Keep Calm and Upcycle: Repurpose, Reuse, Rejoice!

It’s amazing what beauty you can find in the old, abandoned, and forgotten. In a world where sustainable living is increasingly on the agenda, small but purposeful trash-to-treasure projects in the home can limit waste and provide a creative outlet for you and the whole family to enjoy.

The eco-friendly benefits of upcycling are vast. Aside from minimizing the volume of rejected and discarded materials being sent to the landfill every year, it also reduces the need for producing items using new or raw materials. This can help put an end to the repeated consuming and dumping cycle of many households.

Upcycling and reusing objects and materials can actually lead to a reduction in air pollution, water pollution (have you seen our oceans, rapidly transforming into seas of plastic?), greenhouse gas emissions, and can also support the conservation of global resources.

If all that eco-conscious talk isn’t enough to get you repurposing your old hangers into kitchen towel hooks, then reflecting on all the fun that is to be had might help. Thinking outside the box can produce some seriously impressive transformations of everyday items you were just about to throw out or happen to adopt and save from the waste heap. Taking someone’s trash and making it your treasure not only happens to be a tried and tested way to be proactive in your eco-friendly endeavors but is also the making of a fulfilling craft project.

I started my upcycle project with a walk and foraging expedition through the hutongs. You will be amazed at what you can find lying around in these ancient residential alleyways and lanes. I wanted to find raw materials, like wood or stone that speaks to the beauty of the natural world around us, and use it in a repurposed fashion inside the home. With the help and company of my like-minded colleague, I put on some layers, braved the cold, and went on a hutong hunt.

Not even 30 minutes into our walk through the southern parts of Beijing’s hutongs, we came across a lonely wooden trunk sitting outside a couple’s home and place of business. The trunk was keeping a heavy potted plant sturdy and was covered in dust. My colleague kindly took the lead and knocked on the door. A brief conversation in Chinese ensued, as the looks on the couple’s faces transitioned from bemusement to unexpected curiosity, and finally excitement...

Read the remainder of this article via our sister beijingkids site here.

Want more DIY tips? Learn how to regrow vegetables from kitchen scraps

Photos: Nicole Bonnah