As a society, we throw away a tremendous amount of stuff each day. Bicycle waste is just one small component of the landfill equation, but it’s said that close to 15 million bikes get discarded annually. To put that into perspective, 15 million is the number of people in London and Barcelona combined. That’s lot of bikes!

The bicycle may seem like a pretty simple invention, but its made up of many parts both small and large. A 1980’s Raleigh road bike that was disassembled for a project by photographer Todd McLellan is said to have had 893 component pieces. Due to the mix of materials, the concept of recycling a bicycle sadly isn’t all that straight forward. Modern day bikes contain rubber, plastic, and often painted alloy metals making it tedious to strip down and separate into recyclable vs non-recyclable materials.

The phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” is all one we are familiar with, but that saying can take on double meaning when referring to the reimagination of old bicycles. I started creating Wild Recycled products when I noticed the sheer number of bikes left in the alleyways of my own neighborhood. I have a lot of fun, imaging ways in which to repurpose different parts. With some elbow grease, a little imagination and a willingness to try new ideas, anyone can make pretty cool things out of bike waste.

If you would like to play with bicycle components and give assemblage art a try, there are a handful of tools that may be useful as you begin. Consider acquiring a set of Allen wrenches, a variety combination wrenches and socket wrenches, screw drivers, needle nose-pliers and cable cutters. Depending on the type of parts you wish to use, more specialized bicycle repair tools may be helpful.

There are endless ways that bicycle parts can be repurposed into new items. Below you will find a list of just some of the options available to you. Let your imagination run wild! What else can you come up with?