Upcycling: Turn trash into toys, crafts or a class project
BEFORE you toss something into the trash, use your imagination and take a second look at it. That toothpaste-tube-top might make a perfect lampshade for a dollhouse. An empty CD case could become a maze game. Toilet paper rolls could be connected and decorated as garages for miniature cars.
This is called “upcycling”. Recycling involves putting throwaways through a professional process to create something new, such as when plastic bags become material for decks.
Upcycling is different. “The goal is taking things you don't need and designing new uses for them with your own creative energy,” said Susan Miranda. She is a co-founder of Up-Cycle Creative Reuse Centre, which opened 10 years ago in Alexandria, Virginia.
To step into this shop is to walk into a mini wonderland of possibilities. Your imagination is the key to transforming something that would normally be thrown away into something fun, attractive and useful.
You won't find prepared kits with step-by-step directions. Instead you'll find two small rooms containing shelves, bins and drawers full of art supplies, fabric, yarn, buttons, bows, shells, stones, jars, containers and more. All of the items were donated, then sorted and organized by volunteers into well-marked groups. They are sold for a tiny portion of the price of new items.
It's like going on an art-inspiring treasure hunt — you never know what you will find.
The reuse centre helped Margot Pennypacker, 11, of Falls Church, Va., with a science project. “I found beads, buttons, yarn and other small bits at UpCycle to make a 3-D model of plankton for my project,” she said. She also found foam vegetable trays and, by poking a design in them, made stamp pads for creating greeting cards and display art.
“With upcycled materials you can experiment and take more creative risks,” Margot said. “And I feel good knowing that I am helping the environment.”
Alexandria twins Lucia and Quinn Russell, 6, are regular customers of Upcycle.
“We come up with different ideas,” said Quinn, who found blank badges, turning one into a firefighter's badge to use with his homemade helmet of red paper and white tape.
Lucia found mini “Hello Kitty” faces and plain clips to create hair barrettes. While looking at some 12-sided dice, Quinn said they could become asteroids in a space-oriented project.
Noa Organek, 12, also of Alexandria, whose mom, Kelley Organek, is one of the center's founders, suggests looking at the offerings first, thinking, “I can use this for ...” before making choices.
“Art makes me happy,” said Noa, who enjoys finding wire and stones or sea glass there to work into jewelry.
“Alexandria's UpCycle Creative Reuse Center empowers children's thought and thinking through creativity in a setting where conversation and innovation can thrive,” Kelley Organek said.
“To upcycle is to reuse before recycling,” said Miranda, describing upcycling as Step 2 in a three-step process minimizing the stuff that ends up in landfills.
Step 1. Reduce: Simply acquire less. Don't buy what you don't really need.
Step 2. Reuse: Give new life to an unneeded object.
Step 3. Recycle: Professionals convert paper, glassware, plastics or cardboard into new materials.
The upcycle challenge
Gifts, decorations, wrapping paper, greeting cards or items for school projects can be made through upcycling instead of purchasing new. With a parent's permission, see how many clean throwaways you can salvage in your home. (Don't use things such as cans with sharp edges.)
Put them in an "inspiration box," then ask a couple of friends to do the same. You can have fun spending an afternoon sharing items collected and exchanging ideas on how to reuse them. Encourage a community center or youth group to do the same.