Now that you’ve learned what upcycling is why it should be done vs. recycling how you can get involved in more of it happening and what some inventive companies are doing with it I’ve got a question for you: What’s next?

All these wonderful products being created are great, but they aren’t yet on a scale to make an appreciable dent in the amount of waste thrown away. We at Terracycle have made deals with many companies to collect and make products from their packaging, but I’m the first to say that is not enough. It needs to happen on a brand agnostic level. Anything of category x being taken back.

How can that be done by companies, when they to an extent need consistent source material to make products of similar appearance? Maybe the answer doesn’t lie just with companies. Maybe it’s with municipalities, state and federal government. What could they do to upcycle what’s currently just going to the dump. Diversion from there will save them money in having to expand the facilities currently running, or needing for find another site when one is full.

Back to companies. Can the process of making products with minimal or no reprocessing into other uses be done on such a scale that larger companies could consider taking on such an endeavor? I’d honestly like to know about each of these  thoughts, as there is no “away” when you throw something away. Our population continues to grow. So it’s just good sense to start looking at how we can maximize the diversion of waste, while minimizing how much energy we use doing it.

So now that you’re up to speed on what upcycling is let’s see who’s out there, doing some upcycling.

First, look up. If you’re in a city or driving, there’s probably a billboard somewhere near. They’re made largely from vinyl and don’t recycle easy, if at all. 10,000 tons, or 3 million billboards get thrown out each year in the US. Vy and Elle has decided to do something about that. A lot of somethings in fact. From petite handbags to large travel bags, each of these is absolutely unique, being cut and assembled from a part of a billboard, never to be repeated.

Look on your stove. Got some leftover cooking oil? A company called Filt out of Tokyo takes that from the cafe their office is above, filters it and makes it into candles, using glasses they’ve found in nearby recycle bins.

Look in your pocket. Got a credit card that’s expired? Wait, don’t shred that! I found this clever reuse for them: Guitar picks.  Who knew that something as relatively mundane as your atm card, gift card, or credit card could be made into something so beautiful and unique? According to the piece, there’s even a device custom made to do this process. I can see 4-5 picks coming from one card. Think about all the music they’d make, from one, previously “worthless” piece of plastic.

Look around you. What else can you upcycle today? Make into a product tomorrow? Create a company around this year? We at Terracycle have made an entire company from this idea and would love to hear what ideas you have for the next revolutionary upcycled product.

I collect trash for a living. Not behind a truck, but behind a desk. Let me back up. My company takes what might otherwise be thought of as waste, and makes it in to new and interesting products. But that’s not what I’m here to write about today. I’m here to tell you how trash can be a source of inspiration, imagination, and creation of possibilities.

We’ve created what we call Brigades, where schools, community groups, and dedicated families and friends collect everything from wine corks to drink pouches. getting paid a few cents per pack, in the process reducing the amount of trash going to the landfills. While these are both great things, it’s what else happens that excites me. When you move beyond the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle, and deeper into what I call the fourth R, rethink, that’s where the real magic, and real benefit happens. When a kid looks at their juice pouch with different eyes, realizing it and most of the packaging their food comes in can do something more after they’re done with it, that I imagine sets off all kinds of other possibilities.

I can see it now, somewhere amongst the thousands of people helping us upcycle packaging, there’s a kid who will one day far exceed even our most advanced thinking today in terms of sustainable design, packaging, etc. How can you get involved? Visit http://www.terracycle.net/brigades/ and sign up today.

If you’re like most average Americans, recycling has become a normal part of your life. At a minimum, you recycle your newspapers and aluminum cans, maybe your glass and plastic too, depending on where you live and what they accept. Definitely, kudos to you for playing your part. Recycling is very important and sadly only about 25% of the recyclable material produce in this country is actually recycled. That number is way too low. But there’s something else amiss here. Recycling falls short in many ways, the most obvious of which is that not everything can be recycled. What can you do with the vast majority of materials and packaging that is non-recyclable? Sure, you can, like many people, just shrug your shoulders, tossing it away, since there isn’t another option, but since you’re a fan of Dr. Greene, I know you want a better option!

Luckily there is another way. Upcycling! Taking something and repurposing it for the same or higher value purpose. An increasing number of companies are creating amazing products out of what would otherwise been waste.

Recycling, as in anything, is a business. The companies processing what you put out on your curb need to make money. And for many materials, plastic bottles a chief example, they’re just not that profitable, as recyclers get paid by the pound. When demand for post-consumer plastic goes down, recyclers start going out of business and municipal and state governments get stuck with the bill. This means recycling is dependent on demand for raw materials. If that demand goes away, so does recycling.  Luckily there are an increasing number of companies, like GreenSmart that recycle plastic bottles into fabric, used for laptop sleeves and the like. But even then, it takes a fair amount of energy to sort, melt, and comb that material into fabric.

Think about this a moment: What could you, or a company taking what you give them, do to directly reuse something? That bottle in your hand, what else could it contain? How can that bottle, in that shape continue to have value? That’s upcycling. That’s how Terracycle, where I work, started. We created worm poop compost, and ended up using the bottles we found in bins in the neighborhood, cleaning and  relabeling them, and voila, a soda bottle became a vessel for gardening supplies. What other common materials could be reused in this manner? Look around and start thinking about it, I’d bet you’ll be surprised what you come up with and be all means please share with us your ideas!

You’ve heard of and most likely practice some recycling. But have you heard of upcycling? It’s as the name suggests, using materials for the same or higher purpose tha n they were first used. First coined by William McDonaugh, a renowned architect, designer, and author of Cradle To Cradle  he saw that instead of looking at things from a “cradle to grave” perspective, where things are expected to eventually end up in the dump, no longer of any use, we could instead design with reuse in mind, each component a “nutrient” feeding the next use it could be made of. Cradle to cradle, in other words, giving new life to materials once destined for a landfill!

What’s an example of upcycling? Taking billboard material, which is built to withstand the elements – good for longevity, bad for disposal and impractical to recycle – and using it to make backpacks and messenger bags, like the company Vy&Elle does. In doing this, it takes something that would otherwise be seen as an environmental nuisance, and turning it’s downfall into an opportunity, in a new use. And that excites me. Where else can we as individuals and companies take a different path when it comes to what we see as “waste” and what we see as a part of a future use, not just simply something to throw “away.” My company Terracycle is proud to do a lot of upcycling as well, of everything from candy wrappers to record albums.

I think the concepts of recycling and upcycling are important because modern economies are built on consumer goods and spending and whether you think that is right or wrong, the system is likely here to stay. So it is important that we find ways to recycle, reuse and upcycle the massive amount of material that already exists. Because more and more is produced, consumed and discarded every day. What other examples of upcycling have you seen? Is this a viable solution to our waste and landfill issues? I am excited to hear your thoughts.