Next Friday, the students at Gather will present their upcycle projects to end Earth Month. But each day this week, Ashley & I will be providing articles that align with our school's main lessons.
Upcycling
I know some folks are like, "Wayment (wait a minute) - I thought it was Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?" Well, add a U to the three R's, because upcycling is a vibe. I have a deep passion for the Reuse & Upcycle portions of conservation & so here is my tangent & secret.
Throwing things away, wasting, or letting things go without getting EVERY OUNCE of use out of them is not my style. Even when I was a young girl, I could go throughout our basement, our recycling bin, my grandma’s attic, or community spaces’ curbside trash pickups and find my next invention. It didn't matter whether it was a baby squirrel crib (yes, really), an art supply box, a makeup holder, a refurbished bookshelf, a shoe container, a clothing item, etc. I find meaning and purpose in just about anything.
To upcycle may be a new word, but it’s been used in ancestral communities - specifically black communities - for generations. Heck, upcycling was a way of life for everyone before “fast” culture took over. Just 50 years ago, very few folks would see a small rip, wrinkle, or tear and throw away the babydoll with the bathwater. But upcycling is taking (today’s standard of) trash and making it a treasure. We all know the saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” well, people, that’s what it is.
Correction: "One human's trash is upcycled to treasure."
It’s taking what’s about to be in a landfill and reusing it creatively. In a low to no-waste lifestyle, upcycling is a way of using your items to avoid materials being in a landfill, an ocean, or incinerated (which creates greenhouse gas).
Recycle vs. Reuse
Want to know how often recycled items ended up in the landfill?
Let’s just say this:
“Of the 8.3 billion metric tons that has been produced, 6.3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste. Of that, only nine percent has been recycled. The vast majority—79 percent—is accumulating in landfills or sloughing off in the natural environment as litter. Meaning: at some point, much of it ends up in the oceans, the final sink.” - National Geographic Most of this is because many folks don’t (can't) recycle. Still, another huge issue is that what we recycle isn't being recycled.
“A Guardian investigation reveals that cities around the country are no longer recycling many types of plastic dropped into recycling bins. Instead, they are being landfilled, burned, or stockpiled. From Los Angeles to Florida to the Arizona desert, officials say, vast quantities of plastic are now no better than garbage."There are so many reasons why recycling doesn't get recycled:
Mistakes that happen during the sorting of plastics (black plastic ends up in the landfill )
Folks overfilling recycling centers/cans/dumpsters with non-recyclable items
International relationships and policies.
And so many more
So, yes, still recycle responsibly, but see recycling as a last resort. Our mission should be reduction and reuse.
Examples of Upcycling
Y'all, if you google "upcycling," there are so many AMAZING ideas, and let's not even start on Pinterest. We will also showcase some of our students' work.
So I'm going to keep this section short, but still want to give fun ideas:
Oldie but goodie: jeans upcycled to shorts, skirt
Shorts, a skirt, and shirts upcycled to a cloth bag
Yogurt container and/or egg carton upcycled to a funky plant holder
Plastic ice cream container upcycled to an artsy water paint container
In Waldorf education, glass Mason jars or pickle jars are upcycled into lanterns for festivals.
The options are endless.
Here's to being an eco-artist (Thursday's story) and creating treasure from trash.
Peace, Friends.
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