Of all the gadgets, gizmos and projects I see people creating across the web and the world, the most impressive are those built from junk. While I can truly appreciate anything built from store-bought parts, he who creates something from the dumpster has all my respect.

I realize that “being green” and recycling is a world-wide trend right now, but it takes resourcefulness and moxie to work this way. To fish something out of a junk bin (whether yours or someone else’s) and see something useful shows a true creator’s mindseet. Since the world is filling up with more and more junk all the time, that would mean we have a bottomless well of parts, right?

For me, it all goes back to working within limits. On old computers, it was limited memory (64k!), in no-budget filmmaking, it’s zero dollars for production, in the kitchen, it’s scrounging together a meal when the cupboard is "bare". Whatever the setting, I love this mentality and am learning a lot from it.