DIY and Turn Waste Into Useful Items and Art

Instead of throwing away old and unwanted materials and items, why not use your creativity to turn these waste into useful items and stylish decorations or art. Start a DIY (do-it-yourself) project to reuse your waste material and items. Here’s some local inspiration:

Singapore DIY

Didier Ng is a local designer who reuses waste material and objects, and turns them into original lifestyle and fashion products like lamps, furniture, bags, wallets and accessories. Each piece of her work is unique and shows that there is no such thing as waste. Some of the waste that she reuses include plastic bottles, rubber tyres, used banners and rice bags.

Maki Squarepatch turns old and used fabric materials into interesting and cute clothing, bags, toys and accessories.

There’s a TV show on Channel U called Go Green that shows you how to reuse waste materials to make useful and stylish items.

Web Resources on DIY and Crafts

More online resources on how to DIY and make crafts:

• Crafting a Green World
• Craft Magazine
• How can I Recycle This?
• Recycled Crafts
• ThreadBanger

An example of how to make necklaces from old magazines and newspaper:

 

An example of how to make a tote bag from old clothing:

Send It for Repair or Fix It Yourself

Instead of throwing away spoilt items, equipment and electrical appliances immediately, why not try to repair them yourself or send them for repair. Some items just need a bit of fixing or connecting loose wires and parts.

Repair Services in Singapore

You can find the following repair services in the Yellow Pages:

• Air Conditioning Equipment & Systems-Repairs & Cleaning
• Computers, Personal-Servicing & Repairs
• Electric Appliances-Major-Repairs
• Electric Appliances-Small-Repairs
• Electric Equipment-Service & Repairs
• Furniture Repairs & Refinishing
• Mobile Phone-Rental &/or Repairs
• Shoe Repairs & Rebuilding
• Watches-Repairs

If you’re looking for a licensed water service plumber to do some water repairs, check out the PUB website. If you’re looking for a licensed electrical worker to do some electrical repairs, find one from the EMA website.

Fix It Yourself

If you wish to fix an item yourself, check out the following online resources on repairing and DIY:

• DoItYourself
• Fix It Club
• FixYa
• How Stuff Works
• ACME How To
• Home Doctor
• Easy2DIY

Or you can also find out more repair resources from books at the library.

Product Manuals

You might need to read the user manual for the product that you’re fixing. Here’s some online user manuals:

• UsersManualGuide
• Diplodocs
• Retrevo