The Dark Side of Upcycling
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2024
- Is upcycling helpful to the environment, or does it make things worse? Is it a copout for brands to say they are sustainable? We dive into the dark side of upcycling, which has ominous consequences.
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my biggest pet peeve is when people "upcycle" new things. If you want to do a cool craft that uses disposable spoons collect and wash used spoons Don't call it "upcycling" to buy a bag of disposable spoons! buying clothes pins to take them apart for crafts is just crafting with unusual materials its not being eco friendly because those items were fully functional new items.
To me the UP is the forgotten part of upcycling. The new object needs to move up in quality, value and impact. When I cut up a toilet roll cardboard to make a toy for my cat that’s not upcycling, it’s reusing so it won’t go in the trash/recycling immediately.
one thing I struggle with as an artist/crafty person is what right do I have to be using up resources to make things to sell to people who don't need them. I have to remind myself that it is okay to have a hobby that isnt completely zero waste if it helps keep me sane and that people are going to buy stuff anyway it may as well be from someone who tries to limit as much waste as posible by using preexisting items and donating some of the money to charity.
You have a right to exist. Human beings have an innate creative drive and we ourselves are part of the circle of life. Just like we can’t choose the family we’re born into, we can’t choose the society we’re born into. We can and should choose to consume less and consume more responsibly. In the present day, that involves a lot of research and experimentation because our capitalist societies are designed to encourage as much consumption as possible.
Be kind to yourself and acknowledge that you are an imperfect human doing the best you can. These shifts happen over time and the hope is that subsequent generations can build on the work we’re doing and will ultimately be better than us and make their own contributions to humanities progress.
There’s no such thing as zero impact if you’re a humanist. We will always exist within and have an impact on our environment, but the goal is to move ever closer towards a truly cyclical economy that is sustainable. Humanity has a right to exist and to thrive. We just need a societal redesign and to shift away from evermore consumption. If you’re making a genuine effort to evaluate your habits and try to be better, you’re already doing great!
Glad someone is talking about this. I feel the pressure to upcycle items, but that would require me to buy more stuff. I’m not really someone who does crafts. I guess it would be okay if you’re a person who has some leftover crafting supplies, but to go out and buy more stuff to potentially upcycle something is not helping the situation.
I've thought about a few of these points, namely removing the potential for things to be recycled by cutting them up and putting paint and glue or whatever all over them, and the fact that a lot of this upcycling uses far more harmful practices like resin. Never really heard it talked about before, though. Nice video :)
I'm so happy that TH-cam has been recommending smaller channels lately since there are a few true gems to be discovered - including this one.
Just one small thing I noticed about this video: Sometimes, your speaking is cut-off. Other than that, it's really interesting and well-made. Keep it up, I hope the algorithm keeps pushing your content, so more people can learn about the environmental topics you're addressing! :)
one thing that isnt mentioned is its not always about saving the items from the landfill but preventing new ones. making an organizer by hot glueing cardboard is preventing them from buying a new plastic organizer. making paper beads prevents them from buying plastic beads.
Point is we need to make it easy to dispose of upcycled items and as someone else said, we cannot deem new, torn apart items as "upcycled" when we simply repurpose them.
Upcycling is usually a way to feel like i have something nice without having the money for something nice. The villians here arent crafters, its businesses co-opting a trend towards finding value in things we already have and expressing creativity into a business model.
I think one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen candle wise is somebody put a full pinecone in a candle without telling the person that bought it
Ooooh nature's grenade!
It's hard to know what the best practice for some items are. I volunteer at the county fair and there is an incredible amount of items come in as 'upcycled' that are pieces and parts that will never be used again. They literally fall apart at the fair. I didn't realize that cellotape is a bad thing, so now I use more washi tape, which is pretty and made from a paper base.
I used to cut the tops off of Gatorade bottle to use as pen holders for my many pens and my brother actually washes out and reuses his plastic Gatorade bottle
I agree... ish.
