Communities Living Sustainably
Learning Guide #6
HOW TO GET YOUR COMMUNITY UPCYCLING
Upcycling is a revolution that is changing the throwaway culture.
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Upcycling
Upcycling: A new lease of life! We are buying too much stuff; our levels of consumption are placing a huge strain on the planet, as well as contributing to unsustainable and unethical manufacturing processes.
Earth Overshoot Day marks the date on which humanity’s resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year – and it is getting earlier every year. Manufacturing uses a vast amount of energy, even if it is recycling materials. Many products today are not designed to last; a throwaway culture and built-in obsolescence means that companies are continuously churning out new products. Most of us struggle to find the knowledge or the time to repair broken goods. But a quiet revolution of fixers and crafters is changing all that. Upcycling – taking something well loved, be it an item of clothing, furniture or electrical goods, and transforming it into something new and improved, has taken off in a big way over the last few years. With vintage and retro designs so fashionable, the potential for repurposing pre-loved items is huge. New crafty groups are setting up all the time, relearning traditional skills such as sewing and darning. Fixing sessions are taking off as well, with people getting together and sharing their knowledge on how to mend broken household and electrical goods. There are now so many ‘how-to’ videos on the internet that even a complete novice can work out what to do – and meeting collectively means that you can get another opinion on a puzzling problem. Some community centres provide tool banks where anyone can come in and use what they need without incurring the expense of buying something they might only use once. Tool libraries can also provide the option of borrowing a drill or a lawnmower for a specified period of time, which stops everybody in the street purchasing their own that sits unused in a shed for most of the year. This is an example of the sharing economy, which is growing all the time thanks to new technology and increased awareness amongst potential users.
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Making a difference: Projects in action Communities Living Sustainably (CLS) is a £12 million, five year programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund. Twelve communities in England have received funding to help deal with the potential impact of climate change and build the sustainability and resilience of their local community, providing inspiration to other communities and sharing what they have learned. Many of the projects have developed projects aimed at reducing waste and community approaches to repairing and upcycling.
Greening Wingrove Greening Wingrove introduced Fix it Cafés through their Community Living Room events, encouraging residents to bring household items that require mending and themselves learning how to fix them. These are proving successful and are branching out from the more popular electronics and mechanism issues to clothes mending and a bit of knitting too. These events have helped participants to develop new skills, avoiding throwing out a perfectly ‘fixable’ item, and of course saving money, all whilst enjoying a lovely hot cup of tea! The project also hosted a successful clothes upcycling taster session which is now turning into a series of workshops inspiring people to take a critical look at stuff they might have thrown away and instead repurposing it to give it a new lease of life!
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L8 Living Sustainably L8 Living Sustainably ran a number of events that introduced the ideas of reusing goods in a fun, engaging way. The Loving Lodge Lane local community festival celebrated the area and included activities to make a cleaner and greener environment. Fun activities to engage people in waste issues came in the form of furniture upcycling and wheelie bin art. The project also works with Bulky Bob’s, a long-standing service in Liverpool that collects bulky furniture, gives it some TLC and resells it through their Furniture World store, preventing it going to landfill or incineration. L8LS also held other events around the themes of Waste Not Want Not and Trash to Treasure. These took the forms of creative projects using recycled materials such as broken tiles for mosaics, and refurbishing furniture for distribution to residents. “We have made a giant step, as we get people out of their houses. People come because it is fun and creative; it’s not being told you need to recycle. A leaflet pushed through the door about recycling will not work.” Project Team Member talking about Trash to Treasure activities. The project also hosted Community Living Rooms, informal public spaces where people could gather on neutral ground and enjoy the pleasure of good company while learning practical upcycling skills such as making draught excluders from old tights and hot-waterbottle covers from old jumpers.
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We have made a giant step, as we get people out of their houses. People come because it is fun and creative; it’s not being told you need to recycle. A leaflet pushed through the door about recycling will not work. – Project Team Member
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Make it happen: How can you do this in your own community? Make it fun The appeal of DIY and crafts is limited for some people, and fixing something that’s broken can seem a lot more daunting than just buying a new one. There needs to be more than screwdrivers and sewing machines on offer to be appealing. The Community Living Rooms approach involves providing a neutral, inviting space where people are welcomed and feel comfortable, an environment that fosters ‘learning by stealth’. Making sure everyone has a good experience is important, so don’t set up tasks that might be too challenging and put people off. Have a range of activities to suit different levels of experience.
Look for experts There may well be people within the community that already have skills around fixing and mending, particularly from the older generation. Many people are more than happy to share their knowledge and pass on expertise to new people. Capitalising on this inter-generational learning can help older people feel less isolated and foster respect between different groups in a community.
Embrace variety There are lots of things that need fixing – don’t limit yourself too narrowly. One model provides the space and a range of tools for people to get together and work on their own projects in a sociable way, without needing to all be working on the same thing Another approach can focus on a different skill each session, as in the Community Living Rooms examples. This can potentially appeal to more people and means that regulars get to try out a range of different things.
Be ambitious Once people get the bug for upcycling, the only limit is their imagination. If you have a committed group, why not work together on a joint project, such as a patchwork quilt? If participants discover they have an aptitude for reviving old items, you could always arrange to sell them at a local market or online. There’s definitely a market for local, handmade, unique items that have been repurposed – what’s not to love? The proceeds could then go towards good causes in the area, or reinvested in tools or materials.
Work with existing organisations There is a lot of scope to collaborate with other organisations working locally; whether it’s a service such as Bulky Bob’s in Liverpool, existing crafts guilds or the Freegle network Many people are desperate to get rid of unwanted goods, so there is a lot of potential source material out there that just needs a bit of love and attention. You could think about establishing a regular ‘swap shop’ where people are encouraged to bring along their unwanted items and take away other people’s, with no charge. With a bit of imagination these items can be transformed!
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Help it happen: How can you support local communities to bring about change? Give them the space For projects such as this, one of the main barriers is the physical space to get together and be creative, as well as make a mess! Somewhere to store tools and materials in between sessions is another challenge. If you have a suitable venue that is unused at certain times, consider letting an upcycling group use it.
Promote it! Getting the word out is one of the most helpful things you can do. As well as preventing unnecessary waste, fixing broken things can save significant amounts of money and make all the difference to people on low incomes. Using existing channels to reach people and advertise sessions is easier for a large organisation or statutory body than a small community group. Make sure to emphasise the social aspect, and the many benefits that upcycling can bring.
See them as partners Work in partnership with groups to identify ways that you can support each other. They may be able to take discarded furniture and electronics off your hands. They may be able to provide saleable goods and even kickstart new local businesses. Upcycling is a great way of bringing together existing services and strengthening them, so putting the right people in touch with each other can be a big help.
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Contact us Communities Living Sustainably Groundwork UK Lockside 5 Scotland Street Birmingham B1 2RR Tel: 0121 236 8565 Email: cls@groundwork.org.uk Twitter: @CommLivSust
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