Upcycling, a phrase coined by Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart, is the act of creating useful products from waste materials. You’ve probably seen several upcycled products on the market today–reusable bags are often made from old plastic bags, t-shirts, or other upcycled materials. TerraCycle is now upcycling many products, including juice pouches and cookie wrappers. Among design junkies, craftsters, and green folks, upcycling is the latest challenge to combat climate change. My only gripe is I keep seeing the same upcycling ideas–the aforementioned reusable bags, the old t-shirt revamp–and they’ve been done. Fortunately, places like Ready Made Magazine and Instructables continue to facilitate new upcycled products. Here are six creative, practical upcycling projects that, with a little time and skill, you can do at home.
- At Instructables, bike enthusiasts can turn old innertubes into new wallets.
- Ready Made turns old pallets into functional lawn furniture.
- This seems like it will be a timely project in a few months: chairs made from campaign signs.
- Green Upgrader has stylish light fixtures made from stuff from a basement:
- I’m all about making these leather cuff bracelets from old belts.
- CraftStylish has mini-journals made from old boxes and magazines.
Related Posts
Girl Reconstructed: Upcycling Old Clothes
Girl Reconstructed: Upcycling Old Clothes Part 2
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I’ve seen some beautiful ceilings done with old pallets. Looks rustic.
Great ideas. I think I have a few old belts that I could make into bracelets.
Great post! Thanks for the tips and the links!
Cradle to Cradle is one of my favorite books!
I know a guy who made his studio out of pallets and the old bleachers from a high school. We have offices in old trailers and classrooms in old buses. does that count or is that just repurposing? is it the same thing? I call my juicebox purse repurposed.
Emily–I think that’s all upcycling. I think the terms are interchangable.
I don’t want to be a wet blanket, but the concept of upcycling is one that is so important to re-conceiving how we design our world that I had to comment on the above items.
The items above are actually examples of downcycling and are what the Cradle to Cradle authors were criticizing as one of the weaknesses that is inherent in most of the environmental movement’s “Eco-efficient” guidance. To explain briefly, each of the items is a reduced and restricted form of the material’s ‘former self’. After each item wears out (which they will eventually!), it will then be passed on to either an ecologically expensive process (usually toxic and requiring consumption of further materials) to continue downcycling the item for reuse, or it will be disposed of. Since most of the items above contain toxins of some sort, the ultimate disposal is of further detriment to the earth.
If the items above were upcycled, the components would be broken down safely and cleanly, and the materials returned as industrial or natural nutrients into either an ecological or industrial system for near total reuse. They Cradle to Cradle authors have the motto “waste equals food” which I think says it all. With the exception of solar energy (it’s free!), this is how nature has handled all earth-bound materials for the life of our planet. We can only help to emulate the beautiful design patterns that have been given to us.
Don’t get me wrong, it is GREAT to try and get as much use out of the damaged goods that the industrial machine has handed us. The sad reality though is that they are constructed in a way to PREVENT upcycling. The better goal is to seek out and support processes and materials that not only sustain, but replenish both ecological and human constructed systems through the use of non-toxic, upcyclable, and nutritious materials.
Cheers,
-CP
there is a great revolution happening on etsy right now. people are making accessories out of plastic trash! check out lou’s upcycles..
What I have just learned from a documentary on the Knowledge network is that upcycling is NOT about making a quilt from cloth. It is about adding elements such as nitrogen to a product to help it break down. The materials that comprise a product should actually make the work a better place. According to Wikipedia, “It is generally a reinvestment in the environment. “Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value.”[citation needed] This process allows for the reduction of waste and use of virgin materials.”
The end product should basically disappear and have a sum total impact of improving the earth.
Hi there,
A group of trainers in Europe have been leading a number of international workshops on Upcycling. They have created a website, also a blog- with some ideas and stories and info – and we thought it might be great to connect the two sites with a link. Wonderful that the word is spreading – let’s spread it more!
Thanks,
Tracie
fromtrashtotreasure.wordpress.com/
This is an excellent post. It is really going to make me look harder at how I can upcycle (what I normally call re-purposing) items. I love that leather cuff bracelet. These are very creative and inspiring.
The lawn furniture looks great! My mom is remodeling our garden and I think she would love those. I know someone who could turn his old belts into interesting cuffs — he’s been wondering what to do with them! as for me, I think I could definitely use some of those mini journals…any instructions on how to make them yourself? There’s plenty of boxes and magazines here at home waiting to be recycled.
Hi there… this idea is call Re-Purposing….You are taking the materials and simply changing their appearance, not t heir molecular structure. This is still WAY awesome and is done in my home! We make t shirt yarn and “frog” old sweaters to reclaim their yarn to create “new” items. The material is not new, simply changed from a sweater into a ball of yarn to be used again. This is neat! Keep up the good work, but your editor should have researched the terminology better!