Revamp magazine

REVAMP MAY 2015

Kelly Millspaugh Thompson 6 ways to upcycle and reimagine your stuff 2 colour - tech

EDITORS NOTE 2

Introducing REVAMP, a brand new and refreshing magazine that will cover the A-Z of upcycling. Each month we will bring you great articles and D.I.Y projects for you to get your hands on. For all of you that are not familiar with upcycling, don’t worry as our first article will tell you all about. We hope you enjoy the first edition of REVAMP and feel inspired to upcycle your unwanted bits and bobs!

Sonal Mistry, Editor in Cheif

CONTENTS

p4 What is Upcycling anyway? p6 It makes Sense p8 Upcycling evolves from Recycling p10 Trash or Treasure p12 Beauty in someone else’s trash p14 2 Colour tech p16 6 ways to upcycle and reimagine your stuff

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What is Upcycling Anyway?

Upcycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful. For example: •Unraveling a wire clothes hanger to break into your car to rescue your keys = not upcycling •Stretching out a wire clothes hanger then tying strips of a plastic bag around it to make a wreath = upcycling!

Upcycling gives an item a better purpose. And while jimmying the lock on your car to is giving that hanger a new purpose, it’s not necessarily better or more beautiful. And the mangled hanger is likely destined for the trash, which is the opposite intent of upcycling.

Recycling vs. Upcycling Recycling takes consumer materials — mostly plastic, paper, metal and glass — and breaks them down so their base materials can be remade into a new consumer product, often of lesser quality.

When you upcycle an item, you aren’t breaking down the materials. You may be refashioning it — like cutting a t-shirt into strips of yarn — but it’s still made of the same materials as when you started. Also, the upcycled item is typically better or the same quality as the original.

Upcycling Is Green Plain and simple, upcycling makes a positive impact on the environment. When you upcycle, you remove items from the global garbage stream. Upcycling instead of recycling is good too; recycling requires energy or water to break down materials. Upcycling only requires your own creativity and elbow grease.

What Can I Upcycle?

Just about anything: Wine bottles, cans, newspapers, milk cartons, tires, suitcases, jeans, you name it. If you no longer have a use for it, upcycle it!

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IT MAKES SENSE If you read the reports of expert analysts in commodity markets they will tell you that the earth’s resources aren’t finite and in many cases we are soon going to be running short of certain essential supplies. Obviously, this will impact the price consumers pay, but not all these prices can be passed on to consumers, so companies and brands need to get creative. If you aren’t thinking about your raw materials and waste stream and how you might be able to get some of the items that are thrown out and discarded by consumers back into your system, you are missing a trick. Every year consumers discard billions of items, the vast majority of it never gets re-used or recycled, and much is sent to landfill.

Even those brands and companies who are employing some kind of scheme, don’t end up owning the materials, they get sent out to third parties and used overseas or melted down and returned back to the industry. They are recycled and maybe upcycled by other people.

Finally, as way of illustration, take a look at these from a tiny glasses manufacturer- Shwood in Portland, Oregon who’s just created a line of glasses made from upcycled skateboards.

It shows how simple and straightforward it can be- a great product made from old that just makes common sense.

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Upcyclingevolves

from recycling

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ondon - Windproof jackets sewn from pieces of an old hot air balloon, bags made from airplane seat covers and totes fashioned from mail carriers’ retired rain jackets. A London company is turning cast-off textiles into new products, part of a trend called upcycling which, its advocates say, offers big environmental benefits.

Unlike traditional recycling, in which materials like plastic and paper are gradually degraded and can be reused only a limited number of times, upcycling turns waste into products of greater value. That offers hope for achieving the biggest goal of environmentally minded design, using materials again and again to keep them out of landfills. Supporters call it “closing the loop.”

Instead of seeing old uniforms or other fabric as garbage, companies should look at them as a resource to be mined, said Jamie Burdett, a coowner of Worn Again, the London company behind the bags made from Royal Mail jackets and Virgin Group balloons.

“It’s trying to change that mind-set, so that people move from a disposable mind-set into a constant reuse mind-set,” he said.

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TRASH or TREASURE Upcycling becomes growing green trend

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ather than throwing that bag or hosepipe into the recycle bin, how about turning it into a belt or a shower curtain, joining a growing band of upcyclers?

Upcycling refers to reusing an object in a new way without degrading the material it is made from, as opposed to recycling which generally involves breaking down the original material and making it into something else, using more energy.

Supporters of the environmentally friendly practice of upcycling say people in developing countries have effectively been upcycling for years, using old packaging and clothing in new ways, although more out of need than for the environment.

But upcycling is now taking off in other countries, reflecting an increased interest in eco-friendly products, particularly ones that are priced at an affordable level and proving profitable for the manufacturers.

"If upcycling is going to become mainstream, then the corporate world needs to see that it can be profitable," said Albe Zakes, spokesman of U.S. company TerraCycle which specializes in finding new uses for discarded packaging.

A growing number of companies are focusing on upcycling although the trend is still in its infancy with industry-wide figures yet to be produced. Upcycling is used on a range of products including jewelry, furniture and fashion items, such as making bracelets from old flip flops, lamps from blenders, and turning skateboards into furniture such as chairs and bookcases. British company Elvis & Kresse Organization (E&KO) uses industrial waste to make new luxury products, turning fire hoses into bags, belts, wallets and cufflinks.

