Recycling

I know, I know, cooking beans from scratch is much less expensive, but for a quick, cheap vegan meal you can’t beat a can of beans sauteed with garlic, onions, and spices over some steamed brown rice. Easy and delicious! But what do you do with the can after you’ve eaten the contents?

Sure, you can toss it in the recycle bin. Metal is one of the few materials that doesn’t get downcycled in the recycling process. That means that, unlike something like plastic, metal doesn’t lose quality in the recycling process. You can recycle it over and over. Still, recycling takes energy - it has to make it to the recycling center, and then it has to be processed into a new metal product.

Instead of throwing that empty can away, you can use your crafty skills to turn empty cans into all sorts of cool things! Here are some ideas to get you going.

1. Cover an empty can with pretty paper or fabric and use it to hold pens, pencils, or paint brushes.

2. Grab a bit of yarn or twine and turn an empty can into a chic yarn-wrapped vase.

3. HGTV shows us how to turn empty cans into a cute, magnetic storage board for kids’ craft supplies.

4. If you have a soda can handy, grab your tin snips and make a cute flower hair clip!

5. How cute are these can stilts from Disney Family Fun? Just make sure you keep an eye on the kiddos while they play with these!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Samantha (Home Sweet Home)

Can Crafting Tip: The real trick with can crafts is getting the smell out of the can. If a run through the dishwasher doesn’t do the trick, try scrubbing the inside of your can with a paste made from coarse salt and lemon juice.

6. Another soda can craft: Check out these awesome soda can’dle holders!

7. Use a dremel or small drill bit to poke holes in your can to turn it into a votive holder for a tea light.

8. Turn a bunch of empty cans into a sweet tin can wall garden. They’re growing flowers in theirs, but this would be great for herbs! Just remember to drill a couple of drainage holes into the bottom of each can before mounting on the wall.

9. Use a hammer and nail to add beautiful stippling details and create a picture frame from a tin can.

10. At Readymade, you can learn how to turn a few old coffee cans into a beautiful hanging lamp.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Elin B

Can Crafting Tip: It’s worth investing in a safety can opener, if you’re planning to craft with cans. The edges of your can will be awfully sharp if you use just a regular can opener, so proceed with caution!

11. Over at leethal, she shows you how to make a coffee can storage unit for the wall. You could use tin cans instead to store tinier things!

12. Elsie Marley shows you how to make a cute tin can cover.

13. This looks like a fun one to do with kids: can robots!

14. You can use the tops of your cans to make pretty ornaments.

15. How clever is this tin can handbag?

Have you done any cool crafts with cans? I’d love to hear what you’re working on in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Orin Zebest

Related:

• 18 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags
• 50 Great Uses for Mason Jars
• 15 Ways to Reuse Newspaper

We get quite a few magazines at our house. My husband subscribes to a couple of gaming magazines, and somehow every time we buy concert tickets we end up receiving issues of Rolling Stone in the mail. Couple that with other glossy mailings, like junk mail and catalogs, and we’ve got quite the collection of magazine paper.

Rather than tossing all of those trees immediately into the recycle bin, you can give them a brand new life.

1. Turn an old magazine into a recycled plant stand.

2. Make some recycled magazine boxes to store your knick knacks.

3. Turn them into recycled gift bows for birthday or holiday presents.

4. Fold the pages into origami.

5. Wrap small gifts in the pages.

6. Make recycled paper beads (video).

7. Whip up a bouquet of recycled magazine page flowers.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by theseanster93

8. Turn a stack of magazines into a sweet planter.

9. Transform old magazines into sweet little recycled gift boxes.

10. Shred the pages to make confetti or for packaging valuables.

11. Fold them into homemade envelopes.

12. Try you hand at making this cute magazine bowl.

13. Instead of tossing them in the bin, turn some old magazines into a waste bin!

14. Weave yourself a classy magazine page wristlet.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Sarabbit

15. Give them away to a friend.

16. Donate to doctor’s offices or anywhere else that has a waiting room.

17. Cut out the images and text for collages. Collage is always a fun craft to do with kids!

18. Donate them to a school or library.

19. Save them up until the holidays get here, and create these adorable upcycled Christmas trees.

20. Cut out perfect squares, and use your old magazines to make fun pinwheels. The covers work best, or you can double up pages).

