- [Narrator] Every single year, we humans severely damage the environment by dumping some 2. 12 billion tons of waste into landfills. That's equivalent to the weight of 400 Pyramids of Giza.
We all know that recycling our items can help reduce this, but that's not the only option. Instead of recycling, some cunning creators have begun upcycling old products. That's transforming them from trash into innovative new designs.
From turning trucks into bed frames to revamping plastic bottles into working boats, join me as we explore the genius recycling hacks that take upcycling to the next level. (light suspenseful music) - Whoa. (bell dings) - [Narrator] Wheely bright Idea.
Most cyclists really love their bikes. Like, really love them. To the point where they'll refuse to throw them away, no matter how busted and rusted they may be.
But there are ways to make use of your old bike. Just look at these cunning creations by Joe O'Connell and Blessing Hancock. This pair of artists welded what were once bicycle rings and chains into spherical shapes to create six spectacular chandeliers.
Fancy. The cycle showpieces became part of "Ballroom Luminoso," an art installation found under an underpass in San Antonio, Texas. Inside the chandeliers, an LED light casts intricate, shadowy patterns through the metallic gaps, transforming this gray underpass into a picture-perfect setting.
Yeah, I think it's fair to say that the "Ballroom Luminoso" is recycling turned up a gear. Potluck. If you happen to inhabit a small kitchen space, fitting all your pots and pans into your cabinets can feel like you're playing the "Tetris" game from hell.
But did you know an old bike could be your kitchen cupboard cure? Let me explain. By fixing and hanging a bike wheel to the kitchen ceiling, you can create a hanging, spinning pot rack.
All that's left is to add some removable hooks to let your cookware hang off, and bingo! Even if you don't have an old bike wheel on hand, you can pick up one of these bad boys ready-made for around $60. Anything that stops your pots and pans from tumbling out of your cupboards is certainly worth giving a spin.
Saddle seat. But wheels and chains aren't the only bicycle parts that have been ingeniously reinvented. Typically, bike saddles are pretty uncomfortable and tend to leave you with a sore butt if you've sat on them for too long.
However, what if I told you bike saddles could be a comfy place to sit and relax? Well, someone had the idea of tessellating 13 bicycle saddles and attaching them to a metal frame to make a bike seat bench. Pretty cool, right?
Although, I've gotta say, a standard bench does look like it'd have more back support. If you're not bothered about transforming into the Hunchback of Notre Dame, then you can actually purchase one of these things for yourself. MetalArtUSA are selling their own bike seat bench for an eye-watering $1,600.
While it's a smart use of upcycling and looks pretty eye-catching, I think I'll stick with that regular bench for now, thanks. Blades of glory. We can all agree that wind turbines are hugely beneficial to the environment, they create energy from wind power without releasing harmful emissions that can damage the planet.
There's one problem with these colossal creations, however: What to do with them when they need to be disposed of? After all, the average 165-foot-long wind turbine blade has a comparatively short lifespan of just 20 years. And that's where the Re-Wind Network comes in.
This company has set out to repurpose these giant structures more sustainably, converting them into some weird and wonderful designs. In the Danish city of Aalborg, wind turbine blades have been transformed into protective bike shelters. I'm a big fan.
In the Netherlands, they went a step further. This Rotterdam-based kids' playground has been fitted with five discarded wind turbine blades. And while it may sound like something fit for the scrapyard, the blades have been repainted and cut up to take the form of a slide tower, watch tower, tunnels, bridges, ramps, and slides.
Mind blown. You know what else will blow your mind? All my amazing videos.
To keep up to date with my content, just hit the subscribe button down below. Why not drop a like while you're there, too? Okay, let's see what super neat upcycling idea we've got next.
Sweet shelter. Did you know the average human drinks some 92 Coca-Cola products per year? And, considering there are about eight billion of us and counting, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that a whole lot of empty Coca-Cola bottles are gonna end up on landfill sites.
To help raise awareness about this issue, a Chinese company called Penda came up with this ingenious idea, known as the "Cola-Bow. " This public art installation doubles up as a rain shelter and is made up of recycled Coca-Cola plastic bottles, with the swirling form inspired by the design of the Coca-Cola logo. Penda rewarded people with a free bottle of the sweet stuff for every 10 empty ones they brought back to a recycling spot.
