Recycling Project: Light bulb ornaments

Happy holidays everyone! Today I am writing to you from the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Maarten, where I am spending my Christmas with my grandparents.

Picture courtesy of: Me

Today I wanted to show you an awesome recycling project for Christmas. The next time your light bulb goes out, don’t throw it away! You can make it into a lovely ornament for the tree or for the garlands.

Picture courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36420053@N07/5156276597/?rb=1

Materials needed:

Lightbulb

Acrylic paints

Paint brush

Wire

Wire cutters and pliers

Hot glue

Marker (optional)

Recycling Projects: Pen & Pencil Organizer

The school season is in full swing now, and I know when I was in school I was constantly loosing my pens and pencils. This organizer can help your child keep all their utensils in one place, and they’ll have fun making it! This project comes from the blog Random Thoughts of a Super Mom.  

Picture courtesy of: Random Thoughts of a Super Mom

 

         Supplies Needed:

         -Cereal box, pancake mix box, snack box, etc.

         -Toilet paper rolls

         -Scrap paper/decorative paper/wrapping paper

         -Glue and tape

         -Markers/paint/paintbrush (optional)

         -Scissors

Recycling Projects: Plastic Bottle Butterflies

Plastic Bottle Butterflies

         Parental supervision may be needed for this project as it requires the use of sandpaper, sharp tacks, and cutting plastic with scissors, which can be difficult.

Picture courtesy of: http://seedtofeedme.blogspot.com/2013/02/butterfly-facts.html

         Supplies needed:

         Empty 2-liter plastic bottle

         180-grit sandpaper

         Scissors

         Paints, paintbrushes

         Marker

         Pins or tacks, a surface to pin on

Recycling Projects: T-Shirt Scarf

It’s starting to get chilly here in New York, so today I want to provide you with a way to make a fashionable winter scarf out of an old, unwanted t-shirt. This will make a great project for young girls, and when their friends ask them where they got it they can proudly claim that they made it themselves. 

         Supplies needed:

         Old t-shirt (keep the color in mind. Do you want a bright color? A pattern? Something more plain?)

         Scissors

         Glue gun (optional)

         Buttons, old/broken jewelry, beads etc. (optional)

Recycling Projects: Yoga Mat Recycling

Uses for Yoga Mats

         Does Mom have an old yoga mat she’s planning on throwing out? Don’t let her! There are many fun ways to repurpose a yoga mat. My floor RA showed me this awesome page featuring twenty ways to repurpose a yoga mat, and I picked two to display here on Viridorari. Be sure to visit the page to see many more creative projects!

         Decorative Bulletin Board

 Picture courtesy of: http://www.brit.co/20-creative-ways-to-repurpose-old-yoga-mats/  

      

         Supplies Needed:

         Old yoga mat (preferably colorful, especially for a girl’s room)

         Scissors

         Sewing pins (straight pins), duct tape (optional)

         Nails or Command products (to stick the board to a wall. Command products are less damaging than nails and allow easy removal)

Recycling Projects: Featuring Jennifer Kemper

Today, Viridorari's eighth Guest Writer, Jennifer Kemper, will provide you with four recycling projects!  I discovered Jennifer at an arts and crafts show in Cazenovia, NY.

Jennifer Kemper has been an artist and potter all of her life. Though pottery is her main work, she has fun using other media as well.  A junk-collector from early on, she learned through experimentation to make various things using items that might have been thrown away. Her creations include wind chimes, hurricane lamps, garden totems, terrariums, candles, jewelry, lampworked glass beads, masks, clothing, and more. Some of these items can be found on her website www.kemperpottery.webs.com.
You can also see her work at The Artisans Guild in Oneonta, NY and at her studio at 120 Taylor Rd, Morris, NY.

Weekly Green Challenge: Upcycle 5 Things

I continued to ride my bike this week to nearby places. I totaled 14.6 miles, which equates to .67 gallons of gas in my car saved, and with current prices, $2.45 not spent. That may not seem like a lot, but look at this way: this EPA fact sheet says that burning one gallon of gas emits nearly twenty pounds of carbon dioxide. So, traveling .67 miles on my bike kept my car from belching more than ten pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. Imagine how many pounds of emissions could be spared each year if we all started to use our bikes more often!

Do you love riding your bike, whether it be for exercise, sport, your wallet, or the environment? Sign People for Bikes’ pledge, and help them reach their goal of one million pledges! The pledge shows that you’re committed to riding your bike, and it will help advocate for making towns and cities more bike friendly by adding bike lanes, paths, and trails. Be sure to change your badge to the type of bike you prefer to ride! When I signed, I picked the “commuter” bike. Which style will you pick?

