Frankenstein Flatpack Laundry Crate (repair)

I really hate waste. Whilst these cheapo laundry crates are good for a while, they always break and then it's off to landfill (or perhaps to somehow end up in the ocean with all the other discarded plastic).

These crates always seem to fail in the same way - the hinges give out and then you have a loose end panel.

I had a simple idea for fixing this with a few cable ties acting as a new hinge.

This really is super easy. As you can see in the first picture I drilled 4 holes from the outside of the crate with the broken-hinged end section propped into place (I used a drill bit suitable for metal but I think a wood bit would also be fine).

Once through I threaded a cable tie through each hole before clipping off the tails.

It's turned out a pretty robust repair, so I've kept this out of landfill a while longer - it's pretty useful too!

Frankenstein crate is born!