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17 million tons of textile waste hit landfills yearly. Could upcycling be an eco-friendly solution?
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There is a new kid on block for living a sustainable lifestyle- upcycling. And, while upcycling might sound similar to recycling and the two definitely have a lot in common, upcyling is a distinct way to help mitigate the negative impact of waste materials. Instead, of discarding items or turning them into something completely new like recycling does, upcycling focuses on refurbishing and reusing items to breathe new life into them. Most likely, you’ve found yourself doing this in your own life without realizing that you’re helping to prevent waste. This quick guide dives further into what upcycling looks like and how it’s a beneficial way to use our limited resources better.
What’s Upcycling?
Merriam Webster officially defines upcycling as “to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item : to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value).”
On the sustainable side, upcycling is a way a give an item a second life. Reuse, revamp, revive and refresh are all ways to upcycle. Think of an old coat that goes to the tailor to be taken in for a more modern look? Or, a battered sweatshirt that becomes cool again with tie-dye. These are both examples of upcycling.
How does upcycling benefit the planet?
Our current lifestyles use a lot of resources in a model that is unsustainable. According to organizations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation here are a few of the ways that our current fashion model is costing the plane:
- 93 million cubic meters of water
- 20% of the world’s water waste
- 10% of the world’s carbon emissions
- 0.5 million tons of plastic microfibers dumped into the oceans
- 1 truckload of textiles is burned or tossed into landfills daily
Any way that we can reuse the products that we already have and keep them out of landfills is beneficial to the planet. Not only does upcycling clothing minimize the excessive need for raw materials like cotton and fossil fuels for fabrics, but it also prevents the gas emissions that these materials emit once tossed into landfills. While there is very little quantitative data and statistics available on the environmental impact, experts in the sustainable space and research shows that practices such as recycling and upcyling have a positive impact on our environment:
- Buying one used item can reduce its carbon, waste an water fooprints by 82%.
- Reduces the strain on valuable resources such as fuel, forests and water. According to Recover, a brand that produces recycled cotton material, upcycling textile waste instead of using raw materials can save 14740 liters of water.
- Reduces air and water pollution.
- Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators.
How do sustainable fashion brands upcycle?
Another new buzzword popping up in the sphere of sustainable fashion is circular design. This word can go hand-in-hand with upcycling since it’s a sustainable design process where a product’s end of life is considered. For example, materials that can be recycled or upcycled are chosen to minimize the use of raw materials and treated in a way that they can be continuously upcycled or recycled.
One example is the sustainable underwear brand, Knickey, that offers a take-back program for their organic cotton underwear to allow them to be upcycled into stuffing materials or couches.
How can you and I upcycle?
Support brands that use upcycled fabrics. Sometimes you might see the words recycled or regenerated next to materials like cotton or wool. That means that the fabrics used in that particular garment have been made from yarn sourced from upcycled materials. Other brands might use fabrics like polyester made from upcycled materials like plastic water bottles to make their products more sustainable.
Alternatively, you can practice upcycling in your everyday life by using what you already have in your home to repurpose, recreate or reuse an item or material. If you have a creative thumb you can always draw inspiration from influencers and content creators who show you how to add a fancy lace hem to an old sweatshirt or how to make scrunchies from fabric scraps or old t-shirts.
- Upcycle glass pasta or sauce jars and use them as storage jars.
- Transform old pieces of furniture with a fresh coat of paint or new handles instead of buying a new piece or throwing it out.
- Use fabric from your old clothes as gift wrapping ‘paper’.
- Reuse cardboard egg cartoons for seedling plants.