On The Web – 3 Of The Best Alt Use Blogs

Alternative uses for everyday items is a thrifty, creative and conservative way to use less in a world of mass consumption. It has lots of deep and important implications, but it’s also fun! How good does it feel when you come up with another use for a product you already own? Or, how cool is it when you pass by a structure on the street that was originally created for one purpose, but found it’s best usage in a completely different way?

There are 3 websites that we can’t get enough of, each with their own specific angle to the alt use solution. Get your bookmarking finger ready cause you could spend hours perusing.

Dornob

Dornob features creative contemporary domestic designs, from unique home architecture to custom interior, furniture & DIY design ideas. Not everything they cover is repurposed or alt use but when they do touch on it, they range in topic from developing countries lighting homes with plastic bottles to creative DIY-ists constructing homemade air conditioners out of fans, coolers and copper wires, all with a focus on design.

Inspiring post: Some genius in The Philippines came up with the simple idea of filling a clear plastic bottle with water and a bit of chlorine, and letting it poke out of a hole in the roof of an otherwise darkened home. The effect is a fully illuminated room using pure solar light. Read more about Solar bottle lamps.

See more at Dornob.com.

My Plastic Free Life

My Plastic Free Life chronicles the personal journey of one woman’s mission to eliminate the use of plastic from her life completely. Beth provides tips and how-tos on how to replace store-brought products and reuse functioning products she already owns in alternative ways.

Inspiring post: In an effort to reduce her consumption of store-bought plastic-packaged goods, Beth found alternative ways to clean her teeth. This post includes store-bought, plastic-free products and homemade solutions to keep them teeths pearly white. Read more about all natural toothpaste alternatives.

See more at Myplasticfreelife.com.

Urban Guide For Alternative Use

Now defunct – the community has largely moved to facebook – this website has plenty to peruse if you’ve never visited before. The Urban Guide For Alt Use features ideas of how people in cities across the world repurpose or reimagine public objects and areas.

Inspiring post: People are using ignored and often broken payphones in New York City as planters. Since the city has no plans for removal – in fact, according to The Guide, there are plans for installing more because the ad sales are a huge boon for the city budget – people are planting trees and plants to replaced the unused phones. Read more about how pay-phones are turning into planters.

See more at Altuseguide.com.

Tell Us!

We know there are hundreds, no, thousands of blogs out there covering this subject in one way or another – please tell us about all the excellent ones we don’t know about yet. Leave it in the comments!