After seeing just how much garbage we generate each day I decided to try and do something about it. I know it’s an uphill struggle but I feel we can reuse much more than we currently do. I found that by being creative we can also make some money on the side too.
So how can you make money from waste/garbage/trash?
You can make money by upcycling. Upcycling is making something useful from something you would toss away into the trash.
- Turn glass bottles into candles, lamps, or wind chimes (link)
- Use styrene to make dioramas
- Turn aluminum cans into gaming terrain
- Add electronic components to books and folders to make steampunk art
- Make cardboard dolls houses
- Make cardboard picture frames
- Use wood to make chopping boards, coasters, or clocks.
- Turn old magazines into cool wall art
- Turn cardboard tubes into cute castles
So how exactly can you start doing this? Let’s have a look at some options and questions you may have along the way.
How do you make money from garbage?
One of the first steps you need to do is to identify what you can use and what you can’t. To make this easier you may want to start splitting your garbage into various components. Keep all the plastics together, the paper together, any metals such as tin cans, etc.
Even food waste should be split if you are looking to use food scraps too to make a few dollars. Keep vegetable peelings and uncooked vegetable scraps apart from cooked food and meat scraps. You can put the veggie scraps in with your grass clippings to make compost. If you have a large family and garden then you may end up with a lot of organic waste.
Once you have separated your trash into various types you can then see what you can use and what you can’t. Here is a link to sciencing. This website will show you what types of plastics you can recycle but for the purposes of upcycling, it’s not needed.
What you can recycle to make money?
One of the best things about upcycling is that you don’t need to worry about recycling codes. Why? Because you are going to make something someone will keep, not toss away.
So what items can you recycle/upcycle to make money? The most common items we find in our house are plastic bottles, cardboard, styrofoam, and tin cans. We also see a lot of paper, scrap wood, and other types of metal.
Cardboard
This is one of the most common items found around the house, especially since Amazon has entered our lives (and our wallets!). Rather than just tossing your cardboard into the recycling bin or trying to save enough to sell (maybe a few dollars a kilo, if that) you could grab your marker pen, some glue, and a little pain and end up with something like this:
It took a while to make and paint but it sure as hell worth a lot more than a few cents and the extra materials needed to make it won’t cost more than a few dollars so make a few of these and you are laughing all the way to the bank. Thanks, Amazon!
Styrofoam
There are many types of styrofoam out there at the moment but they are mostly in the form of annoying blocks of white foam nobody wants to go near with a ten-foot pole. Luckily for us with a bit of creativity we can turn an ugly unwanted bit of foam into this:
Sure there are embellishments around the main piece itself but nothing you can’t make from scratch with a little know-how, cardboard, paint, and maybe a bit of clay. Again this could easily sell for $20 to $30 to a serious role player who will happily take this off your hands. The good news? Maybe it cost about $5 to make
Cans
Can collectors are very optimistic, often scouring the streets (and garbage bins) to collect as many as possible so they can sell them at their nearest recycling center. Usually, you would need a few hundred to make it worth your while so you could be looking around for hours and hours trying to find enough.
Fortunately, tabletop wargaming and crafting could come to your rescue in the form of painted scenery and terrain which again, many people would be more than willing to pay good sums of money for like the following:
Believe it or not, this was made from a few soda cans, some cardboard, some odd pieces of plastic, and some imagination. It costs practically zero to make apart from glue and paint so you will find that rather than running around trying to find 500 cans you can get 3 and make this, selling it for perhaps 4 to 5 times what you could get for 500 cans you had to search high and low for.
Plastic bottles
Plastic bottles are usually in abundance in most homes after the rise in popularity in bottled water and other bottled beverages. With this in mind you now have access to a stash of free materials to use to make money by adding a little thought:
This fun robot was made using old plastic bottles, bottle caps, and a few squirt nozzles. With a little more effort and a splash of paint, you can get yourself a pretty nifty-looking robot from the future. You could even add a few led lights and a battery pack to it to turn it into a cool night light or lamp for someone.