Picture courtesy of: http://lajollavelo.com/

Now, on to this week’s Green Challenge! I had a lot of fun this week reusing and repurposing a few things, so for the coming week, I challenge you to repurpose or upcycle five items instead of throwing them away or recycling them.

Here’s a good tip for upcycling; when planning to repurpose something, don’t think about what you can make that object into. Try to think of something you need or want around the house, and then consider the alternative items you could make it from. Not only does upcycling keep items out of the landfill, but, hopefully, your upcycled item will actually be useful to you and your household.

Recycling Projects: Business Card Birds

This project is a great way for you to upcycle old business cards, either the ones you’ve accumulated over the years and don’t need, or you outdated set after you have new ones made. The kids will love this creative little project, and they can decorate their rooms with the end result.

Picture courtesy of: http://earth911.com/work/business-card-crafts/

Supplies needed:

-Two unwanted business cards
-Pencil
-String
-Scissors
-Decorative paper and glue (optional)

Recycling Projects: Homemade Paper

Homemade Paper

I was considering recently ways to reuse paper scraps from the paper shredder. Some sites suggested using them as cushioning in packages, for gift bag stuffing, for Easter baskets, or for pet cage bedding. Well, I don’t send packages that need cushioning very often, Easter isn’t until next year, I don’t own any pets that would need cage bedding, and I imagine digging through confetti to find the gift in a bag would be very messy and annoying. Another thing, too: the people who receive the package, gift, or basket will most likely throw out the paper shreds right away. None of these solutions seemed like a very lasting reuse of paper shreds.

    Then, I stumbled across a tutorial for taking paper scraps and turning them back into full sheets of paper. The project is pretty messy, but it sounds really fun, and I can’t wait to try it myself. Not to mention, if you want, you can be creative and decorative with this project!

Picture courtesy of: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hand_made_paper.jpg

    Most steps in this project are pretty harmless, but I suggest supervising your kids for the sake of controlling the mess factor.

Materials needed

-Unwanted scrap paper- paper shreds, newspaper, old bills, junk mail, construction paper, etc.
-Blender
-Water
-Liquid starch (optional)
-Plain wooden frame to the size of the paper you want to make
-Window screening, cut larger than the size of the frame
-Staples or tacks
-Dishpan or plastic storage container large enough to fit the entire frame inside
-Pieces of felt or flannel fabric slightly larger than the wooden frame
-Sponge
-Cookie sheets
-Weight (bricks, phone books, dictionaries, etc.)
-Clothesline and clothespins (or just a safe place for drying)

Recycling Projects: Box Cities

Box Cities

In this project, with some unwanted boxes, old newspapers, items from the junk drawer, and a little creativity, your child can construct entire cities and stay occupied for hours, maybe even days!

    What I like about this project is that it gives the kids (and young-spirited adults) a lot of room for creativity. No one’s box buildings and cities will turn out exactly the same!

Picture courtesy of: http://spoonful.com/crafts/box-buildings

Supplies needed:

-Small cardboard boxes (cereal, oatmeal, pasta, granola bar, ice cream carton, etc.)

-Newspaper

-Masking tape

-Decoupage (You can make your own by mixing equal parts of white glue and water)

-Tempera or acrylic paints

-Markers

-Toothpicks, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, dowels, film canisters, bottle caps, drawer knobs, buttons, scrap fabric, small stones, old game pieces, and other miscellaneous “junk” items. (Look around your house and yard for items that would add an interesting touch to your buildings).

Recycling Projects: T-Shirt Bracelets

Recycled T-Shirt Bracelets

    This is a simple and crafty project I discovered from a tweet by Earth911.com (@Earth911). The original project is featured on Camilla Fabbri’s blog.

 

Picture courtesy of: http://laandfriends.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/t-shirt-bangles/

Supplies needed:

-Old, unwanted T-shirts (colorful and patterned t-shirts tend to look the best)
-Bangles (try to use ones you already have, or find them at thrift stores)
-Scissors
-Ruler
-Glue gun and glue (optional)
-Extraneous decorative items, such as stickers, fabric markers, or glitter glue (optional)

Recycling Project: Plastic Bottle Watering Can

It is springtime, and I’ve been discussing various things you can do in relation to gardening on Viridorari. So, for this week’s recycling project, I’m going to show you how to make a watering can for your garden out of recycled bottles (a pretty easy, self-explanatory project) that your kids will enjoy using to help you out in the garden. At the same time, as they use a recycled tool, they will be learning the importance and simplicity of incorporating greener habits into their lives.

    This project requires you to puncture holes into a container. Please supervise your children closely during this step or complete it yourself. The kids will most likely enjoy this project more when it is being used in the garden, rather than actually making it.

Supplies needed:

• Bottle: laundry detergent bottle, juice container, milk jug, etc.

