Something old, into something new

Confined to the indoors, it can become impossible to ignore the things we’ve swept under the carpet , promising to take care of later. That stack of magazines, clothes or bottles you’ve been meaning to get rid of. The piece of time-worn furniture you keep slamming your toe, shin or hip into.

Instead of letting these items get to you, use this time to upcycle and turn them into things you can use. It’ll help you ease the clutter, and give your mood a boost as you get creative.

“The lockdown has given us a chance to slow down,” says Shailaja Rangarajan, whose Bengaluru company, Rimagined, upcycles waste into fashion and home decor products. “It’s the perfect time to see how we can minimise consumption by reusing, repurposing things.”

Anthony Dcosta, 30, an artist manager from Mumbai, used some of his free time last week to convert an old plastic shoe-stand into a fish-tank divider. “These are porous partitions that separate aggressive fish species from the more docile ones,” he explains. “I’d mistakenly placed a Flowerhorn in the tank and it was making a meal of the other fish. To stop the carnage, I sawed off a portion of an old plastic shoe stand, smoothed the edges and placed it in the tank as a divider,” he says, laughing.

Dcosta has fashioned his own guitar picks and straps in the past too. “You can make guitar picks from credit or gift cards, or PET bottle caps. Smoothen the edges using sandpaper and a coat or two of nail polish for colour.” He suggests upcycling old belts and straps from laptop and duffel bags into guitar straps.

Rangarajan says that a host of things can be made from coconut shells. “You can make hanging planters by poking holes in the shell and attaching ropes. Replace soil with grain or seeds to make a bird-feeder or wax to make coconut-shell candles.”

If you’re looking at upgrading your home, glass bottles can be upcycled as trendy lamps. “Decorate the glass with enamel paint or decoupage work and slip in some string lights for a nice dim glow,” Rangarajan says. Additionally, she suggests gluing

wooden Scrabble tiles or carom coins together to make coasters.

Amishi Parasrampuria, founder of Upcycler’s Lab, suggests using old bills, magazines and newspapers to create papier-mâché projects. “Or you can cut the material into long strips and weave them together to make coasters or a waste paper basket,” she adds.

All those bottles, cards and papers you swore you’d do something with, now’s the time. It’s not even hard. You can turn coconut shells into planters, for instance, in a matter of minutes.