Today, we all store all our data on flash drives, external HDDs, our computers and on the cloud which means that there are a lot of discarded CDs and floppy disks ready to be dumped into landfills. But there are a few innovative designers out there that have found a way to make these old CDs and floppy disks extend their useful life.
Old CDs recycled to make kitchen owl hanging
Kitchen owls are great at keeping birds away from your kitchen garden to. They also brighten up a corner of your kitchen. A great way to get yourself a new kitchen owl is to recycle your old CDs and some kitchen supplies to fashion one. There are plenty of tutorials online teaching you to piece such an item together and you can pick one that suits your level of craft expertise and the kind of time you can devote to the project.
Recycled CDs used to make glittering pavilion
While you and I are busy trying to fashion a kitchen owl out of our old CDs, we have folks like Mushit Fidelman, Guy Austern and Arielle Blonder using the computer consumables to create pavilions! Yup, you read that right; this team of imaginative architects has actually used old CDs as the basic building block for their proposal for a new architectural pavilion. Now that just makes our DIY CD owls look bad!
Old floppy disks recycled into funky notebook
If you have a bunch of old floppy disks lying around your house, the first question anyone would ask you is what the heck are you still doing with them? Once you are past the embarrassment of hoarding floppy disks in the second decade of the new millennium, you can take solace in the fact that there are plenty of people that have a bunch of these ancient computer consumables in store still though they are giving them a second lease of life as notebooks. Made using chain links, cable ties and rubber bands, these notebooks make your regular notebook look bad and also prevent the edges of paper sheets from curling up with use!
Bag made from floppy disks
If you still have a few floppy disks left over after making a bunch of notebooks out of them, you can always pieces a few together and fashion yourself a floppy disk bag to carry your floppy disk notebooks in! Made using fabric lining and, these DIY floppy disk bags may not be uber fashionable but they are a great way to get more use out of your old floppies. Plus, they would be great at imparting irony if you’re trying to fit in with the hipster crowd in college!
Shattered CDs used to make animal sculptures
Sean Avery is an Australian sculptor and illustrator who did not know what to do with his collection of CDs after he bought an iPod. So he decided to shatter them all and throw them around a nemesis’ front yard. But the sheer beauty of these shattered CDs inspired him so much that he used them to create a line of incredible sustainable art and animal sculptures. P.S., we totally lied about the iPod thing- the guy just shatters CDs because he is an “artist”!
