It cannot be repaired?

How do you dispose of mechanical or electrical items that cannot be repaired?  It is likely that you will send the damaged unit out to be recycled.  That was what my sister-in-law did with her microwave oven.  I had the same model and when mine was damaged, I kept the large ceremic plate in it and it became the best cutting board I ever have.

It will be easier for you to decide what to do with your mechanical or electrical items that cannot be repaired if you know what they are made of. I am sure that there are parts on them that you could re-use for other purposes.  Most of the time I get my inspirations from Pinterest if I want to upcycle something I have in my craftwork. 

Recently, someone asked on Zero Waste Facebook page how she can dispose of her damaged clock and watches.  I did a search on Pinterest for "upcycle damaged watch" and I like what I saw there.  I think it is a great way to keep momentos of watches you or someone in your family have been wearing throughout their life.

I will definitely hang on to the plate from my new microwave oven if it breaks down on me one day because it should work out nicely as the face for a clock one day.

I also like how watches can be remodeled to become a locket bracelet. 

You can learn how to do that at the following link:

How to Turn a Broken Watch Into a Locket Bracelet

And as usual, there are people out there who make a living selling parts salvaged from watches and clocks.  They could be purchased by watchmakers who need parts that are no longer manufactured to repair antique watches. They could also be purchased by crafters. This looks like an interesting bracelet to own.

Pots? Broken to perfection!

I have been doing some spring cleaning and have decided that some of the odd bits and pieces of toys that got separated from the main sets, most of which have been given away, have to go.  Dumping them is no easy task though.  Just think about the years of attachment my children have hanging on to  (hiding) them.

Maybe we should start a project together so that we can incorporate these toys into our "work".  My son shared an idea with me this morning when he showed me some photos of miniature gardens grown in broken pots.

I did a search and found the same photos posted at Ella and it was one of the ideas they found on Different Solutions. 

Will it be easy to recreate?  There are some free tutorials to check out at The Garden Diaries, About Miniatures, BuckEye Gardening and some videos to watch at Miniature Garden Shoppe to decide on what to grow.

OK, children, you can keep the toys but before you start breaking any of my pots, lets go find some broken ones from the parks nearby.

Let'us get to the park before anyone start burning the cuttings thrown at the park.

Broken plastic toy? Print it!

The best toy you can buy your kids is a Filabot 3D Printer.  With it, your kids will be picking up plastics waste so that they can create their own toys.  Don't like what they created?  Never mind, put it back into the Filabot to recreate.  What a great way to explore their creativity.

And no more tears or complaints that a younger sibling has broken yet another favourite plastic toy.  Go print it out, kids.  How?

Let's see.