Repair, Reuse, Recycle – A Greener Approach To Your Home
The world is starting to wake up to being greener and getting better at taking care of our planet, but there’s still plenty that can be done. If you look carefully around your own home, you’ll be surprised at how many fun DIY projects are there waiting for you to help you breathe new life into old things.
One of the ways that people are starting to live greener is to buy fewer new things like clothes and household items, and instead, rework them into something that can be loved all over again.
Are you ready to take a greener approach to your home? Here’s how you can repair, reuse and recycle things around your home.
Image Credit: Unsplash under Creative Commons
Fix before you throw
How many broken or damaged items do you have around your home simply sitting there? Instead of living with the damage or throwing things away, why not look at actually repairing them? Carpets and rugs can be the biggest culprits – they get a lot of wear after all! An area rug repair service could be a great way for you to get tough stains out of your rug or carpet and leave it looking brand new again. Cleaning upholstery and other types of furniture can help restore them back to their former glory, allowing you to get a few more years out of them yet.
While not everything can be salvaged all the time, it’s worth giving it a try to help save you some money, while helping the environment too.
Upcycle your old and dated furniture
Furniture, like fashion, can date easily after a period. While you might have loved something at first, after a few years, it could start to lose its shine. This is where upcycling comes in! You can find some amazing upcycling ideas that will help you transform your old stuff into something new and great again. In most cases, you’ll simply need a sander and some paint to achieve a new and fresh look, but you can also do some amazing things with DIY upholstery too.
While upcycling older furniture can take time and effort, the results can pay off to give you a custom item that nobody else will have! Get creative and give your items a brand new look.
Buy furniture with potential
If you’re on the lookout for new furniture, why not try buying used instead? Buying used goods can be a great way to recycle products and feel better that they’re going to a new home, instead of a scrapyard. Buying older pieces is a great way to buy quality furniture on a budget, with most items just needing a bit of TLC to get them looking new again. Take a look at Craigslist, eBay and in flea markets or yard sales to help you spot some bargain furniture items that have the potential to be great.
Dispose of unwanted items carefully
It’s inevitable that some of your household goods will need to be thrown away at some point, but you’ll want to give some careful thought to how you get rid of them. There are different options available to you for disposing of your unwanted furniture, and if people are unwilling to buy them from you, donating or recycling are your next options. Shelters, youth centers and other charities will often take unwanted furniture off your hands, helping you do some good while also freeing up space in your home. Don’t just simply throw things in the trash, there are better places for your unwanted furniture.
Get crafty with what you’ve got
Do you enjoy some crafting, DIY and painting? Then why not use your talents to turn some of your home’s unwanted furniture into new items for your home? You can find plenty of DIY home decor projects that will allow you to repurpose old bits of wood into kitchen items, make new textiles out of unwanted sheets and other cute and exciting projects. Online tutorials can make it easy to get some ideas, and you can soon start finding new and innovative ways to transform old goods into something new.
Taking a greener approach to your home will be good for the environment, but it will also make you think twice about your spending habits. We all need to do more to save what we’ve got, and repairing, reusing and recycling your home items is a great place to start. Take a look around your home and see how you can make some positive changes using items you already have.
