These days, finding ideas for recycling at home is essential, since there is a great need to clean up our environment.

In addition, the words “recycle” and “reuse” have become commonplace and are among the most everyday and simple activities that can be carried out at home.

Why is it important to recycle at home?

Although we see recycling as something necessary, there are still people who don’t incorporate it into their daily lives. For them, it’s important to remember that following a series of tips for recycling at home —in addition to viewing their homes as sustainable and energy-efficient homes, will help their homes feel clean and tidy.

Given the above, we can conclude that the circular economy—recycling and reusing materials or household items —will have certain benefits, such as reducing pollution and protecting the environment, and energy savings at home—all of which will help us achieve our sustainable goals and, in addition, will help us save money on our bills at the end of the month.

How can we sort waste?

Before we begin with a series of tips and examples on recycling at home, it’s important to first learn how to sort waste.

In order to sort them, we need to locate the various bins near our home, which are categorized according to their purpose. The correct use of these bins is as follows:

• Yellow bin: plastic containers, cartons, and plastic bottles; aluminum foil; aerosol cans; tuna cans; deodorant cans; or any type of container that contains plastic. One of the most common mistakes is throwing away children’s toys, baby bottles, or pacifiers instead of placing them in the general waste bin—the orange or gray bin.
• Blue bin: This bin is usually larger, and you should only put paper and cardboard in it. Some of the most common mistakes include throwing away milk cartons—which contain plastic and belong in the yellow bin—or, for example, used napkins, which belong in the brown bin.
• Brown bin: food scraps, plants, used napkins, peels. Some of the most common mistakes include putting diapers, cigarette butts, gum, hair, etc., in this bin.
• Orange or gray bin: Dispose of anything that cannot be reused, such as toys, diapers, feminine hygiene products, dust, cigarette butts, etc. One of the most common mistakes is throwing away used cooking oil, which should be placed in a special container.
• Green bin: anything made of glass, such as glass bottles, glass jars, or glass containers. Some of the most common mistakes include throwing away glasses, light bulbs, or crystal items, which should be taken to recycling centers.
• Special waste: Special waste, such as electronic devices, batteries, or cooking oil, among other items, must be disposed of in special containers located at recycling centers in cities.

How can we organize our space for recycling?

Sometimes the relationship between space and recycling at home can be complicated, but whether you live in a small apartment, a loft, or a house, one of the first steps is to figure out where you can place your trash inside your home. In many of our developments, we provide private spaces where you can place bins for sorting waste, making the process much easier.

The inside of kitchen cabinets is usually a good place; you can place them under the sink so they’re out of sight, or there are other types of bins, such as a single bin with internal compartments, vertical and stackable bins, or designer bins that blend in with the surroundings, etc.

Ideas for Reusing Materials and Repurposing Household Items

Following the tips for recycling in your new home, we’ve found that many of the items we have can be reused, which offers a number of added benefits for protecting the environment. Below, we’ll look at some creative ideas for recycling and reusing waste that can also serve as fun activities and crafts for children.

1. Organizer with cardboard tubes

In our daily lives, we go through a lot of cardboard toilet paper tubes, and we can give them a second life—for example, as cable organizers, makeup organizers, pencil holders for kids, and so on.

The idea is to stack several pieces of cardboard, glue them together, and then place them inside a cardboard box. It’s very simple and easy to decorate.

2. Hangers made from old tools or utensils

We can still make use of old tools that we no longer use or that, for some reason, we need to replace. For example, we can take some bent wrenches or metal rods and glue them to the wall; they’ll serve as hangers for coats, dresses, etc.

3. Decorative candles made from bottle caps

Just like toilet paper tubes, we use quite a few bottle caps from various types of beverages, which we can turn into small decorative candles for our home.

To make them, all you have to do is fill them with wax and add a small wick. Once they’re dry, you can enjoy them.

4. Glass bottles for decorating a patio or garden

After dinners with friends or family, there’s always an empty glass bottle left over. With these bottles, you can create beautiful vases for your flowers, lamps to cover that ugly light bulb, and even colorful bottles to make something more decorative.

5. Cans as Organizers

A can of tomatoes, a can of tuna, a can of ready-to-eat food… there are all kinds of cans, and they all have a second life—we can use them as organizers for pencils, makeup brushes, cutlery, and more.

This way, we won’t have things scattered all over the house anymore, and just like with many other upcycling ideas, we can use our creativity to decorate them with paint or fabric. The result will be very useful, and everyone who visits will be envious of your creations.

6. Pallets as Furniture and Garden Decor

A few years ago, pallets weren’t used for anything, but lately they’ve been finding a lot of uses in homes and are even sold in home decor stores.

There are countless things you can do with them— from making a table or garden benches to hanging one on the wall and using it as a shelf or a vertical planter…

7. Crafts with soda bottle caps for little ones

To help children have fun and learn from a young age about the importance of recycling and reusing, there are plenty of ideas, such as using soda bottle caps. Because of their shape, these caps are ideal for children’s crafts. For example, they can use them as animal faces to decorate, and then draw the rest of the body on a sheet of paper or cardstock.

Also, if you want to play at home with the kids and are looking for some creative ideas, don’t miss our post “8GameIdeasto Play at Home with Kids“

8. Costumes and toys made from cardboard boxes

By letting everyone’s creativity shine, you can give cardboard boxes a second life. The boxes that large appliances come in can be used to build princess castles, cars, rockets… whatever children come up with will spark their imagination and also serve as examples of how to recycle at home and take care of the environment.

9. Clothing Recycling

Finally, not only can you reuse things from around the house, but you can also recycle clothes that you no longer wear or that might be more worn out than you’d like.

With it, you can create new designs—there are tons of ideas. You don’t have to be a sewing expert, but you can turn your old clothes into a shopping bag, kitchen rags, an apron…

But if you’d rather, you can also take the clothes to a recycling center where other people can put them to good use.

10. Plastic bottles as planters

In addition to reusing the bottle cap, we can also use the rest of the bottle. We can cut a slit along the length of the bottle and tie it with string to turn it into a vertical garden, or we can cut the bottles in half and fill them with soil and whatever seeds we want.

Since the bottles are made of plastic, we can decorate them however we want, which will help the children develop their imagination.

How can we help the environment in our daily lives?

• Changing the consumption model.
• Avoid buying products wrapped in plastic
• Committing to Sustainable Housing
• Encourage young children with activities such as those mentioned above