glimpsesbymelanie

I don’t mean do you save paper, glass, plastic and aluminum, I mean do you repurpose things. Before I throw anything away I ask myself, Self, can I use this to make something different? When you were growing up did you ever wear someone else’s clothes? They were called “hand-me-downs”. The clothes that I inherited usually came from my sister or some cousins that lived in our town. After I wore them, if they were still in decent shape, they were passed on to someone else. We were not such a wasteful society back then and my family didn’t have a lot of extra money.

I find it hard to throw things away if they are still in good shape. I look at them and say “Could I make something out of this?” Our landfills are full to overflowing now. In some places people are living on top of landfills. My water heater went out. It laid on the front porch for a long time. I kept looking at it knowing it could be repurposed. Finally it dawned on me, a grill. I found some steel pieces that could be legs, an old handle for the lid and chain to keep the lid from falling backwards when open. I found someone that could cut the lid for me and weld the legs on to it. He didn’t charge much to do this. The most expensive part was the steel mesh I got for the grill part. Here is my repurposed water heater/grill.

I have made several things before and since the grill but I didn’t make a photograph. Recently we had to replace a ceiling fan because the light fixture part of it stopped working. I took the blades off and kept them until I got an idea. I cut a half circle of 3/4 inch plywood and mounted the blades to it. I am not a graphic artist so a friend painted the image on the piece for me. It is mounted on my front porch. Here is my last refurbishing.

Next time you replace something stop and think if there is some way you could make it into something else and continue using it. This would save a lot of room in the landfills. If you can’t think of anything ask a friend for their ideas.

In these times of staying at home this would be a way to help you find the way to spend some of your time. I wish for you a day filled with good health and love. Talk to ya later.