17 Creative People Who Prove Old Can Be Better Than New

The average person produces about 2,072 pounds of trash each year. We buy way more stuff than we actually need, and it’s no wonder lots of old clothes, accessories, and even electronic devices eventually end up in a landfill. Luckily, many people genuinely care about our planet, and they share useful hacks for how to breathe a new life into old things and turn them into something you can use for many years.

We at Now I’ve Seen Everything care about the environment, and we collected 17 brilliant ideas that might help us be more conscious consumers.

1. “I have had the same laundry basket my entire life. One of the handles has been cracking more and more for a few years. Rather than buy a new one, I made a crochet handle to hold it together.”

2. “Instead of carving pumpkins I started to draw on them with a marker so I can still use them for cooking.”

3. “My grocery bag sink basket I made to hold dirty towels.”

4. “I turned my dad’s old jeans into a bucket hat and shorts.”

5. “I started saving old fabrics/textiles that didn’t seem nice enough for resale. Finally used them to make this pet bed!”

6. “I made a rug! 6 flat and 3 fitted sheets were kept from ending up in a landfill.”

7. “I made a fox from old clothes, and the filling is shredded fabric scraps.”

8. “Here’s my rice bag. I love using this since it’s heavy-duty and waterproof too (which means it’s easy to clean).”

9. “From ruined jeans to an area rug”

10. “Grapefruit netting turned into a scrubber!”

11. “I made a quilt using old T-shirts.”

12. “Worn jeans turned into scrunchies”

13. “I repurposed a fleece jacket to make a snuffle mat for the pup.”

14. “I turned a used cardigan back into yarn and crocheted the yarn into a cat bed.”

15. “Fabric samples were turned into a funky grocery bag.”

16. “I save used jars, boxes, etc and put plants in them to give to people for free.”

17. “Yoplait has a line of yogurt in glass jars that are decorated and intended for reuse as decor, the brand and nutrition stickers are easily removable.”

Do you recycle old things into something new? Share your recycling projects and ideas in the comments!