Design ideas for tossable items: Transforming your trash to treasures

Read the full guest article at Inhabitat.com

As a sculptor myself, I am always on the look out for cheap materials that I can use for my next project. Tons of one item can be a gold mine for creativity, whether it's duct tape, pencils for my latest piece of work, twigs or rocks, or upcycled trash. By re-imagining the what an item can be used for or manipulated in to, you can turn anything into a piece of personal art. While one way to do this is purely for aesthetic purposes, by reusing materials that are to be thrown out you can help the environment and unleash your artistic side at the same time. 

"In our prepackaged society, where everything is individually wrapped for freshness, garbage is more than a given. Indeed, we produce an inordinate amount of trash every year, and a lot of that comes from discarding household items that could be transformed into something else with a little care and creativity.

Repurposed items not only help to reduce the mountains of waste that are carted off to the local dump, but they also help you save significant amounts of money. When you don't need to run to the nearest store every time you need a new accoutrement for your home, you may develop a deeper respect for the belongings that you already own. With a little inspiration and a lot of creativity, you can transform your trash to treasures."