Here are our top 10 ways to upcycle pallets from industrial waste into useful, sustainable stuff (that isn’t just more hipster cafe furniture!).
Beloved equally by upcyclers and hipster cafes, the humble pallet is an abundant resource for the savvy DIY enthusiast.
While pallets are a symbol of our capitalist dystopia: the vessel on which we transport goods manufactured overseas to our shores by fossil fuelled boats, trucks and forklifts – they are a huge waste product, so finding clever ways to upcycle pallets into sustainable projects has become a bit of “a thing”.
Here are our top 10 ways to upcycle pallets and flip them from industrial waste product into useful household DIY item (that is not just hipster cafe furniture!).
1. Bike rack
The power of pallets is harnessed in this stupidly simple design for a porch bike rack. It is a pallet, leaned up against a wall at a 45 degree angle… and that’s it! If you really wanted to fancy things up you could bolt it to the wall, but you know, we like to keep it simple stupid.
2. Seed planting organiser
This thing looks like a really cool way to organise your seedlings, but it’s actually just a pallet, turned upside down.
We like the idea of being able to pop a bit of salvaged glass over the top frames to turn it into an itty bitty greenhouse too.
3. Compost bin
It’s a bit of a classic thing to do, but the square-metre nature of pallets makes then ideal for hot compost bays for making 1-cube sized hot composts! While you can make a more rustic version using little more than pallets and a few star pickets this design is pretty swish:
4. Bike trailer
An excellent way to carry stuff or people (or both), bike trailers are pretty nifty little things that can turn your bike from leisure-time mate to serious-cargo-hauling-car-killer. This one can be made for less than $10 + pallet.
5. A fence
We reckon you might not ever pay for a fence again once you’ve clocked the plans for this super simple fence made from… you guessed it… pallets!
6. Composting toilet
Pallets, with their breathable gaps, make the perfect shelters for composting toilets, with bonus inbuilt shelfy things and magazine racks for your favourite dunny accessories.
7. Steps
Possibly not the greatest use of space, these pallet steps would come into their own though if you were in a tight spot financially, but blessed with plenty of room!
8. A potting bench
The shabby chic paint job is 100% optional, but this funky little number has got to be the rolls royce of garden pallet furniture.
9. Chook coop
The internet overfloweth with ideas for making chook coops out of pallets, so it seems fitting that you consider putting your pullets in a pallet whilst feeding them with pellets, no?
10. Burn them
Heat treated pallet wood is pretty safe to burn in your favourite variety of wood fire, however burning them in a super efficient rocket stove might just make you a candidate for upcycler of the year.
