Upcycled Xmas leftovers

This is a great time to start repurposing all those traditional Xmas trappings for next year.  A great place to start are those Xmas cards, boxes and wrappings we all still should have around the house. Saving boxes and wrappings for re-use from year to year not only saves money, tress and the environment but allows for creative gift wrapping the following year. Those Xmas cards you receive can be cut up into creative gift tags for next year and the ribbons and bows resused. Oh what fun to open a box and find a gift from another store. Surprise! 

Now for the gifts you have received and do not want. Instead of returning them or re-gifting them to someone else , why not donate them to a charity and take the value off your 2010 taxes. While you are at it why not take the time to clean out your closet and donate those clothes and house hold items you are not using .   Just take them all to a local donation center such as Goodwill before the 31st and they will give you a receipt for your donation. Everything gets upcycled to the charity and you get some tax relief. 

Happy New Year to all!

Jake

Upcycled Art

There is an old saying that "one mans trash is another mans treasure" and  a great example of this is fine art made from found or discarded objects. This form of Upcycling has been practiced by  modern artists in almost all art movements  for the past 100 years. Every decade has been populated by artists that have taken common or found objects and re-purposed them into art  pieces having a three dimensional quality and plasticity. The commonality of all of these artist work is that  they took something from their everyday life  and re-imagined it by  expressing their  creative mind. Resulting  in an object not only with a  new value but also an emotional quality that redefined it as Art.

Below is a link to the art work of my friend John hylton, much of the materials he uses are Upcyled from waste or objects he has found.
If you go to the  link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015573&id=1487703160 it will take you to his facebook album and you can see all of his work.

Enjoy this talented artist and let us hear back from you!

Sparkle Paintings

glitter, glue, fabric, ceramic, glass, plastic, found objects on wood panels...think organic plasticity in a cave on a board

By: John Paul Hylton

What is Upcycling?

This is my first of many conversations on topics related to my interest in our environment and sustainable living practices. We are all familiar with the term recycling in which we re-purpose our daily waste into materials of lesser quality hopefully for reuse.  An example of this our the plastic water bottles we recycle and which than turns  into lower grade plastics. I prefer to talk, read and write about the innovative ideas of Upcycling.

Upcycling is a component of sustainability in which waste materials are used to create new products. In this process  discarded items or materials are used to make new, more valuable and useful products. Upcycling is designed to allow people to think of new and innovative ways to re-use not only waste or discards but still functional items or materials in a new way and thus eliminate the need to make something from new or virgin materials.

Upcycling not only benefits our environment but is also a process for the reduction of waste and our carbon footprint.  Several examples can be found at http://sustainablog.org/2008/09/09/six-creative-upcycling-projects/ many others can be found throughout the web by simply searching the phrase upcycle or upcycling.
 
Upcycling is not new to our culture or society. In fact it is one of the cornerstones our country was built upon. Every generation before us practiced the art of upcycling as part of their values and in order to survive. Great examples of this was candle making from rendered animal fat, quilts from old clothes and dolls from rags.

Like all great ideas, I see that a time has come where we need to innovate and re-explore the idea of Upcycling to   meet the needs of the time we live in. I believe it is time for upcycling to re-enter our lexicon of our daily lives.

I welcome your comments and looking forward to going on this voyage together.   

References for this article:  Posted by Scenic City Recycling on May 29, 2009 at 3:32pm in Recycling