Upcycling is one of the best trends going around these days! We want to tell you all about it, so that together we can improve life as we know it!
This concept is really that exciting! Instead of throwing your old stuff to the trash or to a recycling bin that will take a lot of water and other resources to do its thing. Instead of blindly trusting stores to recycle your clothes and then learning that actually not even 3% of those are actually recycled.
We introduce you to upcycling.
Many amazing brands were born from it, and more and more people have started doing this on their own. It’s very simple. Just take whatever it is you no longer want and try to see if it can be transformed into something you need and were thinking of buying. The possibilities are endless. A water bottle can be transformed into an irrigation system for your garden. You grandmothers dress can be fitted or even completely transformed into a unique piece that you love.
Here is video that will give so many more ideas : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGPsR4V27eQ
This way of consuming will save you money, get you exactly what you want instead of a standardized item that doesn’t exactly fit your life, and save a lot of the environment’s precious resources.
It’s true that there is a lot of policies that the average citizen can’t control. We can’t just change the law so that those massive brands that are destroying our planet and exploiting the poorest people, for ridiculous amounts of profit, to get some sort of penalty. However, we have the power of changing our shopping habits.
Instead of buying out of impulse every time there is a sale, we should take a moment to realize there is always going to be a sale. How many times haven’t we been told that if we don’t buy it now it will never be available again. We keep falling into these marketing strategies and ending up with a house full of things we almost never use, because we didn’t actually needed or wanted them, we just didn’t want to miss that great deal. We have to start thinking of buying as an investment. When you buy things made out of good quality materials they will last you longer, you can still sell or give them away if you don’t want them anymore, or you can turn to Upcycling and transform them into something new and completely different that will still serve your needs for a good amount of time.
We would also love to tell you how great this exercise can be for your body and mind. These day and age stress is all around, weather its work or family, or the struggle of doing it all and still find time to go to the gym can wore us out. With Upcycling you will have a space to disconnect and to be creative and inventive. It can be that hobby you were waiting for. You won’t feel guilty, because you will be saving money and the planet at the same time. Could we be more productive? Besides, making something with your own hands it’s a beautiful way to meditate. And you don’t have to do it alone! Call your friends and neighbors, because this can be something that unites your community and improves it.
Of course there are things we have to buy. There is no way around it. Time is money and mindful shopping is fun. There are plenty of business that you can support that are following this trend. For example, many architects have used leftovers from construction materials that were considered trash, to build proper buildings. BBM did it first in the UK, by using things like old carpets and toothbrushes to isolate the walls, among many other delightful tricks. You can learn all about it here:
Besides NAE, there are other clothing brands that use recycled materials to make their items. Patagonia is a great example of a brand that encourages people to buy less, and only uses recycled and sustainable materials.
If you look closely, more and more stores and introducing materials like recycled glass and recycled plastic into their stock. Lamazuna is a brand that uses plastic from the ocean to make toothbrushes that can last you a life time, they made it possible to replace only brush part and therefore reduce waste at a greater scale.
There is even an online trend called thrift flip, that couldn’t be more sustainable. It’s people buying second hand clothes in thrift stores and changing them into items they wanted to buy.
As you can see this concept changes the game. And you can support it in a lot of different ways.
Tell us if you tried it yourself and feel free to recommend Brands that do it and what was your experience with these magical products!
Have a beautiful day,
NAE
