What Is Upcycling?
From an age before islands of waste plastic choked the ocean, our ancestors would be baffled by this modern ‘trend’ and its catchy name. ‘Upcycling’ was a way of life that our great grandparents grew up with, but today, more than ever, with the increasing cost of living and a modern over reliance on disposable products, it is time to re-skill ourselves with the ‘make do, and mend’ mentality that got our predecessors through tough times.
Unlike recycling, which is purely a sustainable way to reduce landfill and conserve resources, upcycling not only benefits our purses, and the environment, but it also encourages us to think creatively, and to gain a sense of purpose and satisfaction from transforming unwanted goods, otherwise destined for the dump, into useful things of beauty.
Benefits of Upcycling
The practice can extend into all aspects of life, from fashion to gardening, and any area of life where we use ‘stuff’ that wears out. There are rewarding upcycling opportunities bringing communities together that repurpose old unwanted things to benefit their local environment, such as public spaces and wildlife gardens. Plus, if you’re really savvy, and find an innovative way to upcycle goods that are in demand, it can also generate an income.
Examples of Upcycling
When it comes to fashion upcycling, you’ll find many social media accounts offering tips and inspiration for conserving, updating and re-styling your wardrobe as well as creating new clothes from lovely old fabrics. Emma Friedlander-Collins is a seamstress and crochet addict posting ingenious projects for transforming tired old clothes into new and unique pieces @steelandstitch. For timeless style and effortlessly chic ways with old cashmere jumpers, take a look at Anna Kilpatrick’s new website, launched on the back of her motivational instagram account Not Needing New
The best upcycling projects make use of a quantity of items that are suddenly surplus to requirement, such as clothes hangers, cake tins or glass jars; turning them into things like lamp shades, table centrepieces or bird feeders.
How to get started with Upcycling
The first step to upcycling any kind of textiles is to make sure you equip yourself with a basic sewing kit so that, even if you’re not up to full-on pattern cutting or yarn bombing, you can at least repair, darn, or alter your favourite garments to prolong their life. This one is perfect, but you can create your own using a lidded basket like this from La Redoute, and beg, borrow or steal the contents from your mum or any friends who craft! For other ideas and materials take a look at Sostrene Greene and The Spruce.
It doesn’t take long to transform a piece of outdated or discoloured furniture with a rub of wire wool, and a coat of water-based chalk paint (Annie Sloan) finished with a wax polish. Add new handles or hair-pin legs, and your old bit of Granny’s brown furniture (which incidentally, would have been built to last) takes on a contemporary look that fits beautifully into a modern home.
With judicious use of good quality acrylic films (find some great ones at Restowrap) you can achieve striking design details on old kitchen units or faded formica furniture.
In her BBC series, Money For Nothing, Sarah Moore has inspired us with upcycling ideas for twelve seasons -that’s a lot of daytime TV! She advises: 'A hammer is a hammer, second hand tools will do the job just as well as brand new ones. Try asking around to see if friends or family have tools you could borrow, become a member of a local tool library, or consider picking up pre-loved items from a re-use shop at your local recycling centre.’
And if you want to get stuck into more involved projects and learn a particular skill, seek guidance from organisations such as Petit Miracles where you can get to grips with re-upholstering and other more technical aspects of upcycling that might in turn prove rather lucrative.