By the end of the campaign, they had some 17,000 empty bottles to work with. The structure itself is made from a steel mesh, with the 17,000 bottles inserted into small gaps in the material, creating the illusion from afar that the bottles are somehow supporting themselves. What a refreshing way to raise awareness.
Bottle boat. If you thought a simple shelter made from empty bottles was jaw-dropping, then strap in because we're not done with the brilliant bottle building yet. In America alone, more than 60 million water bottles are thrown away every year.
. . Wait.
Sorry, I misread that. Every day. 60 million bottles a day!
And that's just in the US. Yikes! With most of these ending up in landfills or littering streets, parks, and waterways, thankfully, some clever folks have discovered an ingenious new use for endless plastic bottles that are thrown away: Boats!
It may sound crazy, but check out this dingy made from a structure of hundreds of plastic bottles. Similarly, Cameroonian Ismael Essome Ebone saw the plastic bottle problem first-hand, as his city of Douala became littered with discarded containers. But rather than recycle the empties, Ismael decided to craft them into a boat.
Many people in Douala enjoy fishing but can't afford the wooden canoes that can cost over $800. So, Ismael decided to kill two birds with one stone, creating a boat that also helped solve Douala's plastic problem. He collected 1,000 littered plastic bottles before assembling them into blocks of 10 connected by a wire.
Then, he joined them together to form the structure of the boat. You may presume that a boat constructed from plastic bottles wouldn't be the most reliable, but you'd be wrong. So sturdy are these cunning canoes, they can carry up to three people or a total weight close to 600 pounds.
Unsurprisingly, Ismael's creation was a soaring success, and since then, he's set up a non-profit charity, called Madiba and Nature, that's constructed a further 37 boats and counting. Now, that's an idea that really floats my boat. Bonkers building.
Hold up! We're not quite done with the productive plastic creations yet. As impressive as manufacturing a shelter or a boat from plastic bottles is, Arthur Huang, a Taiwanese structural engineer, took things a step further.
He designed an entire building from 1. 5 million plastic bottles. Yep, this stupendous nine-story tall and 425-foot-long structure is made from Polli-Bricks, which are hexagonal building bricks made from plastic bottles.
Polli-Bricks fit together perfectly, just like Lego pieces, making the building strong enough to withstand earthquakes and even gusts of winds up to 80 miles per hour. And, considering that Taiwan is a hotspot for typhoons, it's just as well. But a safe structure isn't the only thing that Polli-Bricks offer.
Thanks to their translucency, no artificial lighting is needed to light the EcoArk during the daytime. When night falls, 40,000 electroluminescent diodes light up the building like some sort of bioluminescent beehive. In all, this pretty plastic palace cost a hefty $3 million to build.
Now, you may think that's pricey, but considering that a similar structure made from glass and steel would cost around $9 million, it seems like a brilliant bargain. Who knew plastic bottles could be so powerful? Stylish sacks.
Have you ever put a brand-new T-shirt on when, all of a sudden, you feel like you're being stabbed in the neck? Yeah, you probably know what I'm talking about, it's those annoying clothing labels. These tags are sewn onto our shirts to detail the clothing's size, material, as well as washing instructions.
While that's handy and all, it doesn't make them any less annoying. But someone decided to turn their clothing tags into something more useful than a blood-boiling back scratcher. This person decided to unstitch hundreds of clothing tags before sewing them back together to form this cute clothing label bag.
I don't know about you, but I'm itching to get my hands on one of those. But tag bags aren't the only carriers to be manufactured from mind-boggling materials. Normally, you'd throw an empty can into the recycling, however, there's one tiny part of these things that comes in handy for bag building: The pull tab.
Yes, not only do these mini marvels help you crack open your cold drink, but they can also be wired together to form something like this this. Yes, that is a bag made from soda pull tabs. This person's brilliant bag was joined together some 480 tabs with craft wire.
The tabs were divided into 12 rows, with 40 tabs in each to create this small sac. Cool as this looks, think about the cost. Considering that one can of soda usually costs about $0.
83 right now, the materials needed for making this little accessory would set you back nearly $400. Still, who else could brag about owning a soda sack? Surprising as it sounds, though, that's not the most ambitious soda tab creation.