21. Use cut out images and words to make your own custom marble magnets.

22. Use them to make papier mache projects.

Have you gotten crafty with old magazines? I’d love to keep the reuse inspiration going in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Greencolander

Related:

• 15 Ways to Reuse Newspaper
• 9 Awesome Uses for Junk Mail
• 5 Crafty Ideas for Reusing Paper

Hidden underneath our shoes, socks don’t tend to get a lot of glory. But, if one looks beyond their conventional (sole?) purpose, socks can offer a variety of practical uses.

Pain reliever, pet toy and hair curler are just some of the alternative roles socks can play. Scroll through for seven creative transformations that might make your shoes jealous.

Transformation #1 — Pain Reliever

Stuff some rice in an old sock, put it in the microwave for a minute, and use to soothe an ache. Or lay it on your neck for some extra warmth on a cold night.

Transformation #2 — Hair Curler

Skip the hair-damaging heat and electrical costs of a curling iron and turn instead to a sock! Amazingly, the latter option can create some very pretty curls. This video may … knock your socks off.

Transformation #3 — Paper Weight

What do you get when you put a sock over a rock? A cute, decorative paperweight! Find instructions here.

Transformation #4 — Rag

There’s no better feeling than having a clean house (with nontoxic ingredients, of course). For the icing on the sustainable-cleaning cake, put some vinegar or tea-tree oil solution on recycled sock-rags.

Transformation #5 — Pet Toy

Want a simple, cheap toy your cat will instantly love? Fill an old sock with cat nip and tie it in a knot.

Transformation #6 — Skin Soother

Grind up one to two cups of oatmeal, put in sock and tie in a knot. Hold the sock/oatmeal ball under running bath water, then leave in the tub to soak with you. Oatmeal baths can help treat dry skin, sunburn, poison oak or poison ivy.

Transformation #7 — Wrist Warmer

Have a pair of comfy socks with a big whole in the toe? No fear. Cut the toe portion off the socks use as wrist warmers! Find instructions here.

Related:

• 8 Ways to Reuse Old T-Shirts
• 15 New Uses for a Hair Dryer
• Brilliant Uses for Toothpaste

By Philip Schmidt, Hometalk

Shopping remotely has become a modern-day tale of Pandora’s box. It’s so temptingly convenient, but once you make a purchase you’ve exposed yourself to an irreversible influx of printed catalogs. You call to have your name removed from the mailing list only to discover in the coming weeks that your personal information has been reproduced and broadcast like a spider hatch among the original vendor’s “retail partners,” each of whom now sends you junk mail. In Pandora’s box, when all the evil was out, the only thing left inside was hope. Perhaps your only hope is to do something constructive with all those unwanted glossy catalogs. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Envelopes

The colorful, glossy pages of high-end catalogs make nice custom-size envelopes for cards and personal notes. You can find loads of ideas and patterns online for creating your own pieces.

Puppet show puppets

Cut out people, animals or an entire dollhouse-full of furnishings. Glue the images to cardboard and/or a Popsicle stick to complete the puppets.

Homemade cards

Handmade cards for birthdays and the like are always keepers. But if your drawing skills fall short of your imagination, a cut-and-paste creation does the trick. For best results, stick with kitsch rather than trying to make your card look like Hallmark.

Jewelry

Catalog pages can be cut, rolled up and glued into colorful beads and other decorative pieces for making jewelry. I found an excellent tutorial for a kids’ bracelet on Family Fun Magazine’s Web site.

Decoupage

Glue catalog pictures to a wood panel or other rigid material, using diluted wood glue. Let dry, then coat artwork with Mod Podge or clear polyurethane or lacquer.

Confetti

Shred the pages, then chop the strips into bits with scissors. Very colorful, and the lightweight paper floats nicely.

Dress-up dolls

Make cardboard people sized to fit into a catalog’s flat photos of clothing. Cut out the clothes and dress the dolls. This is fun for kids, too.

Materialistic wallpaper

Ensconce yourself in retail offerings. Using glue stick, cover the wall with full pages as a wry comment on bourgeois society, or stick up cutouts of individual pictures to create an eye-popping pop art montage.

Decorative pop-up bowl

Artist Patricia Zapata shows you how to make a surprisingly attractive pop-up bowl using only catalog or magazine pages and a hot glue gun on her blog, A Little Hut.

