From Our Library: Upcycling

Upcycling is the process of taking waste materials or useless products and creating new, higher-valued products. While the term “upcycling” has become popular over the last couple of years, the word seems to have been floating around since the early 1990s, and its spirit can definitely be seen through the history of craft. For example, check out this beautiful quilt from Gee’s Bend (below, left). These 1962 beer can chairs by Douglas Deeds Associates (below, right) totally fit the bill of proto-upcycling.

Photo Taken from the Wikipedia page on Gee’s Bend, Alabama

In 1962 Douglas Deeds said this about his chairs:

This design is a utilization of material which our society normally thinks of as waste. It may be that the designer will be called on more and more to use such materials in helping underprivileged areas of the world use waste.

The philosophy of Deeds’ words can be seen in the work of so many designers today, and finding links to the past gives me hope that current trends like upcycling are more design evolution then passing trend. Here are some current examples of innovative and beautiful upcycling:

Light fixture made from vintage Tupperware by Boot N’Gus Photo originally found on http://inhabitat.com/

See more works by Boots N’Gus at his Etsy shop.
Find out more about the artist Garbage on his site.
You can learn more about the pallet table project, including DIY steps at ReadyMade.