One Etsy seller created an entire chainmail costume all from soda tabs. While I can't imagine this offers the best protection on the battlefield, it certainly looks the part. And you can get your hands on one, well, for a tear-jerking $280.
That's about triple the price of what a standard chainmail cover would set you back. Still, it looks soda-lightful, don't you think? Fishy furniture.
Every year, humans produce over 55 million tons of electronic waste, that's more than the weight of all commercial airliners ever made. Woof! Even worse, only a fraction of this waste is recycled, with the majority ending up in landfills.
But that doesn't have to always be the case. Some smart electronic enthusiasts have repurposed their old electronic products instead of sending them to the dump. Dean Eaton from New York blew the minds of Reddit users by showing them he'd turned his old washing machine into a fancy fish tank.
To start with, he gutted the washing machine, making sure to thoroughly clean the interior, as detergents and fabric softeners can be harmful to fish. Once that was all done, he added LED lights to the inner drum before installing a filter, air pump, water treatment, and the piece de resistance, the fish. New Wave, an aquarium concept company from Germany, took things a step further, adding a transparent glass panel to the side of their washing machine aquarium, giving a sleek side view into the terrific tank.
But washing machines aren't the only electronic product you can give a watery revamp to. Some upcyclers have even turned their old TV sets into a home for their fish. Obviously, this doesn't work for modern flatscreen TVs, but it does for the older, chunkier wooden TV units that were popular when I was born.
. . Um, I mean, way before I was born.
(chuckles) Simply, open up the back of the set and take the lid of the top, before removing the screen and all those electrical components inside. Then reassemble the wooden frame, leaving space inside to slot the tank. If that sounds like hard work, don't worry, one Etsy user creates handmade fish tank TVs from old '60s wooden televisions.
Although, if you wanna get your hands on one, you'll have to cough up close to $250. Still, not a bad price for an unlimited subscription to the fish-ney channel. Get it?
Like, like Disney. Fish-ney. Anyway.
Moving on. A grand idea. Fancy fish tanks aren't the only upcycled item that can jazz up your interior space.
Speaking of jazz, anyone lucky enough to possess a grand piano will know just how luxurious this impressive instrument looks. But if, for whatever reason, yours becomes broken beyond repair, don't just toss it in the tip. Rather than let the beautiful wood go to waste, this crafty creator decided to convert their old baby grand piano into a bookshelf.
To start with they took the legs off, gutted the interior, and then fitted three shelves inside the piano. Looks pretty cool, right? Although that thing has an awful lot of keys for a shelf without any locks.
(crickets chirping) On a more serious note, this old piano certainly makes for a grand bookshelf. Pet products. Anyone that owns a pack of playing cards will know how infuriating it is when you realize you've lost a couple of cards.
The temptation is to just throw the whole pack out. But I wouldn't do that if I were you. Well, not if you have a pet cat, at least.
Just ask the Reddit user who had the ingenious idea of converting their pack of cards into an adorable accessory for their kitty. They crafted this cat-sized hat by cutting up some cards from an incomplete deck before sewing them together. What a purr-fect idea.
I mean, is that not the most stylish cat you've ever laid eyes upon? Dr Seuss, eat your heart out. But cute cat hats aren't the only upcycling concept designed with pets in mind.
When one Reddit user's dog sadly passed away, they came up with an idea to keep their canine companion forever in their minds. Usually, pet owners throw away mementos to remember pets, like leads and collars, as there's not much use for them after their furry friend has passed. But this person realized that cutting a section of the leash made for the perfect bookmark, while the clip of the leash was also cut, creating the perfect keychain.
Isn't that the sweetest thing? Although, I don't know if I'd be able to look at my keys without bawling ever again. Phone-omenal concept.
Each year, around 40 million tourists flock to the UK to take in the sights of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and, of course, the iconic red telephone boxes. But famous as they've become, the growing popularity of mobile phones has meant these telephone boxes don't have much use anymore. Yet, rather than let these iconic items just go to waste, plans have been made to repurpose them in a pretty incredible way.
600 red phone boxes have been refitted to house defibrillators, devices that give a high-energy electric shock to the heart of someone who is in cardiac arrest. This means anyone that's suffered a heart attack far away from any medical facility has a greater chance of survival. Many other phone boxes have been transformed into mini libraries, except here there are no registrations and no fines.
