How to Recycle Cardboard Tubes: 10 Surprising Ideas

Given the amount of toilet paper , plastic wrap, and the like we use, knowing how to creatively recycle cardboard tubes is a good idea, both for the environment—by avoiding waste , we also avoid squandering precious natural resources—and for our own creativity. How satisfying is it to reuse an item that would otherwise end up in the trash? What can you do with cardboard tubes? Below, we'll provide some tips.

"What to do with paper towel tubes?" "What can I do with toilet paper rolls?" If you've ever asked yourself these questions, you're in the right place for inspiration. After all, as you'll see, it doesn't take much to create jaw-dropping creations with cardboard tubes. From gift wrapping to games, from lamps to Christmas crafts, you'll have plenty to choose from.

Photo Credit | Facebook Daily DIY

Index of topics

Christmas Crafts

Among the Christmas crafts using cardboard tubes that shouldn't be overlooked are these decorations . These Christmas wreaths can be hung on your front door or wherever you like. Simply flatten the roll slightly and cut it into strips about 1.5 cm wide. Then glue them together to form several pinwheels, which you can then join together. Once the wreath is ready, you can also spray paint it green for a gorgeous festive effect.

Photo Credit | Facebook Elena Gentili

Lamp

How about painting the roll a color of your choice, even black, poking holes in it evenly, and inserting the trendy LED string lights? You'll get a lamp from a cardboard tube of the desired size. Obviously, the job will look better with a larger roll.

Photo Credit | Facebook Silvia Savojni

Toys

Creating games with cardboard tubes, whether from paper towels or toilet paper , has never been so satisfying. What you see above combines several tubes of different sizes, along with cardboard and little else. Don't forget to cover it with brightly colored paper.

Photo Credit | Facebook Samantha Moretti

Ladle holder

Using decoupage, you can create a beautiful ladle (or cutlery ) holder to keep in the kitchen, near the stove. Choose a design of your choice (you can cut it out from a magazine, a flyer, or even printed paper napkins, saving you the hassle of buying expensive paper from specialty stores) and glue it on with water and white glue.

Photo Credit | Facebook Riciclo-Creativo

Sprout pots

Cardboard tubes from plastic wrap or aluminum foil , if cut into three equal sections, can be useful for germinating seeds before planting them in the ground. Furthermore, the paper they're made of is biodegradable, a plus for a sustainable choice.

Photo Credit | Facebook Katia Genova

Bird swing

Recycling a roll of film ? If you have free-roaming birds at home—many of us have parakeets that we let fly around the house—you can build them a cute swing like this one. Simply wrap the tube with string or rope and thread it through the inside, so you can hang it wherever you like.

Photo Credit | Facebook Lara Cover

Necklace holder

How can you recycle a cardboard tube into a necklace holder? It's simple: attach some hooks along its length, punch a hole on the opposite side to attach the string for hanging, and start filling it with your jewelry.

Photo Credit | Facebook Max's Mancave DIY

Pen

A super creative idea for a child's bedroom is to make a colorful and cheerful pen holder like this one. Besides adding a touch of cheer to their room, it will help them organize pencils, markers, and other stationery that would otherwise be scattered around the desk.

Photo Credit | Facebook Daily DIY

Gift box

Useful for a variety of occasions, starting with Christmas, cardboard tubes can be used as gift wrap. With a little creativity, they can be transformed into DIY gift boxes , embellished with various themed appliques depending on the occasion or the recipient. All at no cost.

Photo Credit | Facebook Gorse Richard

Chair

A slightly more ambitious project is to use cardboard tubes to create a chair like the one you see in the photo. You'll need several of them, but the end result will be worth the effort. And you'll have created, without spending a cent, an original and sustainable chair.

Recycling Cardboard Tubes: 10 Ideas