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April

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DIY & Upcycle Resources

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Make It Last: Sustainably and Affordably Preserving The Things We Love - Raleigh Briggs

Make, Sew & Mend - Bernadette Banner

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Visual Garden Update (No Talking) - The One Year Sustainability Challenge

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March for a Cause

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<aside> <img src="/icons/forward_green.svg" alt="/icons/forward_green.svg" width="40px" /> Forward to May

No-Mow May

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This April aim to Upcycle or Reuse something to give it a second life (or a third, or a fourth!)

Get Crafty

Reusing Glass Jars & Aluminum Tins

Candles

One of the easiest ways to give a tin, can, or a new life is to turn it into a candle! Candles can be shown off as one-of-a-kind decor and they make great gifts. Candle-making is also a great craft to do with friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8uJxLZIvlk&ab_channel=ehowhome

Hydro dipping

If you have some old nail polish lying around, you can also try hydrodipping glass, metal, or ceramic pieces to give them a new life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pXiA-JuNZs&ab_channel=CityofSantaClaraLibrary

Reusing Paper & Junk Mail

Origami, Collage & Paper Mache

Paper packaging, flyers, and junk mail can be cut into strips to make Paper Stars! These are adorable stored inside jars, strung up on a string, or thrown inside care packages as confetti. Or you can go even further and use paper scraps to create collages or paper mache!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SG6e7blVS8&ab_channel=PaperKawaii-OrigamiTutorials

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPTBHshlYks&ab_channel=HowToWithKristin

Get Gardening

Who needs seedling trays or planters? Reuse the packaging from your everyday purchases to start your garden!

Reusing Egg Cartons

Grow Seedlings in Egg Cartons

Grow Seedlings in an Egg Carton | Crafts for Kids

Reusing Milk Jugs

Turn Milk Jugs into Mini Greenhouses

Winter-Sowing with DIY Milk Jug Greenhouses!

Reusing Styrofoam

Grow Plants in Leftover Styrofoam

Planting In Styrofoam Containers – How To Make A Recycled Foam Planter

Reusing Cardboard

Make a Lasagna Garden

How to Make a Lasagna Garden

Get Cooking

Make Stock

Instead of sending them straight to the composter, store your onion skins, carrot tops, and fat and bones from meat in a bag in your freezer When it’s full, simmer these in a pot of water and season to get your own homemade stock!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D-608HqNZA&ab_channel=ProtoCookswithChefFrank

Make Puddings

Use up extra rice to make Rice Pudding or Fried Rice…
Use stale bread to make Bread Pudding or Croutons…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKR0vS9bpZQ&ab_channel=BiggerBolderBaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn0YTv4S9vI&ab_channel=MadeWithLau

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrV1XuVR4bY&ab_channel=Fantabulosity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZM9xUiX4tw&ab_channel=FoodWishes

Reusing Glass Jars for Canning

If you’re using jars for Canning , be sure to sterilize them! Learn more at Home Canning - National Center for Home Food Preservation | How Do I?!

Get Organized

Reusing Boxes

Aside from Shoe boxes or appliance boxes can be reused to store documents or memorabilia in your closet instead of purchasing plastic storage containers. You can always redecorate these to make them fit your aesthetic, turning this into an Upcycle!
Long boxes from plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or parchment paper can be used to store ribbon and keep different kinds of tape organized. The cutting edge of these boxes works wonderfully for tape!
Plastic food packaging can be reused to organize your freezer, fridge, drawers, and shelves. Clear salad and spinach containers in particular are great for keeping like items grouped within a freezer or cupboard!

Get Clean

Reusing Bags

We all end up with plastic bags somehow, even if we use reusable bags 99% of the time. Try to reuse plastic bags that enter your life before disposing of them.

reused in its original purpose, as a bag! This goes for shopping bags but also zip-top bags.
filling or wrapping for shipping boxes or moving boxes
filling for decorations or crafts where you might use polyfill, newspaper fill, or any other kind of filing to stuff something
plastic barriers for containing crafting or food messes (instead of a plastic tablecloth)
picking up cat & dog messes

If you hold on to plastic shopping bags for messy jobs like cleaning up the litter box, use this triangle-folding method to save space!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB80iuhaFZs&ab_channel=WinnieY

Reusing Fabrics

You can turn any old fabric into cleaning rags or your own reusable make-up remover pads, or use fabric strips to create braided pet toys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1POJmpkM1iE&ab_channel=SewEasyPlease

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXlPi6xGTks&ab_channel=SPCAofFranklinCounty-NC

DIY Cleaners

You’ve got your reusable rags and a mess on your hands: With a few household ingredients you may have a solution! Check out the recipes at DIY Home Cleaning Solutions to learn more.

Recycle & Properly Dispose of the Rest

When you’re done doing-it-yourself and upcycling, be sure to properly clean and dispose of what’s left. Frequently materials can be reused to produce new items even if those items aren’t the same as the material was originally used to make - this is called Downcycling.