Need to empty the trash? HOLD ON!!

I can help you put all your Geography lessons to use. You can now reduce global warming, reuse discarded items and recycle your waste to make a working lamp, all under $1.

Step 1: Gathering Material:

It's very simple; all you need is a pair of gloves, a mask and a trash bag and you are ready to dig in!

While you're at it, you should particularly look for:

1) A slab of wood

2) Saran wrap roll

3)Acrylic tube (or any plastic tube)

4)Media air filter

5) Spring

6) A broken lamp (wire, a plug and a holder could work too)

7) Working led bulb

Some tools that may also come in hand are:

1)Gorilla tape

2) Hot glue gun

3) Band saw

4)Belt and hand sander

5)Japanese pull saw

6)Pliers

7)Clamps

8)Scissors

9)Needle and thread

10) Drill

11) Exacto Knife

Step 2: Sketch:

What's a lamp without a design?

It may help you to sketch out an idea for how you want your lamp to look like. This is a sketch I made to help me mark out my dimensions and assist me through my construction.

Step 3: The Base

Everything needs to stand on something and that's where the design for the base comes in.

I designed a shape that compliments my materials- an oval big enough for the shade and the cylinder. I created a layout on illustrator which fits in the size of the wooden slab I found, and used a band saw and a belt sander to shape it. Using a hand sander, I gave it smooth and balanced surfaces and edges. To allow the wire to pass, i drilled a hole right in the middle of the smaller side of the oval.

Step 4: The Stand

To make a desk lamp, it should be able to give light from a good height.

I picked a large saran wrap roll to represent a stand. I drilled 2 holes on either sides of the roll to allow the pipe to cross, and another hole in the middle of the pipe, so that the wire can be crossed while being concealed.

Step 5: Putting It Together

Now you have your design and all the materials.

You can start assembling your lamp, and I did that by first shoving the acrylic tube through the saran wrap roll. I then began stringing the wire and lamp socket through the acrylic tube, adding a spring to cover the wire and allow the lamp bulb to hang in order to provide light efficiently.

Now that the wire has passed the acrylic tube, I allowed it to pass through the hole drilled in the centre of the tube in order to plug it from the base. To do that, you may have to cut an already joined wire, and re-wire it once it has passed through the base of the lamp.

Once the wire has travelled down the tube, the basic structure is ready. I used the hot glue gun to neatly attach the roll to the base.

Step 6: Dispersion and Diffusion of Light

A shade may generally be seen as a decorative element in a lamp, but it also allows the equal dispersion of light.

A translucent material is normally most effective, and therefore I decided to use the media air filter. It is an easily sculpt-able and permeable fabric, which I cut into strips . To restrict the wiring from showing, I used a curtain blind panel, stacking the strips neatly one on top of another attaching them by a running stitch from the inside and glue for the panels. I stitched the hem of the lamp for a more trimmed look.

Step 7: Final Touches

At this point, your lamp is almost ready to use.

A few more additions such as attaching the shade and re-wiring the wire, will allow the lamp to work efficiently, almost as good as a store bought lamp!

To have a levitating shade, I strung together the lamp socket and shade by thin wires, and a spring. This would allow it to hang without obstructive supports, but would also prevent it from swaying around.

Now, all that is required to have a successful desk lamp is joining the wires that were initially cut in order to assemble the lamp. Delicately cut both the ends of the wire in half using an exacto knife, and cut off the plastic coating. This will leave you with live wires, which you can carefully twist together and attach to the part it was cut from. To prevent electrocution, use gorilla tape or wire clips to conceal the wire, leaving you with a lamp ready to be plugged in!