Gift wrap

Since many of us no longer get the funny pages (our favorite free gift wrap), catalog pages fit the bill nicely.

Packing material

Shredded catalogs make great packing material for shipping fragile items.

Christmas tree ornaments

Glue rough-cut pictures to thin cardboard, then trim both cleanly with an X-Acto knife or scissors. Hang ornaments with string or wire ornament hooks. Your tree will look hip with miniature modern furniture, outdoorsy with tiny mountain bikes and tents, or super swank with holiday crystal.

Papier-mache

For a colorful twist on the time-honored technique, substitute strips of catalog pages for the traditional strips of newspaper.

Gift bags

Turn an attractive catalog page into a handsome bag for small gifts. The website junkmailgems.com has a good tutorial and pattern for making bags.

Kid’s hula skirt and lei

Cut narrow strips into catalog pages to create fringe, leaving a 2-inch-wide band of paper intact at the top. Glue multiple pages together along the bands to create the skirt. For the lei, tightly crumple smallish catalog pages in a variety of appealing colors. Thread the paper into a necklace with a needle and strong thread, just like popcorn on a string. Tie off the ends to complete the lei.

Related:

• Junk Mail Madness – How to Make It Stop!
• 9 Awesome Uses for Junk Mail
• 15 Ways to Reuse Newspaper
• 18 Ideas for Reusing Plastic Bags

Getting kids back to school can be a huge expensive burden on families. The pressure to purchase supplies and home decor for school kids, often negates the best eco-friendly intentions. How about we take action and make back to school a time when the environmental three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) are honored instead of thrown out the window?

These DIY projects of varying degrees of difficulty are kind on your pocketbook and healthy for your home, plus they tread lightly on our planet.

10 Eco-Friendly, Back-to-School Projects:

1. It probably comes as no surprise that not as many children ride their bikes to school as they did years ago. Wouldn’t you agree that this is an eco-friendly trend worth revisiting and making safe for our children? For those that do ride bikes to school, this DIY Lunch Bag for Bikes attaches right onto a bike frame, making it the perfect bike accessory. Don’t forget to include a reusable sandwich wrap, an eco-lunch mat or a bento box.

2. No homework desk? No problem. Not every home has room for a designated homework space. But, studies show that having a space of ones own helps kids focus. This DIY Wall Desk is compact, and folds up when not in use. It’s ideal for even the smallest areas.

3. This sewn Pencil Case made of felt and fabric scraps keeps pencils in place and is study and stylish.

4. A box turns into a Homemade Study Center that doesn’t require any power tools or storage space into an organizational space for a little learner.

5. Cute, snazzy and functional describes this easy to make Apple Print Backpack.

6. I was totally captivated when I saw this Homework Space Crayon Art. To make this masterpiece, affix crayons to the top of a canvas, and blast with a hair dryer. The colors bleed down the canvas, creating beautiful, colorful art. This may not be as eco-friendly as some of the other projects on this list, but it’s sure to be an inspirational conversation piece for kids.

7. Speaking of inspiring projects ... this DIY Geography Table is worthy of a place for year round learning, while advancing knowledge of map skills.

8. I recently wrote about the questionable use of antibacterial soap in schools. Instead try this tutorial for Felted Soap for some good clean fun.

9. I’ve had this Chalkboard Globe bookmarked ever since I discovered eco-friendly chalkboard paint from Hudson Paint. Every time I cruise by a tag sale, I’m hoping to score a used globe. Haven’t yet, but when I do, this project will move to the top of my to do list.

10. This little office-on-the-go Portable Desk is created by repurposing a used wooden box and a slightly larger board for a desktop. It’s small and light enough for kids to tote outdoors on a warm fall day.

I just had to add this eco-friendly School Bus Shelter because it is the best reuse of a school bus I have ever seen!

More healthy and green articles from Care2:

• Fun Eco-Friendly Holiday Projects
• Holiday Fun: Eco-Decorating and Holiday-Making Ideas from Care2
• Green Back to School

 

When I stumble across an ingeniously designed product that screams out DIY PROJECT, I am inspired to make it myself. I particularly like items that are useful, rather than solely decorative and simple to make, rather than complicated. It’s also a bonus if the piece is without many added costs for materials. In essence, nicely designed and useful DIY items that keep junk out of my recycling bin and out of the local landfill, make my day!

