Stunning Crafts Created With Recycled Electronic Waste

Holidays are just around the corner, and electronic items are one of the major categories of holiday gifts. According to retail estimates, electronics and accessories are one of the top 5 items people buy as holiday presents. They account for a total of 13% of gift purchases for Christmas.

Keeping that in mind, it’s fair to speculate that come this holiday season, many of us are getting brand new electronic items as a present.

So, where does that leave us our old ones?

According to e-waste estimates, every year we wreak havoc to our environment by dumping billions of tons of electronic waste into our landfills. Worse, we use landfills in developing countries, where the climate change risks are already at a heightened level, and where there aren’t enough resources or infrastructure to deal with that waste in a manner that is healthy to human lives or the planet.

In a nutshell, dropping our current electronics like hot potato the moment we get new gadgets is not good for anyone.

And while recycling is a great option, today we are going to talk about another kind of recycling: recycling that gives birth to art.

We are talking about using electronics and accessories to create jewelry, home décor, and even office stationery. Halloween costumes, toys, and everyday use items are also on our agenda.

Come, let’s take a look.

1. Old TV Jewelry

Image Source: etsy.com
The artist behind the Etsy store Obvious Front uses salvaged TV and VCR parts to create robot jewelry items. These primarily include earrings but the store has a collection of toys, robot figures, and key chains, etc. too.

Taking your inspiration from these pieces, you can try to create some jewelry from e-waste yourself. Old computer and laptop parts or electronic accessories such as wires have great potential to be used as various parts of unique jewelry. If you do a bit of Google search online, you can see people have created necklaces, bracelets, rings, and even chokers out of electronics spare parts.

So keep it for your inspiration board and let’s see what else is out there.

2. Circuit Board Coffee Table

Isn’t this a great décor idea? Not only is this coffee table great to look at and is doing its bit to help the planet, but how incredibly genius the idea is!

If you are a computers person or have kids who are interested in the field, this coffee table made out of computer circuit boards is a great talking and learning point. You can show the kids how everything is connected and what roles different parts play. You can show them the different materials used in the circuit board such as copper, fiberglass epoxy, laminations, and insulation sheets.

The circuit board coffee table can also be an interesting talking point at a party.

Image Source: inhabitat.com

3. Sci-Fi Masks

Image Source: Source
Halloween is just around the corner, and this is a great opportunity to use your old electronics junk to create some bizarre but incredible sci-fi masks.

Sure, some of these masks are scary but it’s time we take Halloween seriously. And if we can’t use our old computers to help us with our costumes, what is even the point of anything?

4. Mouse Robot

Image Source: Source
This is one of our favorites on the list. Look at his cute face, those beautiful feet, and the brave stance! If you have got a bunch of old computer mouse laying around somewhere, use them to create a neat little robot figure for yourself.

It can be a DIY project for you or you can enlist the whole family to help and make it even more detailed and complicated.

5. Keyboard Fridge Magnets

Image Source: pinterest
Using the keys of your discarded keyboard as refrigerator magnets is another way to up-cycle your e-waste. The keys can be used to hold the sticky note messages or you can even use the keys themselves to spell out the note.

Here is a DIY tutorial explaining the process.

6. Old Monitor Aquarium

Image Source: pinterest
If you have got one of those old clunky Compaq or Samsung monitors or iMacs, circa the 90s, this is the craft to try. Sure, it is a bit detailed and requires a lot more work than most others on this list, but if you are into DIY or if you just want to start a fun project, this is the thing for you.

You don’t have to put any actual fish in there, just create the ambiance. Or if you want, we’re not going to stop you. With a bit more work, you can get a proper aquarium running from an old monitor, TV, or

7. E-Waste Sculptures

Image Source: manmadediy.com
If we are talking about electronics, the discussion needs a mention of Steve Jobs. The man and his genius contributed immensely to the collection of technology and gadgets that have forever changed our lives.

If you have got an artistic streak in you and it can inspire you to produce something as beautiful as this sculpture of Jobs from a whole bunch of e-waste, there is a whole niche to explore. Here’s a Pinterest board to inspire you even more.

What’s Next?

Creating art from the rubble of e-waste is a whole genre to traverse; we’ve only scratched the surface. But we are hoping this will inspire you to delve deeper and see what amazing things people are doing to curb their e-waste production and use the present junk to create beautiful pieces of art.