In a world, in which every day we generate more waste and we are destroying the resources at our disposal, it’s more than necessary to promote the recycling of materials to contribute to a sustainable environment and also leverage resources. Therefore, today we want to talk about a process that is gaining great popularity and appreciation: up-cycling. The upcycling is a recently coined term, also known as supra-recycling, which consists of taking advantage of recyclable materials to create products that have a highervalue than they had in his original material. Or, which it is the same: to transform waste into valuables.
Origins of upcycling
Upcycling word was first used in 1994, when Reiner Piltz named it in an article by Kay of Salvo Thorton. Later, in 1996, German Gunter Pauli titled “up-cycling” one of his books. The word was catching on more and more in German culture and art, but it wasn’t until 2002 when, William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their book”Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.Redesigning the way we do things”, introduce the up-cycling as a concept of reusing materials that can be modifiedto make them useful again or give them a second life and therefore useful.
What is artistic Upcycling
The upcycling is very interesting from a conceptual point of view (as it tries to give a new meaning to things) so it has always been very well received among artists. In addition,to modify certain materials is needed a great deal of creativity and technique. The effort is certainly worthwhile and also the growing trend of using sustainablematerials are having a great acceptance among the public. It is not surprising, since the final consumer will not only find the product attractive for their artistic value, but also for the added value of contributing to the welfare of the planet and giving a second life to a material that probably, if not , would not have it. It’s like buying a product that has a great history behind it, even if his life just started.
Examples of upcycling
The up-cycling only has a limit: the imagination that it creates. In Lucirmás, for example, we are dedicated to crafts in glass recycling and create a variety of decorative elements by up-cycling design with glass bottles of all kinds. You can see, for example, the creation of our lamp design Laflor Lamp:
up-cycling is not only an interesting stream: it is a necessary flow as it reduces the need for new raw materials to create new products. Also, if we avoid the process of transforming these raw materials in other materials (such as happens with plastic and glass, etc.) we save production costs and the energy used, which nowadays is amajor cause of contamination.
The artistic design and up-cycling is only a small part of the whole up-cycling; recycling is an issue of conscience and spirit of change for a more sustainable planet.Therefore, we encourage you to practice the up-cycling in your daily life. Doing this it’s not so difficult: just a bit of ingenuity. In this way, you not only unleash your creativity and save money, but you will be helping to create a better world!