1. This is based on the idea that the paper/metal/glass you put in the recycling bin is actually getting recycled. In sone areas it is. In some less so.
Plastics rarely.
2. If the goal is: I need a thing to do x - what do I, my neighbours, family, or the garbage I'm walking past provide me with that will help me accomplish that, without additional new materials - great!
If it's "dang, I'm stuck with this thing, now what do I do with it" that's less useful.
You're honestly a good motivator for me to be more enviromentally friendly. I buy a lot of things for crafting, too much maybe. Maybe I can buy some used tools from private people rather than buy new ones for example.
I don't buy new clothes or anything else unneeded other than crafting materials, but buying used ones would probably not be hard for a lot of products and also better for my wallet hehe.
Very nice moustace by the way and super nice tips videos!
So I feel like your kids craft one is a really weird example because those kids crafts are about parents saving money on not buying a new craft supplies and entertaining their children for about an hour. Not so much up cycling for an environmental goal but for saving money . Even tho using toilet paper rolls is going to be better than buying new from a craft shop.
Similar for the crafts for seasonal decorations if people are going to be buying new supplies or buying new decorations anyway using what they have around the house is going to be a better option. We also shouldn't expect or ask people to stop celebrating holidays or the changing of seasons just maybe to do it in a more sustainable way.
Would you mind explaining why plastic is not a suitable container for candles? Considering commercial candles are often sold in plastic containers.
Like I agree that there can probably be better practices to up cycling but I think more specific examples with full explanations would have been more useful. Suggestions of what to do with upcycling plastics would be nice because they can be much more difficult to work with than cardboard. A follow up video with plastic upcycling tutorials would be really useful. Like the only one I am aware of is diy shrinky dinks with some plastic packaging.
I don't know, but on my side, candles are sold in glass container. When heated, plastic release toxic fumes. To my knowledge, there isn't any plastic that can support flame heat without releasing toxic fumes. When you heat plastic, it should be in a ventilated place and you should wear a N95 mask. (Plastic who are indicated as microwavable don't count on that one). Never heat plastic in any way, with any heat.
I'm French, so sorry for my English, but hope this helps! :)
@@nannciem So there are commercial companies that do sell candles in plastic containers, Like I bought chef's candle a few years ago and I was kinda upset when it showed up and it was in plastic even tho the pics looked like it should be glass and metal, there are even tea lights sold in lil plastic boats. The plastic doesn't have to deal with the heat of the flame, it should only be dealing with the heat of the wax. And idk about you but as a kid I definitely enjoyed dipping my fingers in candle wax and peeling it off so wax doesn't get super hot.
I understand that a poorly designed DIY candle could lead to plastic being burnt if they don't understand how wide the container needs to be but that seems like would be a different issue that metal or glass getting that hot still might lead to a fire. Also part of why candles aren't supposed to be left on supervised
Your English perfectly understandable, sorry if anything is confusing with my dyslexia.
I felt the same as a mom about the kids one. Upcycling for kids projects is a way to save money using the things that are already no longer wanted and/or needed in the home, and personally I always choose using something like fruit or cardboard for painting, because it is not creating new or more waste if you have no plastic that is destined for the trash, and it can be stripped of the paint composted, afterwards.
NO candles anywhere in plastic in my country and we import the vast majority of our candles. Candles in plastic sounds worse than candles in paper.
@@sarahrosen4985 Do you mind if I ask what country you are from? Also what quality of candles do you buy? One of the candles I bought in a plastic container was from a UK company. It might only be the lower/ mid quality ones that will come in plastic. Like the type of candles you could buy at a gas station.
But being in glass vs plastic container they burn the same way, honestly the plastic doesn't heat up as much as the glass so they are sometimes easier to move if needed.