Paper
The Japanese have been using paper for hundreds of years to make beautiful folded works of art but we don’t have to try and do it using just one piece, we can use our imagination, and maybe some old magazines to create something pretty special for practically no cost like this cool art piece:
Just to let you know this is currently being advertised in an online store for $85 (at time of writing) so you can imagine that after you have bought a canvas for about $15, spent time making the rows, (from plastic and old magazines, glued them together on the canvas you have maybe spent about $20 and have made something both beautiful and lucrative.
How much money can you make from recycling?
The answer to this is not an easy question. If you are looking to set up a large recycling plant you can make millions of dollars a year. If you are looking to run something out of your garage then you can easily make a few thousand dollars yearly or more.
To get a regular income from recycling you would need to have a regular supply of materials you can use to upcycle into items people will pay for.
If you have to pay to recycle in your area or have to take your own recycling to be processed yourself then you can create a win-win scenario with your neighbors by taking their recycling off their hands for them.
Helping other people solve a problem like this will help you to become successful and you may even find yourself selling their trash back to them after you have turned it into something awesome!
Imagine you have a supply of sturdy cardboard boxes like those used by Amazon, for example. With some simple tools like glue, paint, tissue paper, and some thin cardboard-like cereal box card, you could make a dollhouse that someone would easily pay $30 for even though your outlay for materials may only be a few dollars and some time.
Now imagine you are making multiple items in batches. Given that you may need to let each stage of the process set or dry, you could easily make $100 or more per day for a few hours of work each day.
How do people make a living recycling?
It’s easy to start making money from recycling but to turn it into a living wage can take a bit more effort.
As I have mentioned before you can upcycle some of your recycling into pieces the people will want to buy.
What many people do is identify what recyclable items are available in their area and think of an idea or concept within their skill set that they can use to then make something that can be sold easily.
Many families make a living recycling by using their spare time to make things they can sell. Either during the day when kids are at school or in the evenings after they have gone to bed.
If you feel you don’t have any talent or cannot think of anything you could make then it may be worth looking at any local flea markets or craft fairs in your area.
These are often places where you can get a lot of ideas and inspiration for something you may want to make. Good places to check out are places like Instagram or Esty, where you could set up a craft shop for free and sell your creations there.
Have a look at your local community colleges as they may offer evening classes where you can take some craft classes to help you on your way.
How do I start a recycling business?
First, you need to decide if this is something you really want to do.
If it is then the next thing is to see if this is something you are willing to commit to long-term and is there a market for what you want to make and sell.
I have written an article about setting up a candle-making business, which you may want to check out (click here). It will give you an idea about some of the things you may need to consider before starting up.
Supply is as important as demand. Check around your neighborhood to see if there will be a regular supply of materials for you to use. Common items like beer bottles are great but if you are looking for old cd’s then you may find yourself traveling further and further afield to get what you need.
Starting small may be beneficial to begin with. Make some test pieces for family and friends to gauge the response before committing to spending any large sums of cash on your venture.
After you have tested your idea with family and friends then consider a car boot sale or garage sale as your next step. If this too is successful then try to rent a stall at a craft fair or market as a one-off to see how you fare in a more commercial setting.
If you can turn a decent profit at a craft fair then you may well be able to set up a recycling business. At this stage, you could also consider selling online if you can keep a consistent supply available. Companies like Etsy are a good place to open an online store but you will need to adjust your prices as you will need to pay for the privilege of being on their site.
Ideas for a recycling business
Making things from glass bottles such as candles, and wind chimes (link)
Adding electronics to everyday items such as plastic vitamin bottles to create nightlights or coke bottle lamps
Using old cardboard to make art and toys for kids
Using scraps of wood to make chopping boards, coasters, or clocks.
The list is endless. You are only limited by your imagination.
I will, in the future be creating a Youtube channel and a members-only area with lots of free tutorials to give you ideas and inspiration to be creative. Hopefully, you will make some great things too, reduce your waste and maybe even make some decent money from it to boot!
Looking to make money from crafts?
Click here to learn how with our step-by-step guide showing you everything you need to know.