Garbage is usually something that can’t be used anymore. Most people throw away garbage every day. Garbage is often useless. Is all garbage useless? No, sometimes garbage can be used again. Sometimes someone’s garbage is another person’s treasure.
Dan Phillips uses old materials to make new homes. He uses old wood, old walls, and even old licence plates to build with. For this ceiling, he used old picture frames. That’s incredible.
The walls of this temple in Thailand are made from old fridges.
This playground in the Netherlands is made from an old windmill.
The walls of this house in New Mexico are made using old glass bottles.
Old things can often be remade into new things. This is a pallet. Pallets are used to hold many items. You often see them in big stores or warehouses. You often see many products on a pallet. Workers move the products around on pallets.
When pallets get old, they can't be used anymore. Many companies throw these pallets away. Are they useless now? No, they can be made into something new.
You can make furniture from old pallets. This is a table that was made using an old pallet. This garden sofa was made using old pallets. I wonder what else can be made from old pallets. Do you have any ideas?
Bubble wrap is a fun material. It is used to protect things. You wrap it around delicate things like plates or glasses. You can use bubble wrap many times. Once the bubble wrap gets too old, you can still use it. You can pop it. It is so fun to sit and just pop bubble wrap.
Look at this giant bubble wrap. You need to jump on the bubbles to pop them. Would you like to try?
Bubble wrap can be used in buildings, too. It is used to keep the building warm. It is so versatile.
Denim can also be used to keep a building warm. Old jeans or denim clothing is used in the spaces in a wall. This helps to insulate the building.
Many old materials can be used again. We can use them in our homes. We can use them in our businesses, too.
Some companies only use old materials. They like to recycle things. I think that's a great idea.
Look around your home. What old things did you see? Was it useless? How can you make it useful again?
Look around your school. What old things did you see? Was it useless or useful?
Look around your town. What old things did you see? Was it useless or useful?
Old things can be treasures. Look around and see what treasures you can find.