Last week, millions of TV sets became obsolete, all due to the switch from analog to digital television. So, what does an eco-minded individual do with an old, ugly, lead and toxin filled box? Well, throwing it away is not an option! You could always recycle your old television — but that doesn’t quite do the trick, does it? What is a true green geek to do? Thanks to Make Magazine, we now have a few, very clever ideas for repurposing your defunct boob tube.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to transforming your old set into a useful item. Give your cat the limelight it wants and deserves and make a cat bed out of your old TV. Or make a fish tank out of it and watch real fish swim instead of buying one of those aquarium ambiance DVD’s. Make some spooky Halloween art, use it as a coffee table, do science experiments with it, give it to a prop shop, turn it into a swanky mini bar! These are just a few of the many possibilities that Make Magazine suggests for giving your old TV a new life. You may also consider making your old set into this awesome Love Letter box we spotted at AlpineButterfly.
Whatever you do, safety comes first. Televisions can get hot, are somewhat toxic, and you can hurt yourself converting this trash into a new treasure. Once you’ve developed your masterpiece, write a blog post about it and share it with the world. Or send us some pics, and we can help you showcase it! If you don’t have the time or experience to get crafty with your old TV set, donate it to a school, hospital or charitable organization. Your analog TV is still a perfectly viable device for playing DVD’s.
Of course, the question remains: is there life after analog TV? You may be looking at that empty space in your living room, wondering how you’ll survive those rainy days. Here’s an idea: don’t buy a new TV. You’ll be surprised by how much your life was ruled by the tube, and you will find other wonderful ways to spend your time!
+ Make Magazine
Fish tank photo by Aquahobby
Cat bed photo by oskay
Love Letter Box photo by AlpineButterfly
Recycled TV Bar photo by AlpineButterfly
Or… you could just continue to use it so you don’t go buy a new TV and create more waste.
anyone with standard Cable, a cable box, satellite tv, or a DTV tuner can still use their old TV, things like the title of this post are creating a plethora of unnecessary waste from discarded TV sets.
Analog TVs most certainly are not dead – any set with an external tuner (which in the UK cost less than £20) is very much alive and kicking.
Have to agree with previous post in that it’s stories like this that encourage people to dispose of their perfectly good and functional sets when all they need is an external box
fail..
While those are clever uses for a BROKEN TV, Analog TVs are certainly not dead. As long as your TV still works it only requires an external tuner which cost very little to keep using it.
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