 

DIY Magazine Stool (image above)

Got magazines? I do, and now I’m feeding them into creating stools instead of dumping the mags off at my recycling center.

Directions: You’ll need two extra-large straps or belts. They should be adjustable to make it easy to sneak a few magazines into your collection. Scrap wood for the base and a magazine-sized cushion.

Don’t want to make one? Then you can fork over $185.

 

DIY Felted Cup Cozy

Drink hot tea? I do. When I spied a stunning handmade teapot cradled by what looked like a sweater sleeve, I had to recreate it. You can see the teapot here. It inspired me to make this super easy felted cup holder.

Directions: Using an old wool sweater, follow these felting directions. Measure the cup you want to cover and cut the sleeve cuff to size. I positioned the ribbing on the bottom because the cup I used tapered.

Don’t want to make one? Then it will cost $140 for the teapot and cozy.

Wine Bottle Garden Border

Like wine? I do, and after a party my recycling bin runneth over with glass bottles. Why not edge your garden with a colorful wine bottle border?

Directions: Remove labels. Dig a trench around the perimeter of the area to mark the border. Invert wine bottles and place them next to each other in the trench. Fill soil around the bottles.

Don’t want to DIY? Wooden garden edging can cost you in the hundreds.

Here are 10 more surprising ways to reuse wine bottles in your garden.

Want more inspired DIY projects? Please check out all the fun projects on my Econesting blog. Thank you!

Credits: Swiss Miss, Jen Kiaba for Econesting, ReadyMade

More healthy and green articles from Care2:

• Recycling, Composting, and Toxics, Oh My!
• Five Reasons Why People Don't Recycle and Five Reasons They Should
• Do You Need to Wash Things Before Recycling?

 

Here in the U.S. alone, we use around 100 billion plastic grocery bags every single year. While some cities have banned the bag, most of us aren’t lucky enough to live in a town that’s nixed those ubiquitous, flimsy grocery bags.

Despite always bringing a reusable bag to the store, plastic grocery bags seem to make their way into my life. Maybe a well-meaning friend uses one to bring over snacks for a night of board games or I accept a used one to tote some goodies home from an unexpected garage sale.

No matter what the reason, I can never bring myself to get rid of all of that plastic. If you’ve got an ever-growing collection of plastic bags making you feel guilty, too, don’t despair!

Here are some practical and crafty ways to use those bags over and over, and you can share your favorite ways to reuse plastic bags in the comments.

1. Carry Dirty Clothes – Stick a plastic grocery bag into your suitcase to tote home your dirty clothes while you’re on vacation. It’s nice to be able to separate your clean clothes from dirty ones, and this lets you do it without taking the plastic bag that most hotels provide.

2. Make Plarn – You can cut those bags up and make yourself a ball of plastic yarn for use in all sorts of knit and crochet projects. How cool would it be to upcycle a flimsy plastic bag into a well-made, crocheted one?

3. Fuse It - You can use your iron to turn those plastic bags into durable fabrics.

4. Scoop the Litter Box – Flushing cat litter is a bit controversial, since cat waste contains toxins that’s harmful to aquatic life, and unfortunately, scooping is a fact of life for cat owners. You’ve got to put that smelly litter somewhere. You’re probably using a plastic bag already, so you may as well RE-use one instead.

5. Stash One In the Glove Box – If you or someone in your family is prone to car sickness, you can keep a plastic grocery bag in the glove box, just in case you’re not able to pull over in time to avert disaster.

6. Take to Concerts – Amphitheater shows and multi-day music festivals come with a lot of waste, and the trash and recycle bins seem to always overflow by the end. Instead of piling your empties on top of an overflowing bin, use a plastic grocery bag to take your recyclables home at the end of the show.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by groundsel

7. Remove Dog Waste – It’s only polite to pick up after your pet, and many areas even provide disposal areas for dog waste. Rather than grabbing the plastic bag provided, you can re-use a plastic bag that made its way into your house.

8. Use Them Again – It may not be as fancy as pulling out a canvas grocery tote, but if you’ve got a bunch of those plastic bags around the house, bring them to the store to tote another load of groceries home.