Anyone's free to take one of the thousands of books that fill the telephone boxes, so long as they bring back another. But the most mind-blowing telephone box re-invention goes to this particular one, found in Devon in South West England. It may look like a standard telephone box from the outside, but a quick glance at its sign reveals all isn't as it seems.
Yep, that's right, this place really is a nightclub. You might be wondering how exactly such a small place can be transformed into a dance hall. Well, this is a nightclub for one.
Inside there's just enough room for a mini-music system, disco ball, and funky lighting. Time to get my dancing shoes on. Truck trance.
A lot of hardcore truck lovers would rather sleep in their beloved vehicles every night rather than their own bed. Fortunately for them, it's now possible to do just that inside their own home. Some Etsy sellers have chosen not to get their trucks scrapped but transform them into bed frames.
This Chevy-lover removed the wheels and bumper from their truck, before giving her a lick of paint, and the results are astonishing. Although, I'm not sure if that bed will stop you from rolling onto the floor in the middle of the night. Impressive as it looks, there is one caveat, the price, with these terrific truck beds being listed on Etsy for as much as eyewatering $8,000.
So, unless you've got an old truck of your own to call on, chances are you'll be sleeping in your plain ol' bed for the foreseeable. Chair raiser. Whether they're bent, broken, or don't fit the style of your closet, we're all guilty of throwing away clothing hangers.
In the US alone, over 15. 5 million plastic, wood, and wire hangers are thrown away every single day, with 85% of these ending up in landfills. Fortunately, Italian design company Stylemylife have developed a product that utilizes clothing hangers.
Known as "Size," this bizarre-looking chair is made from 28 coat hangers that are connected by a curved metal bar. While it may look more similar to a dinosaur's spine than a comfy sitting station, you can't knock the clever thinking of the idea. But that's not where the coat hanger creations end.
Designer Joey Zeledon designed his own chair, meant to bring "the closet to life. " The coat check chair, as it's known, is purposed to position any spare hangers onto two metal bars, with the upside-down plastic hangers forming the support for the chair. Now, I know what you're thinking, in what world can some plastic hangers support the weight of a human adult?
Well, turns out that Zeledon tested the sturdiness of the chair himself, with the piece of furniture able to withstand 170 pounds of weight. Impressive, although that's still around 30 pounds lighter than the average American adult male. Still, for any minimalists looking to make the most of every single item, the coat check is a chairy-tale.
Deep-sea decor. It's not just harmless items, like coat hangers, that can be upcycled, though. World War II was a horrific conflict where both the Allies and Axis powers used wicked weapons against one another, like deep-sea mines.
Built and used in the Baltic Sea during World War II, thousands of Soviet deep-sea mines were held in warehouses on the coast of Estonia. Years later, in the 1990s, the Soviet Army burnt the explosives out of any mines that were still in working order, leaving thousands of naval mine cases scattered around the coast of Estonia. Sounds like a bit of an eyesore, right?
But artist Mati Karmin decided to use the defused sea mines to his benefit. He set up a company called Marinemine that specialize in repurposing mines into household items, like fireplaces, wardrobes, bathtubs, beds, office chairs, and ovens. I don't care how cool it looks, I wouldn't wanna stand within 1,000 feet of a naval mine that's been revamped into an oven.
If that wasn't mad enough, Karmin also created this. Yep, that's a baby stroller carved from a mine that was previously designed to wipe out sea vessels. Well, that thing will ensure people stay away from you on the sidewalk, at least.
All things considered, I think it's fair to say that Karmin's naval mine decor is a blast. Clever canoes. But naval mines aren't the only pieces of wartime scrap that've undergone a marvelous makeover.
During the Vietnam War, aircraft would ditch their fuel tanks in emergencies to improve their speed and maneuverability. For over 40 years, these discarded aircraft fuel tanks lay scattered throughout the forests of Vietnam. But rather than just scrap the jet part, local farmers discovered a perfect purpose for the discarded aluminum tubes.
