Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Rubbish From A to Z - J

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Rubbish from A to Z

In this series of blogs, we’re going to look at rubbish. From the good to the bad and downright ugly, we’ll be looking at everything you ever wanted to know, from A right down to Z.

J is for Junk

While we are a throwaway society, what people actually throw away still never fails to amaze. Whether it’s perfectly usable furniture, electronics, or clothing, it’s a sad sight to see them on rubbish tips or in the bin, and valuable materials and resources going to waste.

While recycling is great for the environment, it does use energy and resources, and it’s not always a seamless process. Upcycling on the other hand allows you to reuse or repurpose something and give it a new lease of life, which is particularly handy for items that aren’t so easy to recycle.

What to consider if you want to upcycle

Upcycling, like recycling, aims to save materials and resources from ending up in landfill. If you want to upcycle something, ask yourself:

Is it really going to keep the item out of the waste stream long-term?

Will your creation really work when it’s used in place of something new?

Will it encourage others who see it to give upcycling a go?

Is the item you’ve upcycled just a novelty, or is it genuinely useful?

Asking these questions will help you choose upcycling projects that are going to have the most impact and be the most useful in creating something useful for yourself and saving waste from landfill.

Upcycling inspiration

Do you want to give upcycling a go but have no idea about where to start? We have some inspiration for you!

Furniture is a good place to start

Before you throw away that old bedside table or chest of drawers, think about whether you could give it a new lease of life. Older furniture has character and was built to last, so it’s a shame to condemn it to the tip. Why not invest in some chalk paint to give it a shabby chic feel? You can try changing the handles and lining the drawers too, to create your own unique piece.

Repurpose your old clothing

If your old clothing is not fit to be donated to a charity shop, that doesn’t mean it needs to end up in landfill. Clothing like sweaters can be made into cushion covers.

If your clothing is in good condition but it just needs to be mended, fix any broken buttons and zips, and then get creative. You can dye clothing, or add applique or embroidery details to create something that looks like new. Your imagination is your only limit!

Make decorative picture frames

If you’re thinking of ditching old picture frames, think about whether you could get creative and redesign your own. All you need is spray paint and maybe some embellishments. Think gluing seashells glued a white or blue picture frame for a piece of art for your bathroom.

Make something cute and personalised for the kids

If you are a DIY buff, you can use old wood to make tonnes of useful things. A nice idea for reusing wood is to make wooden letters to put on your child’s bedroom wall. It can be their initial, or you can spell out their name if you’re feeling adventurous. All you need is a sander, a saw, and some paint.

Turn maps into something unique

When was the last time you actually read a map? Unless you’re Bear Grylls, you probably rely on your phone for navigation these days rather than a physical map. But if you have any tucked away in a drawer, they don’t have to end up in the bin. You can use them for decoupage projects (covering an item of furniture with map, for example, drawer fronts) or you can frame it with your repurposed picture frame and make some unique wall art.

When it comes to upcycling, the world is your oyster

There are so many things you can upcycle, and even if your project doesn’t turn out as you would have liked, you can always go back to the drawing board and try again. You’re only limited by what you can imagine. Try turning some of your junk into treasure today!

Speaking of junk, when it comes to wheelie bins, we know our stuff

When it comes to rubbish, we know what we’re talking about. Wheelie bins might not be hugely innovative, but one thing’s for sure, it would be hard to collect and manage our waste without them.

Disposing of waste correctly is everyone’s business, whether you’re a householder, landlord, business owner, or you are in charge of any private or public sector organisation. But whatever your needs, we have a bin to suit you in our huge range, from small 50 litre bins for smaller households to 1100 litre wheelies for businesses or apartment blocks.

When you buy from us, you can expect quality, durability, and peace of mind. We could go on all day telling you about how great our products are, but we let the fact that our bins are the preferred option for a large number of UK councils speak for itself.

Check out our huge range of products, and if there’s anything else you’d like to know, we’re just a phone call or an email away.