• Awl or nail and hammer

Recycling Projects: Easter Egg Fireflies

My family never got into decorating real eggs for Easter. It takes time, and I was usually bored after the second one. We didn’t hide those eggs, we just decorated the kitchen table with them for a little bit and then ate them. I was all about the hunts. I love Easter egg hunts. I still love them, even though I’m eighteen years old.

Plastic Easter eggs are awesome, because you don’t have to spend all that time painting them, and unlike hard boiled eggs, you can stuff them with goodies. Pocket change, candy, hints for a scavenger hunt, and if you’re lucky, maybe a five or ten dollar bill.

But of course… plastic is not biodegradable and not good at all for the environment. I couldn’t find any specific numbers online, but I think it’s safe to say that we go through a LOT of plastic Easter eggs each spring. And, like most “disposable” items, I’m sure more people throw out their plastic eggs than not.

So, what can you do with all of those eggs you now have laying around? Inevitably, some of them broke. You could recycle the busted ones and save the rest for next year (hopefully you’ll remember you have them before you go out and buy more), you could take them to a thrift shop, you could donate them…

Or, you could repurpose them into something new and fun. I found this project and thought it would be perfect for the month after April. I hope I caught you before you threw them out.

 Easter Egg Firefly Toys/Flashlight

Supplies Needed:

Plastic Easter eggs
Flameless LED tealights (3 pack for a dollar at Dollar Tree)
Pipe cleaners
Duct tape
Scissors
Nail and hammer (can be substituted with glue)
Paint and paint brush/ permanent markers

Recycling Projects: Carton Wallets

Carton Wallets

This is a cute and fun project for kids that could make a great father’s day present! It takes about an hour and some patience, but will hopefully keep them occupied. There is cutting with this project, so please supervise or help them.

Supplies Needed:

Half gallon milk or juice carton with cap
Scissors
Paper towels or kitchen rag (rags are less wasteful!!!)
Tape
Wallet template (see picture below)
Ballpoint pen
Ruler
Butter knife

Recycling Projects: Water Bottle Sprinkler

I hope you’re all outside and enjoying the weather. I’m writing this post from a blanket on my front lawn. My dogs are relaxing in the grass and soaking up some sun. The neighbor kids are jumping ramps in our circle with their scooters, and some other kids are out in their bathing suits playing with the hose in their front yard. It is just a gorgeous day; the kind of day that makes you happy to be alive.

    I’m sitting maybe five feet away from my plastic bottle bird feeder and there’s a bird eating from it! HAPPINESS! He’s adorable.
 
    Speaking of playing in the water, I have the perfect recycling project for a day like this. Today, I’m going to show you how to make a sprinkler from a water bottle and used ballpoint pens so that you can have tons of watery fun and keep cool this summer.

Materials:

• 20 oz plastic bottle with cap

• At least 15 used ballpoint pens

• Universal male hose attachment (about $1.25 at hardware store)

• Plumbing adhesive and sealant (like Amazing Goop)

• Electric drill

• 3/8” drill bit

• 5/8” spade drill bit

• Measuring tape

• Knife

This project requires drilling and cutting, so please assist and supervise your children.

Recycling Projects: Plastic Jug Scoop

Plastic Jug Scoop

This project is fairly quick and simple, as I’m a little short on time today. Fortunately, the end result has many potential uses!

Supplies Needed:
•    Scissors/ Knife
•    Plastic jug with handle (i.e.: gallon milk jug).
•    Acrylic paint (optional)

This will involve some simple cutting. Please supervise your children during this process.

Steps:

1. Cut out the shape of a scoop from the side of a jug, using the handle of the jug as the handle of the new scoop. It’s a little hard to describe, so here is a simple picture that you can follow:

Recycling Projects: Featuring Ellen Lennon!

A Viridorari viewer and close friend of mine, Bruno, decided to try out last week's project (making apples out of plastic water bottles) and sent in pictures of his finished product! His apple became a gift for his favorite teacher.

Pictures courtesy of: Bruno

This week's Guest Writer, Ellen Lennon, will be providing Viridorari with a fun project that takes an old hoodie and turns it into a new backpack! This project will require a lot of adult help, as it involves sewing. However, the kids can have a fun time decorating the end result with fabric markers and puffy paint. 

Recycling Projects: Apple Gift Boxes

Plastic Bottle Apple Gift Boxes

Supplies

• Two plastic bottles of the same size
• Scissors
• Green, yellow, or red acrylic paint and paintbrush
• Brown pipe cleaners
• Green tissue paper or paper rope
• Ribbon (optional)
• Glue (to apply ribbon, optional)

    This simple, adorable little project was borrowed from http://krokotak.com/2013/03/plastic-bottle-apples/ and the end result can become a gift, a house decoration, or a usable container. All of the pictures in this post came from the link above.