Many rivers cut through the forests of Southern Vietnam, where most of the fuel tanks are dispersed. For a long time, farmers used to travel through these rivers via wooden canoes, but these weren't very reliable, and often required frequent repairs. And that's where the fuel tanks come in.
These things were manufactured by putting two curved pieces of aluminum together to create a hollow tank. But these halves could easily be taken apart, with each side being repurposed as an aluminum canoe. Thanks to their aerodynamic shape and lightweight design they make for much better vessels than the traditional wooden canoes, allowing farmers to travel through the region much more quickly and efficiently.
Who knew that wars could have silver linings, or should I say, silver canoes? Bouncy beacon. Being one of the world's most popular sports, it's little surprise that literal tons of basketballs are manufactured every day.
In fact, a whopping 500 million of them are sold each year. With so many millions of these balls being bounced on the court, it's inevitable that a whole lot of basketballs will be ruined from punctures or water damage. But if you ever are in the possession of a warped ball, don't worry.
While you may not be able to shoot hoops, a damaged basketball can offer an awesome alternative purpose. Say hello to the basketball lamp. What a bright idea.
This is the work of an ingenious Etsy user who made a small cut out at the bottom of the ball, allowing light to shine out, before covering the bottom edge in rubber to give it a styled finish. Then, at the top of the ball, a light was fitted, and voila, a basketball lamp. Fire as this thing looks, it may actually be a little too hot, literally.
The heat from a standard bulb could burn or melt the rubber of the ball, so best to get a low-heat emitting bulb if you ever create one of these. Cool as this idea is, getting your hands on a ready-made basketball lamp will set you back around $140. And, considering this thing isn't translucent like a normal lampshade, that's quite a steep price to pay.
Even still, based on its appearance alone, this clever creation is going straight in my basket. Sucker shoes. It's well-documented that plastic straws are a major blight on our environment.
As many as 8. 3 billion of them pollute coastlines around the world, made worse by the fact that their plastic can take up to 200 years to decompose. But, damaging as they are, they don't have to go to waste once you're finished slurping down your drink.
Yep, turns out these things can also function as shoes. Hang on, that doesn't look right at all. Oh, I see.
This is a recycling hack from (sighs) 5-Minute Crafts. This channel hosts a lot of videos showcasing hacks "you must try" or do "when you're bored," but then sneakily adds into their description that their videos are only made for entertainment purposes and can't guarantee anyone's safety when doing them themselves. This is after encouraging people to put eggs in the microwave, which explode, causing third-degree burns and even blindness in some cases, and other incredibly dangerous and stupid hacks.
Well, let's take a look and see how viable this is. They start by melting down around 50 straws with an iron, making them stick together in a rectangle shape. After that, they draw and cut out an outline of a foot, place it on top of the now-melted-together straws, and cut around it.
With what's remaining of the ironed-down straws, they create an arch that fits over the top of the foot, then they hot glue each side of the arch to the base of the shoe, and straw flip-flops. Okay, I have multiple issues with this. Firstly, I don't see some glue holding that arch together lasting more than a week.
Second, I don't think a plastic straw will offer much protection from any sharp objects you may step on. And third, melting or burning plastic releases toxic chemicals in gas form, which doesn't just smell awful, it's really not good for you either. So, I can't recommend trying this so-called recycling hack.
What I can suggest is if you find yourself using 50 plastic straws, why not just buy a single reusable one? Denim decoration. Whether they're too large, small, or damaged, denim jeans are often thrown out, as people look to latch onto the latest trouser trend.
Every year, some 2. 16 million tons of waste is generated from unwanted jeans alone. But rather than adding your old pairs of purple pants to the trash pile, there's an environmentally friendly use for jeans that are no longer fit for purpose.
Nope, these aren't some fashion-savvy zombies, they're some old jeans that've been transformed into some perplexing planters. All it takes to raise your jeans from the dead is some string to tie up the cuff of the jeans, then just fill the legs up with soil and plant some seeds around the waist area. And if you want an even more authentically human look, you can add some shoes at the bottom of the jeans, where they've been tied up.
After that, all you've gotta do is wait for your old jeans to turn into a garden ornament. I'm still not sure whether that's cute or creepy. Either way, it's a jean-ius idea.
Which of these unbelievable upcycling hacks impressed you the most? Let me know down in the comments below, and thanks for watching.
