Each year, nearly 800 million tonnes of waste are produced in France.
If organic household waste, agricultural waste and industrial waste represent the vast majority of what we throw away, the number of clothes, furniture and household appliances that end up in the trash remains considerable, with respectively 800,000, 1.7 million and 920,000 tons.
Instead of recycling them - an essential gesture but which relies on industrial processes that are costly in energy - reuse aims to repair them or divert them from their original use to make original creations.
Very popular in recent years, this concept has been emulated and local initiatives or on the Web are multiplying to allow everyone to learn the basics of reuse.
Repair shops are on the rise
Your toaster or washing machine just broke down. And rather than buying a new appliance, would you rather repair them but know nothing about household appliances? The repair shops are made for you. During these events operating on a collaborative model, expert volunteers share their know-how with the novices, who came with their broken object, in order to help them repair them. From IT to sewing, through DIY and electronics, everyone can learn and extend the life of their goods.
No matter where you live, you probably have a workshop like this near your home.
In addition to the courses offered in the big DIY stores, the best known are those of the Repair Café network, which has more than a hundred places across France, but there are also other local initiatives.
Do not hesitate to inquire at the town hall of your municipality.
Upcycling, the new decoration trend
Very popular on the Internet,
upcycling
consists of diverting a common functional object from its original use to transform it into an original creation. Mainly in the fields of decoration and fashion, thousands of tutorials offer solutions to transform your waste. Scraps of fabric brushed with beeswax to serve as reusable food packaging, old tires painted in bright colors and converted into planters, copper tubes assembled as industrial-style clothing racks, metal cans folded in the shape of an ashtray, clothes users sewn into shopping bags… with a little imagination, most garbage can be recycled.
If you want to get started with the reuse version of the decor but don't know where to start, bet on the wooden pallet.
This solid and inexpensive upcycling star can easily be changed into a box spring, bench, headboard, coffee table, shelf or desk and immediately gives a design side to your living rooms.
Opt for reuse
If you don't have the time to customize or repair your old items yourself, reuse is an easy way to participate in the circular economy.
It consists of giving a product that you no longer want to a third party who will use it again for its initial use.
In France, the vast majority of reuse is carried out by associative structures such as the Red Cross and Emmaus workshops, as well as by recycling centers, resource centers, sales depots and certain specialized sites (Recupe.net, Donnons.org, Envie. org ...).
Whether you want to get rid of one of your possessions or acquire a new one, think about these networks, in which sometimes real treasures are hidden.
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