Upcycling refers to turning old things into something new without breaking down the product into its raw materials. Therefore, upcycling is different from recycling. You take an old product and give it a fabulous new life. Unfortunately, many top-quality products still go to waste. Whether it is furniture, apparel, electronics, or shoes it is a sad sight to see valuable resources and materials going to waste.
Some of the daily use items listed below with their degradation cycle:
Item |
Days it takes for degradation |
| Vegetables | 5 days – 1 month |
| Paper | 2 - 5 months |
| Cotton T-shirt | 6 months |
| Orange peels | 6 months |
| Tree leaves | 1 year |
| Wool socks | 1–5 years |
| Plastic-coated paper milk cartons | 5 years |
| Leather shoes | 25–40 years |
| Nylon fabric | 30–40 years |
| Tin cans | 50–100 years |
| Aluminium cans | 80–100 years |
| Glass bottles | 1 million years |
| Styrofoam cup | 500 years to forever |
| Plastic bags | 500 years to forever |
When we recycle, we break down old materials and turn them into new materials that we can use again. However, while recycling is one of the best methods to reduce environmental impact, you can take your eco-footprint one step further by upcycling.
For example, shoes are often made with materials that have very low decomposition rates and have been majorly contributing to environmental pollution, leading to climatic imbalance. To tackle this situation, major brands are trying to change the methods of manufacturing shoes to make them environmentally sustainable.
The environmental benefits of upcycling are massive. Apart from reducing the amount of discarded materials and waste being sent to landfills every year, it also minimizes the need for producing new products thus reducing air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and often conserving global resources.
Environmental Benefits of Upcycling
These days, many brands and designers are creating cool stuff by remodelling old stuff. This activity has reduced the number of items that were once en route to landfills, therefore preserving valuable resources.
We have become so used to things that have been mass-manufactured that we buy products as fast as we throw products away. It contributes to landfill thus causing land pollution. Moreover, most of the products that we throw away take decades to decompose. Therefore, the garbage just keeps piling up.
Did you know that it takes 2700 liters of water to manufacture a single t-shirt? Upcycling existing materials means we do not have to use any new raw materials in the production process.
Behind every recycled product is an artist who believes in a level of craftsmanship that we have never seen before. There are businesses that survive from upcycling. They take old products that people have thrown away and turn them into amazing products that people want to buy.
If you do not wish to upcycle yourself, but want to be a part of this initiative, you can buy upcycled products or donate your materials to help these businesses.
As mentioned before, upcycled products are made from waste materials. Therefore, it drastically reduces manufacturing costs.
- Contributing your bit to the mother nature
The warm and fuzzy feeling when you do something for the planet is unbeatable and irreplaceable.
- Crafty repair skills
Repairing an item to give it a new life is a great skill that gives a wonderful satisfaction from within.
- Unique products
Whether you are upcycling things yourself or buying products from brands, it is always nice to know that you have something unique.
Why Is Upcycling Important?
The world has eight billion people in it and we are producing an enormous amount of trash which has been harming the environment. With the constantly growing population, the production of everything is also increasing which in turn is creating more rubbish. Therefore, to prevent our landfills from filling up, we must upcycle and recycle as much as possible.
To address the global issue of pollution, several well-known brands are stepping up their game and introducing innovative concepts.
- Since 1990, Nike has been running its ‘Reuse-A-Shoe’ campaign to encourage customers of the company to return their old shoes so that the materials can be repurposed.
- In 2016, Adidas introduced shoes made from recycled ocean waste.
- Reebok came up with their ‘Cotton and Corn’ initiative in 2017 with the aim of creating shoes that are designed to turn into compost and used to make new materials.
These innovative ideas have transformed the industry where waste was once a serious problem.
Buy Upcycled Eco Positive Products Now
ReTuna shopping mall is a two-story complex of secondhand stores on the outskirts of Eskiltuna, a small riverside city 70 miles west of Stockholm. In 14 specialist shops covering everything from clothes to DIY tools, everything for sale is recycled. After the items returned are sorted from the depot “Returen”, they are distributed to the recycling shops where they have a second culling. The shop staff choose what they want to repair, convert, refine or fix up. The materials are then ultimately given a new life and ready for sale.
(Video of the mall Source: YouTube BBC News)
The next time you need a new product, why not choose from one of the upcycled items? This way, you can make sure that you are not adding up to the landfill and making a bigger impact on the whole world by reducing the footprint you leave on nature.
Shruti Satam
Mumbai,
Maharashtra
Blogger and Web Content Writer