The plastic pollution often observed on seashores is indicative of a greater problem manifesting in the oceans. However, such pollution mostly emanates from land-based sources. To help mitigate the problem of plastic pollution, we describe herein a waste material-based household triboelectric nanogenerator (H-TENG) that operates in the vertical contact-separation mode. The device takes less than 5 min to fabricate and can be made in-house from recyclable materials without the need for scientific equipment or laboratory expertise. The device was made using randomly selected waste materials. The maximum peak-to-peak voltage generated was 44 V, and the corresponding peak-to-peak short-circuit current (ISC) generated was 289 nA. The H-TENG was systematically studied and showed the capability to exploit biomechanical energy to operate liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Furthermore, we demonstrated how the H-TENG could be used as a dynamic force sensor for small dynamic force detection. Finally, we discuss applications of H-TENGs in an in-house emergency direction system, security system and a magnetically attachable/detachable smart chopping board. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd