The Art of Repurposing

Books repurposed into fairy tale artwork by Commack high school students.

Repurposing - using an item in a way other than its original purpose.  Can be called an art because sometimes it requires a lot of creativity to find a way to repurpose something!

A simple example is reusing Chinese food containers to store magic markers in.  A super creative example is breaking up old cd's to create a mosaic design on furniture or other items. See what I mean? I never would have thought of that on my own! And check out those amazing fairy tale books by high school students above! Super creative :-)

Be careful about what you save to repurpose though! If you don't use it within a certain amount of time, it just takes up space and makes life more complicated!  Either recycle it or give it away!

Some Creative Repurposing Ideas:

• 5 Gallon Water Jugs - great for saving money in!
• Chinese Food Containers - use for storing pens, pencils, etc.
• Newspaper Bags - picking up dog waste.  Put your hand in, using it as a glove to pick up the waste, then turn inside out so the waste is inside, and tie it closed!
• Computer Paper - if it is only used on one side, we cut it in half and staple it in bunches to make pads for lists.
• Wood - scraps are saved and used for projects or crafts around the house (or firewood if non-toxic).
• Material - used for crafts, curtains, etc.
• Ribbon - we keep all ribbons wrapped up in a bin for use on crafts, presents, etc.
• Plastic jugs (from iced tea or other beverage) - stores chicken feed, seeds, and water.  I really like the heavy duty plastic jugs that have a handle because it makes it easier for me.  We just refill it as needed from the bulk bags we buy.
• Paper Grocery Bags  - saved and used when needed.
• Plastic Grocery Bags - used as garbage bags in the small waste containers in the bathrooms. Check out this crochet grocery bag holder.
• Egg Cartons - used for our backyard chicken eggs, as seed starters, etc.
• Plastic Zip Lock Bags - cleaned and re-used for household objects (we do not re-use them for food).
• Glass Jars with Lids - for making our pickles in.
• Spice Bottles - we just dry our own spices and refill them.
• Tins - a great way to 'wrap' a present.
• Milk Crates - we use these in the garage to store pool supplies, garden tools, etc. They stack up nicely too.  Check out how I used them to sun-dry my cherry tomatoes!
• Plastic 1 lb Coffee Container with Handle & Plastic Snap on Lid - we drill holes in the lid and use the container for saving used coffee grounds in to sprinkle in our garden and another to store winter ice melt salt so it can be sprinkled on the walkways.  We also use one for sprinkling grass seed as well!  One winter we actually had saved so many containers that we decorated them for Christmas, filled them with ice melt salt, and gave them as gifts to our relatives to keep on their front stoops for the winter. They loved the convenience of it..​
• Ethernet cable - check out this crochet bowl pattern!
• Dresser Drawers - use for raised garden beds!

Watch this slide-show of repurposing possibilities!

Visit our page Household Waste for additional information
​and
check out our Pinterest Boards for more great ideas:
Recycling (different ideas on what, how, and where to recycle)
Selling & Donating (find ideas and places to sell and donate all kinds of items!)
Repurposing (a plethora of unique and creative ideas...)
Reusable Items (includes many products you may not have heard of before!)

Thank you for visiting!
Sincerely,