9. Line a Paint Tray – Next time you’re painting a room, use a plastic bag to line the paint pan, rather than a disposable plastic pan liner. It takes less plastic, and it’s reuse to boot!

10. Cushion Valuables – Whether you’re packing to move or storing breakables in the attic, you can wrap them up in plastic bags to cushion them against damage.

11. Protect Paint Brushes – If you’re taking a break from painting, you can wrap the brush in a plastic bag to keep it from getting dry and hard. Just stick the wrapped up brushes into the fridge until you’re ready to get back to it.

12. Line Small Trash Cans – Reuse a plastic bag to line small trash cans, like in the bathroom, instead of buying new plastic can liners.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by anneh632

13. Save Energy – Instead of sand, you can stuff a draft dodger with plastic bags.

14. Donate Them – Places like libraries and food banks often need bags.

15. Protect Plants From Frost – Protect your plants from a freeze by wrapping them securely in a plastic bag overnight and removing the bag in the morning.

16. Save Shoes in Your Suitcase – When you’re packing for a trip, stash your shoes in a plastic bag, so they don’t dirty up your clothing.

17. Ship It – If you’re mailing something fragile, wrap it in plastic bags instead of new bubble wrap.

18. Protect Your Knees – Tie a couple of plastic bags around your knees to add some padding while you’re working in the garden.

If worst comes to worst, you can also recycle those old plastic bags, instead of sending them to the landfill. Stores like Publix, Target, and Lowe’s will often take plastic bags for recycling. Make sure you call the store before you show up with a haul, though, since that policy can vary from town to town.

I bet that there are other ways to reuse those plastic bags. Let’s keep the ideas going in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by JoelK75

Related:

• Six Ways to Make Reusable Bags Even Greener
• Paper Bags vs. Plastic Bags: Which Is Really Better?
• Nine Awesome Uses for Junk Mail

(Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by salimfadhley)

The U.S. publishes over 24 billion newspapers every year, and that’s not the only place that newsprint turns up. People use it to wrap packaging, to print junk mail fliers, and to create coupons. All told, that is tons and tons of paper waste every single year.

Recycling paper is a great way to put a dent in this waste, but paper recycling is far from an ideal solution. It’s inefficient, and each time you recycle paper, you’re really downcycling it into an inferior product.

We don’t get a paper at our house, but we still end up with our fair share of newsprint somehow. Sometimes, a fragile thrift store or yard sale find comes wrapped in newspaper. Other times, we get junk mail printed on newsprint. No matter how newsprint manages to creep into your life, I’m guessing that you cringe at the thought of wasting it, too.

Rather than toss all of that paper in the recycle bin, you can reuse old newspaper around your home and in the garden!

1. Clean windows or glass. Dip crumpled newspaper into water mixed with a splash of white vinegar, and clean those windows up without any streaks or harmful chemicals!

2. Burn it up. Instead of a starter log in the fireplace or at a bonfire, use tightly rolled pieces of newsprint instead.

3. Make a weed barrier. If you’re building a raised bed, lay out pieces of newspaper before you fill it up with dirt. The paper will help keep weeds from invading.

4. Wrap some gifts. It’s fun to go through your papers to find cute and colorful pages to use as gift wrap. When I was a kid, we loved wrapping presents up in the Sunday funnies.

5. Pack it up. Instead of plastic bubble wrap, wrap valuables in newspaper for shipping, and pad your box with more crumpled paper. You can take it a step further and include some ideas in the package for how your recipient can reuse all of that paper, too!

6. As origami paper. Cut your newspaper into squares and get folding! Newsprint is great at holding folds. Just be gentle, since it’s a bit more prone to tearing than store bought origami paper.

7. In the fridge. Keep the bottom of the veggie drawer from getting nasty by lining it with newspaper. It will absorb liquid and odors.

8. For ripening fruit. If you’ve picked up some under-ripe peaches, avocados, or other fruit, wrap them in newspaper to ripen them more quickly. Paper bags also work for this.

9. Shine on. Give the shine back to your stainless steel sink by gently scrubbing it with wadded up, wet newspaper.

10. Compost it. Newspaper makes great bedding for a worm bin. Tear into strips and let those red wigglers turn it into gardening gold!