E&KO co-founder James Henrit said they avoid what they call “virgin materials,� instead opting for scrap sail cloth or furniture textiles in their lines.

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“We are very much a social enterprise, and we’re hoping to change the landscape of the luxury accessories industry by leading by example,” Henrit told Reuters Television on the sidelines of the London Design Festival.

A design store in Vienna in Austria called Gabarage lets customers rifle through trash like used plastic covers, old computer chips, and discarded X-rays and pick what they like to create their own individual bag.

All the single pieces of waste chosen are put together by the creative team of “garbage upcycling design.”

“Upcycling stands in contrast to recycling,” said spokesman Daniel Strobel.

“We upvalue products innovatively, instead of just reusing them.”

TerraCycle, set up in 2001 by U.S. college freshman Tom Szaky, turns drink pouches into backpacks and cookie wrappers into pencil cases or kites, paying schools and other groups a small amount to send them the old packaging to be upcycled.

TerraCycle also makes a line of clocks, coasters and picture frames from vinyl records and circuit boards, with major companies like Kraft and General Mills sponsoring the company’s waste streams.

CEO Tom Szaky, in his newly released book “Revolution in a Bottle” -- that came with a returnable book cover for upcycling -- said he was working to eliminate the idea of waste by proving all things can be reused, recycled or upcycled.

“We upcycle waste that can’t be recycled ... we love the challenge of looking at any kind of waste and thinking of something amazing to make from it” says Szaky. “Our products are both greener and cheaper.”

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Beauty in someone else’s trash

K

elly Millspaugh Thompson has two trucks, shelves full of paint cans in more than 30 colours, a political science degree she never uses and a passion for refurbishing furniture.

For that, the Falls Church-based designer blames her parents. After all, they were the ones who were constantly renovating their home while she was growing up, who took her with them to antiques shops and put her to work painting.

“All this is in my DNA,” she says, gesturing around her store, Stylish Patina. Here she sells her own work — vintage pieces she’s repainted and repaired — alongside the work of other local crafters and all the necessary materials for aspiring DIY-ers to do projects of their own.

The store is full of exactly the kind of kitschy nostalgia you’d expect from someone who refurbishes old furniture for a living: candle holders made of old wine bottles, posters featuring motivational sayings hung in weathered-looking frames. Frank Sinatra croons from a speaker in one corner, and the air is a nose-tickling mixture of paint fumes and flowery body lotion.

Choosing furniture to refurbish, or “upcycle,” as it’s known in the DIY world, is an imprecise science. Typically, she’ll know right away whether an item is right for her, and she has enough experience to see potential in the most intimidating pieces. Laughing, she recalls the time she passed a pair of discarded church pews on the side of the road. Unable to carry them alone, she called her mother to help. (Her mother, though sceptical, was game.) The two of them lifted the pews into the bed of Thompson’s truck, and within weeks the pews had been reinvented as seating for a customer’s wrap-around porch.

Thompson doesn’t usually find her pieces so serendipitously. She often spends weekends scouring East Coast auction houses and estate sales, aiming to buy several items at one event. For refurbishers looking to start with just one piece, she recommends visiting thrift stores or Goodwill.

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“There’s satisfaction in the fact that you’re making something out of a piece someone else threw away”

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2 COLOUR TECH Use Kelly’s 2 colour tech idea to create a rustic and “European” look to your furniture.

To do your own two-color tech upcycling project, you’ll need the following: ● Any piece of old or vintage furniture, preferably one with carvings and curved lines ● A large, natural bristled paint brush ● Two cans of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in compatible colors ● A sanding sponge, 220-grit or higher ● A lint-free cloth ● A can of clear soft wax ● A large wax brush (optional, a regular paint brush can also be used) ● A small can of dark soft wax (optional) ● A small can of gilding wax (optional)

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1. Coat the entire piece of furniture in the first (darker) layer of paint, applying paint thinly. Don’t worry too much about covering every nook and cranny of the piece.

2. When the first layer has dried, paint over it in the second (lighter) color, again feeling free to leave uncovered sections of the piece.

3. Allow both paint layers to dry, then gently rub edges, corners and other exposed sections of the piece (knobs, carvings, etc.) with a sanding sponge to remove some of the paint. The amount of paint removed is up to individual taste.

4. Wipe down the piece with a lint-free cloth to remove grit from sanding.

5. Using the wax brush (or a regular paint brush), forcefully rub the wax into the paint in small circles, then wipe off excess with the lint-free cloth. Apply the wax in sections — for example, wax and wipe one side of a coffee table before moving on to the next one.

This way, the wax does not have time to harden before the excess is wiped off.

6. Gently sand down the piece’s flat surfaces, then wipe again with lint-free cloth.

7. If using, artfully apply dark wax and gilding wax with a fingertip as desired.

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6 ways to upcycle and reimagine your stuff Upcycling is the art of reusing unwanted items by converting them into something better (and it's easier than you might think!). By reimagining our stuff we can help give products a second life. So if you’re looking for a little inspiration or a weekend DIY project, here are some clever little ideas to get you thinking!

1 Use old bike parts to create unique jewellery

2 Use plastic bottles as garden planters

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3 Turn dusty old drawers into funky shelves for your home

4 Make coasters from old comics

5 Turn a magazine rack into a corner shelf

6 Make funky crayon candles

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