When I first decided to go plastic free full time I was severely tempted to remove all the plastic in my house in one sweep. I wanted to cleanse it from my life. Starting a plastic free life with a house void of plastic is way easier than a house with plastic popping up here and there.
I had my share of plastic too, which is not surprising for anyone that is in their 30s and was an avid consumer of all things plastic. Some of the plastic that I removed was recycled, some went to charity stores and there are items I kept. I decided that keeping and reusing my old plastic items won’t kill me. After all the idea behind living plastic free is to not add to the plastic that is out there.
If you are a crafty individual there is another way to deal with those plastic odds and ends in your life and that is to upcycle.
Upcycling is taking something and re-purposing it. When I turned our odd socks into soap holders I upcycled. Basically it is another version of recycling.
Tiffany Threadgould, the Martha Stewart of upcycling is Head Design Junkie at TerraCycle. I have written before about TerraCycle. The company has successfully deferred 4 billion pieces of garage from landfill. That is kinda impressive. With a prediction that waste is set to double by 2020 (errrr, that’s in five years’ time!). TerraCycle and designers like Tiffany are needed more than ever.
I had my share of plastic too, which is not surprising for anyone that is in their 30s and was an avid consumer of all things plastic. Some of the plastic that I removed was recycled, some went to charity stores and there are items I kept. I decided that keeping and reusing my old plastic items won’t kill me. After all the idea behind living plastic free is to not add to the plastic that is out there.
If you are a crafty individual there is another way to deal with those plastic odds and ends in your life and that is to upcycle.
Upcycling is taking something and re-purposing it. When I turned our odd socks into soap holders I upcycled. Basically it is another version of recycling.
Tiffany Threadgould, the Martha Stewart of upcycling is Head Design Junkie at TerraCycle. I have written before about TerraCycle. The company has successfully deferred 4 billion pieces of garage from landfill. That is kinda impressive. With a prediction that waste is set to double by 2020 (errrr, that’s in five years’ time!). TerraCycle and designers like Tiffany are needed more than ever.
I am a firm believer that everybody is creative and the most of the ideas Tiffany musters up in her role can be thought up by anyone. For those that need a gentle push to find their trash problem solving side Tiffany Threadgould put together the inspiring book ReMake It! Recycling Projects From The Stuff You Usually Scrap.
The book is packed with 95 ideas ranging from remaking old umbrellas or paint can lids, making a pocket wall organiser and a CD case photo spinner. The projects are explained in simple how to instructions ranging from easy to requiring adult supervision. While the book might be geared towards children and teenagers I found it inspiring and wish that I had reimagined the plastic trash I had in my house rather than move it to a charity store.
The book is packed with 95 ideas ranging from remaking old umbrellas or paint can lids, making a pocket wall organiser and a CD case photo spinner. The projects are explained in simple how to instructions ranging from easy to requiring adult supervision. While the book might be geared towards children and teenagers I found it inspiring and wish that I had reimagined the plastic trash I had in my house rather than move it to a charity store.
ReMake It is a fantastic resource that will inspire you to remake trash into useful treasures.
Tiffany Threadgould with TerraCycle Australia hosted an event as part of the Sustainable Living Festival. I was lucky to get along and meet with them, have a chat and learn how to turn packaging into a gift wrap bow, modeled off of one of the projects from Tiffany's book.
What are some of your best upcycling pieces? Or do you have a project that you would love to try, but have not yet?
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