My attempts to reuse and recycle things for my lego room

 I have found ways to try to recycle objects for my legos storage

I was really struck by a sign at a zoo having a picture of...

The amount of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch accumulates because much of it is not biodegradable. ... For many people, the idea of a “garbage patch” conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics.Jul 5, 2019

https://www.nationalgeographic.org › ...

Great Pacific Garbage Patch | National Geographic Society From google search 10/9/21

From marine litter vital graphics, cartographer maphoto/Riccardo Prevettoni 

So I've tried to help this problem.....

1) my favorite idea found the day after Christmas...plastic containers made to hold 5-10 display items

Walmart had inserts in boxes the day after Christmas to display various trinkets, ornaments....I got at least 70 for drawer partitions since they would have just been thrown out...here's a better pic of just 1

2 OJ plastic containers

These work really good for pieces that don't have odd edges that catch on other pieces i.e. dollies that on city set had, also minifigs.  The containers are easy to clean and they hold a lot of small pieces.  I tried grape juice containers but the dyes can bleed on to the legos

Great for small pieces, bad for large plates and minifigs that hook together when in the bottleneck as happened below

3) oxyclean detergent containers (more of a heavy cardboard)

These are a good size for holding objects in sterilite and the near square size helps prevent lost drawer space due to round curves wasting room...cool whip container is good but has roundness wasting drawer 

4...the obvious Pick a brick containers and lego plastic containers as per pictures 4a-4e below

I saw on the internet where there was a behind the door organizer with each slot holding a cup.  I never did that, but I kept them in a drawer

4A above (the containers on the left were not lego, the lids weren't airtight so instead of using for food, I converted the use for Lego!)

I wish the black container above on the right was more sqaure vs wider at top, makes it take more room and unstable vs box shape

4B (above) this is the best lego container...perfect for stacking and durable

4c. Pick a brick container

4d lids for pick a brick containers...good for stacking when assembled but not very stable without being braced against something on 2 sides/wedged in

4e..these containers were slippery and didn't stack well because there was no interlocking mechanism....2 studs on top would have been perfect, but even then the lids didn't stay on

5) KFC washable containers for veggies or mashed potatoes and jello cups...both are easy to clean but the roundness and low profile didn't work well in sterilite drawers

Above: KFC containers were easy to soak and wash

6) not really plastic, but thrift stores are full of these type of either cooking or shelving accessories...when put in containers with various pieces, they allow lifting bigger pieces out quicker

Hopefully these things will make a small dent in the plastic problem!

"The lego experience"

I went to lego fest and thought the lego experience roadshow would be different...it was slightly different as there were different models, but everything else was about the same.   The models amaze me as to the detail, color use and size.

I liked the above 3 pics for older kids about how to organize and give info how to build like the master builders

I think this was neat to show kids how to use simple lego pieces as something else...creating a visual illusion.

It was a definite experience!!!

Lego fest

 Alright, I went to lego fest when it was here

I thought it was for all ages but it was more for kids.  I felt rather awkward but some kids thought I was pretty good, I did build 1 heck of a model plane

Even as an adult you have to say thats pretty impressive!

AnDROID phone pic

 

The  pics above show families having a good time...nice to see

Love the triceratops, colors were great

Barney was cold turning blue vs. Purple

Lego, I am your father...not really

Who doesn't like Indiana jones....glad the boulder didn't run him over into pieces...

The car was just amazing, esp the stats on the sign with it.  Love how at that size, square bricks create curves on the front hood

...In my day, we didn't have...

 Ok, I'm hard core old school lego but here's 5 things that take the difficulty away from lego...in all fairness it saves time but for me, doesn't seem as fun or challenging.

1) the 1x2x5 block

Instead of stacking 5 2x1 legos, this brick is for time saving...I noticed in the newer police stations

2) lego horses

This is the biggest simplification that I hate...

1984 

I hate this style of horse, I Think the style just looks cheesy but again, I'm old fashioned

3) the 1 piece staircase

Old school stairs built slat by slat!

Here's another train crossing bridge from idea book 7777, the stairs are piece built with multiple plates!

( no rail, but no premade stairs!!)

The bridge above shows comparisons between the one piece ladder and the stairs built of lego. The detail of the brown tile rail is so neat and then just a bland stairway the rest of the way...no rail which is a safety hazard too!!!

Here's another example of stairs made of separate pieces...that can be more versatile for an alternative model.

Here's another train crossing bridge from idea book 7777, the stairs are piece built with multiple plates!

4) the plane/helicopter cockpit fuselage

I can't have it both ways, I complained about not having good nose pieces in a prior blog, but the huge pieces are hard to be creative with.  There are some neat plane/bullet trains created as mocs that I've seen on the internet that were made with this piece

5) big ugly rock pieces (burps) and castle walls

The big ugly rock pieces do have potential for rocky scenes but I didn't like the gray castle pieces that started after the yellow castle 

Thanks everyone for listening to my rant!!!