Explore top up-cycling ideas for your household junk removal items. Turn everyday items into unique creations. Get inspired and reduce waste.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, each American throws away almost five pounds of garbage daily.
While waste is unavoidable, there are more sustainable ways to dispose of it than simply chucking it into the trash.
Here, we’ll discuss:
- Why up-cycling old trash is important
- How you can up-cycle various things the right way
- Other green options for household junk removal
Read on for come creative recycling ideas so you can reduce household waste!
Why DIY Up-Cycling Projects?
There are several reasons to up-cycle your old junk. Some personal ones include:
- More cost-effective than making new purchases
- Fun opportunities for creativity
- Taking up new hobbies
More than anything, though, up-cycling is good for the environment. Eco-consciousness is important for several reasons, including:
- Decreasing the impact of climate change
- Lowering greenhouse gas emissions
- Keeping harmful chemicals out of water supplies
- Saving wildlife
When you up-cycle, you do your part to protect the planet.
Giving Paper Products a Second Life
According to the EPA, paper is the #1 most thrown-away material across America.
Instead of throwing it in the garbage, consider using old paper for crafting. Learning origami is a lot of fun, and you can practice new skills on old documents and magazines that come in the mail. Real origami paper is only needed for gorgeous end-products.
You can also use paper to:
- Wrap up potted plants
- Make envelopes
- Wrap gifts around the holidays
- Create unique greeting cards
Paper is also easy to recycle.Professionals use recycled paper to create new pages for notebooks and sketchbooks. It also goes into newspapers, envelopes, and wrapping paper.
It’s okay if you don’t want to personally upcycle paper, but you can have waste removal experts recycle it to give it a second chance at life, too!
Reusing Old Fabric
There are tons of fabric items that people regularly throw away. Some include:
- Clothing
- Curtains
- Bags and backpacks
- Plush furniture
If you want to reuse fabric, you can take all these items apart. Clean off the fabric so it looks new and sew it into new shapes. You can make:
- New handmade clothes
- Bedsheets
- Pillowcases
- Bags
- Accessories (headbands, bandanas, headscarves)
- Homemade plush animals/dolls
This is especially great for those who need a new creative outfit. Learning to sew is easy, and there are lots of tricks you can master once you’re ready to go beyond the basics.
Furniture Up-Cycling
You can reuse the fabric from plush furniture to create new things.
If you have an old dresser, you can make it into a sink vanity. This is easy since all you need to do is cut holes into the back and top for water pipes.
Nightstands and coffee tables come to look old after a while, but you can paint them bright colors to make them look new. If you don’t need the piece anymore, you can take the wood off to make fun wall art.
It’s also easy to slice these small tables in half and re-glue the halves longways. You’ll end up with a bench. It can be a workbench for crafting or a piano bench for learning music.
Have some porcelain or glass furniture? Break it up into little tiles. Install it behind a sink as a backsplash.
There are tons of possibilities, so do your research and determine what you need!
Wood for the Household’s Good
Wood furniture is among the easiest to upcycle.
If you have an old or dated wood piece, you don’t need to throw it away. Wood’s great for tons of projects like making new tables.
You can also experiment with woodworking and take it up as a new hobby. Cutting oak or maple furniture into new shapes and painting them is a great way to spruce up your home decor!
Better yet, you can take dated furniture and renovate it into new similar pieces. This means, for example, that you may not need to even replace an old wood-frame cabinet with glass doors.
Instead, you can remove the hardware. Sand the wood. Wipe the surface so there’s no dust or debris clinging to it.
Then, you can repaint the cabinet a cool color and turn it into a bookcase. Peel-and-stick wallpaper over the glass looks beautiful and you can store books and small objects inside.
This is just one example – you might also want to think about some old white window shutters. Instead of throwing them in the dumpster, paint them one of your favorite colors. Make them the doors of a new or upcycled cabinet in your bedroom or living area!
Sustainable Home Tips: Up-Cycling Plastic
Plastic bottles aren’t usually biodegradable. They sit in landfills for centuries. This leads to higher carbon emissions and more greenhouse gases.
Luckily, you can easily upcycle plastic bottles in tons of different ways!Create:
- Flower vases
- Bird feeders
- Cups for watering plants
- Garden sprinklers
- Children’s toys
- Pencil organizers
- Candle holders
- Lanterns
- Wind chimes
Clean clear plastic bowls also make great light fixtures. You can string them onto an existing lamp framework, put plastic-safe lights inside, and light them up. This is a unique way to illuminate any space as well as a great conversation starter.
Like paper, most plastic is also recyclable. If you really don’t want it, put it in the recycling bin!
Eco-Friendly Junk Disposal: Beyond Up-Cycling
A quality household junk removal service can also take away items that you’re not interested in up-cycling. Not all trash can become treasures, and that’s okay!
Proper junk removal and disposal is an easy and efficient process. You can get rid of hazardous waste and objects like batteries without putting chemicals in the water supply. You also ensure that all recyclable objects end up in the right place instead of a landfill.
It’s a great way to get old garbage out of your home!
Get Household Junk Removal in New Hampshire
Now that you know the ins and outs of up-cycling, it’s time to get household junk removal to help you keep your house neat and tidy. The Mad Junkman offers a wide range of trash removal services for both homeowners and businesses.
Our commitment to eco-friendly disposal sets us apart from other New Hampshire companies. We also offer a $25 promotion for online booking so you can save on cleaning up. Book our services today to get started!