NEED SOMETHING?
Make it with materials on hand.


How?
Ponder this principle: If you can’t fix it, you don’t own it. (It owns you.)

Almost anything you need, you can make yourself:
-Make food from raw ingredients.
-Quilt with leftover fabrics.
-Build a mechanical toy with scrap materials.
-Hack your cell phone to make it do something new. (Your kids already can.)
-Brew your own beer.

Just use your imagination. Experiment. Learn. And in the process, save money and resources.

More information and inspiration:
http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto
http://mnzoo.org/cell/index.asp
http://www.instructables.com/
http://blog.makezine.com/

Why?
Re-using materials is good for the environment. It keeps them out of landfills, cuts back on shipping, and decreases the demand for new materials taken from the earth.

Doing it for yourself helps build resilience. For society, it builds skills useful to global competitiveness. Making things together builds relationships.

Besides, it’s fun.

Next Steps
When you can’t re-use something, get it to people who might be able to. Sell it. Donate it. And, only in the end, recycle.