Gone are the days when 'recycling' meant nothing more than taking a few empties to the bottle bank: today, designers and crafty types are working magic with everything from lolly sticks to cat fur. But can you guess what this cute little bolero top is made from?

[Via Crafty Crafty]

It goes without saying that Christmas can be a bit of a wasteful time, but when you look at the statistics behind that hunch, the reality is as depressing as a bare and wilting Chrismas tree on twelfth night. Did you know, for example, that we waste 260,000 unopened packs of cheese in this country (a travesty if ever I heard one!) and that 5.1 million whole potatoes go uncooked?

The credit crunch will probably have reduced the amount of food bought and forgotten to a certain extent, but one thing that is unlikely to have changed is our use of wrapping paper. And unless your entire family and circle of friends decided to go for one of the artful ways of wrapping with re-usable materials, the odds are you'll now have quite a lot of festive paper on your hands. What can you do with this pretty but rather pointless mountain of dead tree?

Follow the jump for some ideas.

Home repurposing needn't be complicated: it can be as quick and easy as you like, and still every bit as worthwhile in terms of the materials you'll save.

This yardstick coatrack is a good example of a really simple project that uses up old stuff you may have around the house, or can source at flea markets or by deconstructing old bits of furniture. You can find a tutorial for this one here. [Via Crafty Crafty]

Related: From cupboard door to serving tray | how to turn old drawers into a stylish modular bookcase | re-vamp an old picture frame

Continuing in our quest to find great new uses for old stuff around the house, I wanted to share this great idea from Crafty Nest, who've posted a tutorial on turning an old cupboard door into a stylish and useful serving tray - one that would be a godsend for anyone with hordes of relatives coming round at Christmas. What I like best about this project is that every element of the original item is used in the new one, with the drawer pulls becoming functional handles on the tray - a sure sign of good repurposing.

Full instructions on how to turn a cupboard door into a tray can be found here [Via Crafty Crafty]

Related: Repurposed home #3: Kitchen | Repurposed home #2: funky and functional furniture | Repurposed home #1: lighting

Are you anticipating an influx of gadgets this Christmas? Many people will be ditching their old kettles, toasters and radios when relatives helpfully gift them new ones, while no self respecting teenager would keep hold of his or her old stereo when a new one appears under the tree.

This could all lead to a terrifying mountain of toxic rubbish, but fortunately there are plenty of ways to deal with e-waste, and we've summarised a few for you after the jump. There are money making options, good recycling karma options, options for those with a crafty finger - we've got it all.

We've had a great response to this project over on Crafty Crafty, even if I'm not at all sure I'd want to don it myself.

Shower puffs, you see, are like pipe cleaners, safety pins and egg boxes, in that they seem to have been almost invented for crafty types. Yes, they do have that scrubbie-washing feature as well, but crafters love to put them to more creative uses. And since they're also a menace to dispose of, I can only approve. Threadbanger are responsible for the tutorial on how to make this dress, which could just suffice for a credit crunch, eco chic Christmas party frock if you're desperate!

Related: Recycled crafting is 'the new knitting' | Focus on craft for a greener future

This Christmas tree made from recycled newspaper is one of the best real tree alternatives I've seen yet. It costs virtually nothing to make, helps rid the environment of excess waste and looks so pretty.

I first clocked it on Cassi Griffin's Bella Dia, where she shared her own version pictured left, but it's actually from a Martha Stewart pattern which you can find here. Instead of newspaper, you could try using leftover aluminium foil, felt, or crepe paper. [Via Crafty Crafty]

Related: Alternative green Christmas tree | Yay or nay: Would you rent a Christmas tree? | Grow your own Christmas tree

Wrapping paper has got to be one of the most blatant displays of waste that Christmas subjects us to, and the number of trees that have given their lives to conceal our presents at Christmas alone has been estimated to be as high as 50,000. You can help the situation by re-using old paper, or buying only recycled giftwrap. But an even better solution is using fabric that can be re-used to make your own beautifully wrapped gifts.

In the video below, Recycle Now takes you through one option: the Japanese art of fabric-wrapping: Furoshiki.

Furoshiki gift wrapping from RecycleNow on Vimeo.

Related: Make your own eco-friendly Christmas wrapping paper | Dreaming of a green Christmas (but can't afford it)?

Feet starting to feel a bit chilly as you stagger out for your morning shower? A fluffy bathmat makes the whole experience a whole lot more bearable, but in my experience it's hard to find one that isn't made of synthetic fluff (or horribly expensive). No prizes for guessing what I'm about to suggest as a solution then! But did you know you can make a great bath mat out of an old towel? Towels are bulky and can be hard to dispose of responsibly, so this is a lovely recycling project that you won't regret embarking on.

Follow the jump to find out how

[Via Ecologue]

Daniel Sung, editor of Tech Digest, writes:

If you're having a bit of a Spring clean, then I should remind you that you're running on Southern hemisphere time. Now that I've done that, I should point you in the direction of AbundaTrade.com where you can recycle your old CDs into gadgets.

It's all quite simple and actually rather complicated. Every CD is worth one credit assuming it plays and has some sort of current market value. If not, you get either half or a quarter of a credit. If it comes without its box or the artwork, you may get slightly less too.

I'm not advocating smoking or illicit substances, but instead I'm praising the ingenuity of the creator of this bong. It would have been so easy just to chuck his old NES controller. But no, he refused to waste resources and by dint of some hose and and a drill he created a workable bong. Sadly the controller has now ceased to work, but hey, we now have a new product.

[via Shiny Shiny]

'I'm sure they only send it abroad' is a common refrain I've heard when talking about council recycling schemes, and it's starting to look like this belief may be true in many cases. Some councils are happy to admit they send waste abroad, while others keeps schtum. But it's definitely going on, which raises the question is it better to recyle abroad than not recycle at all? I found that it's not nearly as straightforward a question as you might think...

What first caught my eye about this quilted clutch was the bizarre fan shape, the great contrasting materials and the textured frill detail around the edge. Bags that catch my eye are pretty much my job, so of course I quickly stopped scrolling. But what had me clicking through to find out more?

There's nothing green about flying. Unless, that is, you're recycling a plane and turning its innards into stuff we can use for blameless everyday activities with a clear conscience. Of course, you could go to the lengths of grounding a plane and turning it into a hotel, but a less extreme solution is to turn your jumbo's upholstery into fresh and funky luggage accessories...

I'm looking for a rug for my room at the moment, and the selection I've seen so far has been so disappointing! So many are made from dull, synthetic materials or are just too pricey. It was only when I looked up rugs on Etsy when I found these fun creations, all of which were something else in a previous life...