal shelter if they’re a little too worn, minus hard plastic pieces.
10. Handy with the sewing machine? Recycle cool clothing materials and make a quilt! YES sewing is cool again. Pfff.
Alright! You got 10. I’ll probably have more later. What kind of recycling tips are up YOUR sleeves?
Thanks for the tip. I collect old paper and every time somebody takes it (or steals it?) away, maybe to some recycling station, and changes it for money, but I will try to make my own paper. But only after I find a site about it in my language, because I do not understand everything on the site you linked on.
Yes, good luck! The paper that you make will probably be best for things like unique cards or art projects, maybe like a collage, where you can finally pull out all those old photos that you never look at and incorporate those, too.
there’s also a new bookstore in town called 1/2 price books. apparently they’ll buy your old books so you can make money and know they’ll hopefully be going to someone else.
someone told me about this place and said, gene you can sell your old books and get paid.
then i almost slapped the shit out of them for implying that i would ever sell my books.
Again, my grandma is my inspiration in this category. I think it’s because she grew up during the depression and learned early on to save and reuse everything. Instead of having building blocks to play with when I visited as a child, I got to play with a bucket containing empty thread spools, old egg cartons, and various other odds and ends. I also don’t think she has ever purchased tuperware. She has a collection of containers from cottage cheese, sour cream, and yogurt that are arranged by shape and size. I should ask her for other types in this category. I’m sure she has a lot more I don’t know.
My grandpa used old baby food jars attached to the shelf of his workbench to hold various sizes of screws, nuts, nails, etc.
I heard about 1/2 price books! I want to go check it out
And I think that grandmas are an inspiration to many recyclers - mine used to save the craziest things. But that could take an entire post.
Supposedly, the whole shoe thing is a sign that cops are present so that would-be drug dealers know to halt their operations. This is from Snoop Dogg. I trust him.
1/2 Price’s “cafe” is a table with a pot of regular coffee and a pot of decaf. Superb.
I love these suggestions. I’ve stopped using a bag in my smaller trash cans and taking cloth bags to any store where I know I can use them. I get odd looks, but, hey, I’m strange anyway. May as well hurry up the stares.
That’s pretty cool - all I drink at the coffee shop is a cup of coffee anyway. Who needs to get all fancy?
Maybe there’s a market for manly shopping bags. Or maybe some marketing could be done where cute women are ogling this guy in the grocery store while he’s shopping with his big brown market bag. Then, the women get distracted by another guy who’s carrying two, then by a guy who’s carrying a whole armload. “Green is hot.”
Thanks for sharing you favorite recycling tips, some of the tips are awesome. At home I use all recyclable stuff where ever possible. I was surprised to see the tip make your own paper may be I have to try that, thank you.
Bryan - Glad you stopped by! Recycling is everywhere - whether you’re giving clothes to family and friends or saving Cool Whip containers to send home leftovers. Being creative helps us to save $, too… not a bad deal.
I love giving books away after I’m done reading them. It’s freeing I love to read, but only have a small bookshelf. There are really only a handful of old favorites I read over and over. The rest are fun to pass on.
Wow! amazing site.