Why Upcycle?

by Robert on FEBRUARY 4, 2011 in NEWS

Argyle Cushion Project on http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com

Upcycling is becoming increasingly popular among groups and individuals concerned about climate change.  Recycling is great but it requires energy and resources to collect, sort and process unwanted items and waste.

Upcycling is an even greener way of recycling – you find a new purpose for your unwanted items before you chuck them away.  It’s all about taking disposable things and creating something useful  from them.  Usually the only energy being used is your own and it can save you money too.

For example, you might use an old woolly jumper to make a cushion cover or stuff all your plastic bags into a giant sock to create a draught excluder.  Instead of buying expensive arts & crafts sets for your kids, keep hold of old egg cartons, cardboard boxes and other containers – you’ll be surprised how long some unwanted cardboard and a set of paints can keep children amused.

The need to find alternative ways to deal with our waste has never been greater – across Britain we throw a staggering amount of stuff into landfill. Even if you look just at clothing and textiles…. we throw 1.8 million tonnes away every year.

Making your cut-off jeans is an easy first upcycling project

Instead of paying extra for eco-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton or bamboo silk, try transforming an old item of clothing into something new, for example cutting old faded jeans into vintage style shorts for the summer.

Upcycling helps the environment in several ways;

Your old items aren’t going to landfill sites, where a gas called methane is released, which contributes to climate change.

There’s no need to recycle them in the traditional sense, which requires energy and resources.

If you can make use of old items, it might save you buying new things – thus, reducing the need for more goods to be manufactured.

So, before you start filling your recycling bags, have a think about other uses for your unwanted bits and pieces and you’ll not only help the environment, but should also save yourself some money too.

Sunflowerdesign lab... where we make our clothes and bags

This is our lab In Genoa Italy, where 15 years ago we started our small handmade business ;)))))))))))

The lab is in the Historic center of our city, in front of the harbour where we make our etsy's photos

UNDERGROUND FASHION

http://underground-fashion.tumblr.com/

I found this site and love it. I think "Underground fashion" is a beautiful collection of photos of street fashion. Super!

Remake Next Vintage Castello di Belgioioso

In these times when the responsible consumption involves all aspects of our daily life, clothing is becoming more of a symbolic value, becomes the means for a message about our values, our identity, our way of life. The "critical fashion" is made up of independent productions that aim to assess and recognize the limits reached by the fashion system and seek to overcome them proposing alternative routes, be they economic, productive and social relations. "Consume critical fashion" means to pay attention not only to the style and trends, but also to the characteristics of ethical leaders who are wearing. Respect for the environment and workers, the development of manual skills, creativity and self-production, the rediscovery of traditional processing methods, human relations that can develop between those who produce and those who wear it, are the essential values ​​of a new and different point of view on fashion, away from any part of the big names and the mass production and consumerism. All this to show that "fashion is another possible" in a fashion that does not come from above or from a distance, a fashion sensitive to the environment, it can regain the ability to invent and create. The fashion remake offers trendy clothes and refined, reinterpreting fashion with style and elegance. Authentic vintage clothing, and left in the original leaders revisited in a fusion of styles, combining fabrics and colors to create unique pieces. In this way it gives new life to a piece of clothing "retro" that reinterpret making current and trendy, also at tailoring it follows the creation of a chief by his idea, model, cutting, construction and finally to vendita.Remake and recycled ... Fashion in the name of sustainability and ecology. A means to communicate the possibility of a different way of dealing with the "fashion". picture from The sartorialist

WHAT YOU CAN FIND ON OUR etsy's shop

something i like on ETSY

A delicate balance

I feel the need to divulge this documentary that will change our way of life. We create eco friendly fashion, we live in a simple way, we do not use the car but we must do more. From tomorrow morning we will eat in a more conscious way.

                                            http://www.adelicatebalance.com.au/experts.html

Three years in the making, A Delicate Balance is a succinct production featuring candid interviews with some of the world's leading experts (including mainstream researchers, doctors, nutritionists, cattle ranchers,environmentalists and politicians) from Harvard to Cornell to Tufts. Nominated for Best Unreleased Documentary by the Australian Film Critics Association this film is a must-see for everyone concerned about their health or the environment. A Delicate Balance predominantly explores the effects of animal protein on the human body and the environment and will help you make informed choices to reduce your personal impact. your health Disease has been escalating over the last 50 years resulting in 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women being diagnosed with cancer. Every person today has been touched or will be touched by the loss of a loved one to illness and premature death. In a time when modern medicine and science have made such enormous advancements, why is this so? Why are you three times more likely to die of colon cancer if you eat meat? Why don't our medical schools teach doctors about nutrition? This documentary will leave you fully informed as to some of the causes of chronic diseases and offers ways of improving human health. your world There are many ways of reducing our impact upon climate change. How is meat production causing water shortage, starvation and poverty? Do you know where your food comes from and what impact it is having on the world? This documentary identifies the effects of animal agriculture upon the environment. A Delicate Balance was made in order to help reduce the unnecessary loss of human life, to reduce the suffering of animals across the planet and to help empower people to make environmental change. Life is a delicate balance - and we can tip the scales in our favour