Upcycling: T-Shirt to Tote Event

This month I decided to dive headfirst into circular economics and try my hand at a new event--something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, upcycling. In February I hosted a clothing swap. Participants were able to bring clothes to exchange with each other and at the end whatever was left over was donated to a local Japanese organization Furugi De Vaccine. While a majority of the clothes made it out of my room, I was able to salvage some of the items to use as leftovers for future projects. The clothes donated to the organization were going to be broken down and recycled into something new so why can’t we do the same? Is it possible to breathe new life into your clothes and create something new and worth keeping? Maybe something that’s more valuable than the item you originally owned.

Upcycling is a term from the early 80s first coined by a German scientist [insert name]. The term means to create something of equal or greater value from an old item. It differs distinctly from recycling because recycling involves breaking down materials into their raw components and creating something of lesser value. The aluminum from your bike is broken down and recycled into cans which are further recycled into ingots. Recycling often requires the use of a lot of energy and can only be done a finite amount of times before the materials are unusable. Upcycling however can be done at home and used from the materials already in our possession.

T-shirts are one of the most ubiquitous items we own. We get them from school, work, and events. Some of them age well but most of them don’t last more than a couple months. So instead of throwing them away, I’m asking participants to think past the single use of t-shirts as an item to wear and think about how else we can turn our old shirts into something new.

Results of the event

The event offered two alternatives-- a handmade bag and a machine-made bag. Both would end with the same result in a tote bag but the process and end result would be a little different. The use of the sewing machine was a little challenging for newcomers but once we all started getting into the swing of things, all participants became more comfortable with the machine. In the end, everyone was able to leave with their own bag (2 handmade, 5 machine made) of different sizes. Overall the event was successful as I feel people were able to walk away with a new understanding of upcycling and a new skill set on how to incorporate sustainability in their own lives.

The event was a good start but shows that I have a long way to go and much to learn about how to successfully incorporate sustainability in my life. Do you have any workshops you’d like to see in the future? Leave a comment below.

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