11. Papier mache. Get crafty with that old newsprint! You can make all sorts of fun papier mache projects, like a pinata or cool bangle bracelets.

12. Donate them. Your local animal shelter can use newspapers to line their cages. Some even shred them up to use as kitty litter, when the budget is tight. You can also donate them to thrift stores, where they’ll use them to pack up fragile items that sell.

13. Line the puppy crate. Dog owners who are crate training can use old newspapers to line the puppy crate. It makes cleanup much easier when your sweet pup has an accident.

14. Make handmade paper. Grab your blender and turn old newspaper into pretty, recycled paper. Handmade paper is great for making invitations and little cards. You can also mix some seeds into your paper pulp to turn newsprint into recycled seed paper that your recipients can plant!

15. Spin it into yarn. Feeling crafty? If you’ve got a spindle handy, you can whip up recycled newspaper yarn, then knit or crochet your paper into anything you like!

Of course, the best way to reduce the amount of newspaper waste in your life is to avoid picking up a physical newspaper at all. You can read news online or subscribe to a paper on your e-reader instead of buying a paper paper. It’s a little bit harder to stop getting junk mail, but companies like Manilla are working to make that a bit easier.

What other ways have you reused old newspaper? Let’s keep the reuse inspiration going in the comments!

Related:

• 18 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags
• 9 Awesome Uses for Junk Mail
• 8 Ways to Reuse Old T-Shirts

Coincidentally, Earth Day and Easter fall on the same weekend this year. That means little Easter baskets of candy will be showing up in homes all over the country right as we're trying to remember to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Instead of tossing those wrappers in the trash, demonstrate your commitment to celebrate Earth Day every day by fashioning your very own upcycled accessories to spruce up your or your kids’ holiday outfit.

The “trashy” folks over at TerraCycle are always looking for ways to keep waste out of the landfill by designing easy DIY projects that make reuse and recycling fun.

In this project, they show you how to dress up your Sunday best with this fun candy wrapper project. Start collecting those candy and gum wrappers, and you can turn your Sour Patch into a sweet treat!

If you find yourself with more candy wrappers than you can upcycle on your own, sign up for TerraCycle’s candy wrapper brigade. They’ll not only upcycle them into new products, but will also donate money to your favorite charity.

Ready to get crafty?

Materials:

• Candy or gum wrapper that is at least 5.5” long
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Clear, shiny tape
• Barrette with spring clip

Instructions:
1. Measure and cut four pieces of wrapper to these sizes: Cut one piece each: 5.5” x .5”; 4.5” x .5”; 3.5” x .5”; 1.5” x .5”

2. Create a loop with the longest piece and wrap a thin piece of tape around the middle of the piece pinching the center and creating two loops with the piece. Repeat this for the next two pieces.

3. Take the shortest piece and create a loop. Secure the loop with a piece of tape.

4. Stack all four pieces on top of each other with the shortest piece on top and ending with the longest piece.

5. Place the stacked pieces on top of the barrette. Place a piece of tape through the center of the shortest piece and wrap around the other pieces securing it onto the barrette.

Your sweet new hair accessory is ready for Easter day!

Also Check Out:

• Eco-Friendly Easter Basket
• So You Want to Adopt a Bunny (Photos)
• Five Eco-Friendly Easter Crafts

A lot of electronics recycling events are scheduled on and around Earth Day each year. And, if you have old computers, cell phones, or other electronics gear, it is far better to take it to be recycled rather than adding it to the landfill.

But there are also hardware hackers, robotics enthusiasts, Makers, and others who would like to get those components to use for their creations. Due to privacy and security concerns, donated materials cannot be given to these people. Hard drives and memory cards may have some data on them, but those can be separated, and the useful electronics can find new life in a new creation.

Some groups are now organizing to hold swap events before the big recycling collections to have an opportunity to have some of these materials find new purpose and new life, rather than having them shredded. In Ann Arbor, MI, a group called GO-Tech is planning a materials swap like this the day before the annual local electronics recycling event.

If you're a Maker and that's not enough stuff for you, or you aren't near a repurposing event like this, we also recently noted on TreeHugger that the online store Think Geek has a scrapbox subscription program that will send you a box of "borked stuff" that they can't resell or donate, but that enterprising people might be able to make use of.

image: CC BY 2.0 by Randy Pertiet