Goods Made From Recycled Materials
Garbage is so passé. People today are into recycling, a practice that saves both money and the environment. Recycled materials can create a host of different items; some you may already know about and others you may not believe. Rather than calling it boring old recycling, you can refer to the practice as upcycling, using reclaimed materials or simply making the Earth a better place.
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Bulk Items
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A number of bulk products sold to the mass market come from recycled materials. These include copy paper, notepads, file folders, envelopes and other office supplies. More items often made from recycled products include rulers, mouse pads, paint, clothing, wall paper, crayons, water bottles, concrete blocks, garbage cans, shoes and cardboard. Other paper items, like bags, toilet paper and paper towels, often contain recycled materials. The bulk products often require a lot of processing in a manufacturing facility to create the new goods.
Individual Items
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Individuals are also making their own products out of recycled materials. Unlike the bulk products that need processing, people can often create their new products right from goods out of their own homes. Some of the items include furniture, vases and other household items; bird houses and other yard items; purses; clothing; shoes. Artwork is a popular use of recycled materials, ranging from collage to yard art, small figurines to life-size sculptures.
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Materials
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As long as an item is clean and not falling apart, it can frequently end up with a new life as a different product. Paint cans, tuna cans, fireplace gratings, baby food jars, wood from discarded furniture, film canisters, broken chairs, wire hangers, soda bottles, cardboard tubes, garden hoses, broken vacuums, busted treadmills or other exercise equipment are just a sampling of what can be recycled.
Examples
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Various products made from recycled goods can be useful, creative or both. Items include yard art made from debris or old machine parts; bags and book covers made from candy or chewing gum wrappers; purses or bird houses made from old license plates. Others include coasters made from agate; doormats made from flip flops and lobster rope; bird houses made from paint cans; clocks made from old bicycle and car parts.
Warning
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Never transform potentially hazardous materials into something new. While some items, like gasoline cans or pesticide containers, can be fairly obvious as a harmful choice of materials, others are not so evident. Some hazardous materials noted by the Environmental Protection Agency include florescent light bulbs or their parts; lamps; anything containing mercury; batteries. Also steer clear of anything with very sharp edges; file them down if necessary.
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References
- Photo Credit for recycling image by Alexander Afonin from Fotolia.com
