You have probably integrated recycling into your daily routine, at least thought about sustainability, and maybe sometimes you save your water bottles and refill them before buying a new one. There’s more each of us can do and that includes cutting back on the trash we create, even repurposing our junk items - upcycling them in the interest of sustainability.

I’ve sifted through plenty of DIY articles in my lifetime and I’ll admit a lot of their suggestions are hyped up clothes tailoring and morphing nick-nacks into jewelry. Below is a lift of college relevant and useful upcycling ideas, so take a browse and reduce, reuse, recycle friends.

1. Turn that old cutting board into a drying rack for your dishes with some pencils.

2. Need a place to hang your jewelry - here’s how to use an old paper towel roll for that exact purpose.

3. How about a wallet to hold your ID and room key?

4. There’s even a way to make these cute baskets out of old grocery bags!



5. If you want to have a place to hold your cell phone while it’s charging just grab an old lotion bottle.



6. Here’s an easy one - got old fruit baskets? All you have to do is spray paint them for additional room storage.

7. Do you have Christmas lights in your room? Use old egg cartons to make floral or cone shaped lamp shades for them.



8. Is your night stand a little messier than you may like? You can use these instructions for crafting a cardboard catch all.



9. Sending a letter but don’t want to waste money on a box of them at the store? Use sheets of old newspaper for your letter sending needs.




10. Need coasters for the common room? You can make those out of newspaper or magazines as well.