Blog post – Beyond Recycling: How Upcycling Transforms Waste into Treasure

You can call it repurposing or you can call it upcycling – but you must call it something good for consumers and for the environment.

Repurposing – which, we weren’t kidding, is also known as upcycling – is the practice of taking something old and giving it new usefulness. It’s a creative alchemy that transforms waste materials or unwanted products into new items of greater value, both functional and aesthetic.

Differences Between Repurposing and Recycling

But repurposing is altogether different from recycling. Recycling breaks down materials to use them again—a process that generally requires lots of energy and can reduce the quality of the source materials. Repurposing skips this destructive step. It embraces the original form, history, and character of an object, reimagining its potential without obliterating its past.

The possibilities are endless and often delightfully surprising. Businesses are adopting the practice in super-clever ways. Seattle’s Metamorphic Gear transforms old sailing and outdoor equipment into repurposed tote bags, wallets, and dog leashess. Susgrainable Health Foods, in Vancouver, BC, rescues spent grain from breweries and transforms it into upcycled barley flour and baking mixes. And Boston’s Groovy Thrifty offers repurposed flannel tee shirts, jeans, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and more, all of it hand made. 

Each is an inspiring approach for the circular economy. The upsides are immense.

The Many Purposes of Repurposing

Repurposing cuts down on waste. It diminishes the demand for virgin resources, which means less energy spent in extraction and less pollution. It reduces carbon footprints: manufacturing new goods is more energy-intensive. And it offers the benefits of durability, producing things that are built to last rather than to be replaced.

In short, repurposing incorporates many of the ideas and practices that are central to sustainable living and conscious consumerism: supporting the circular economy; purchasing eco-friendly products; contributing to re-use; and developing the second-hand market. 

Another big upside: Repurposed goods are almost always regionally made. If you’re looking to bolster your local economy, buying repurposed is usually a great bet. 

The quiet revolution of repurposing is also a moral one. Our landfills are swelling; our oceans are choking. Repurposing offers a powerful, practical counter to our culture of waste. Think of purchasing repurposed goods any time, and anywhere, they’re available.

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