Those examples you gave are single-use food items that should NOT be reused for food. The plastic breaks down into microplastic and also holds bacteria over time. If you want to wash it out and use it to hold your pens or whatever that's fine but even then keep in mind those things break down quickly.
plus it looks like trash because it's literally made from raw pieces of cut-up garbage. Sequestering a minute fraction of the garbage you make throughout your life as a room's worth of decoration so you can feel perpetual victory over that one PET bottle you refused to throw away.
Although, it seems like most of your examples are just cases where someone took some trash they were going to throw away and just didn't. That's kind of ineffectual because you can't save ALL garbage, but I don't think you made a big enough case for how it's WORSE than throwing it away. I get that it's not improving the situation, but how is it really worse? That's the case you're not making very strongly
One thing I really don't like about dealing with kids is that you teach them to recycle, which is good, but you basically have them make useless, finnicky shit that they will feel bad about throwing away when they grow up. Of course it's not always the case, but I feel like these things should either teach them to make actual toys (paper dolls, for one) or biodegradable decor, like drying up citrus peel or colouring eggs with natural plant dyes and stuff. I'd rather have them make a herbarium by drawing the leaves instead of picking them up, which is useful on top of being cool, than make faces with toilet paper rolls.
Completely agree with your take on the topic. Upcycling can make sense if you are giving a new life to something that would otherwise be discarded, but that is actually useful. Making yassified garbage with plastic bottles just doesn't solve anything. I like to upcycle stuff as a creative challenge, and part of the challenge is to make something that is sustainable and enviromentally friendly, not just a useless piece of stuff in my house. Love this channel btw, it offers some interesting points of view and it is original compared to the usual zero waste content.
I often check out crafting channels but I am put off by many. As creative as the people are, most would disappear if the glue guns they used in everything suddenly disappeared. I do try to recycle as much as I can 1st, upcycle 2nd or trash 3rd.
But it's very hard to craft without glue. Or is there a way to easily sustainably make your own glue like substance?
@@SmurfieDurfie, I hope I haven't put you off. I have edited my og comment to “glue guns” because that’s what I was really referring to. Glue guns melt plastic rods and are great for sticking stuff together quickly. I often use a smidge to tack things in place to check the look before I attach it permanently. If you craft for fun, using glue is fine. When I want my projects to last longer than the glue will hold or if it would leave a lump or bump on fabrics or yarn, I’ll use other skills I’ve learned like hand stitching and tying knots(learned from youtube). I also use double-sided craft tape & fabric glue. P.S. I haven’t made glue yet- but I have seen some tutorials that look doable.
@@mcmike446 Oh alright ty for the clarification! True, some crafters use glue guns in everything even when it isn't needed.
Good video and some great points. l think our waste production and disposal has become way too convenient - it's so easy to grab a package of something and because the packaging "magically" disappears when we've finished with it, most people don't give it a second thought and would probably be horrified at the sheer quantity of rubbish produced every day. In Otautahi/ Christchurch, my city here in Aotearoa/ New Zealand, our rubbish is divided into 3 bins for collection - green for organics which then get commercially composted, yellow for recycling and red for actual rubbish. When they first began collecting recycling here, there was only 1 bin - a small green tub that you put out next to your main rubbish bin. To my horror "super recyclers" got "rewarded" with a gold tub. Which IMO, just meant they were being rewarded for using a ridiculous amount of packaging. Luckily that soon stopped. I try and reduce my impact by growing some of my own produce and using as little packaging as possible. Most produce is sold un-bagged and supermarkets don't have plastic bags and encourage people to bring their own cloth bags from home - if you DO need a bag you can buy a cloth or paper one at the check-out. For preference, when l DO have to buy packaging, l choose glass as it can be reused so many times. There's a few places here where you can bring your own jars/containers to be filled and one of the major supermarkets even has bulk containers where you can fill your own cleaning products. (Shout out to Bin Inn, For Good and New World St Martins in Otautahi/ Christchurch) 😊
Great video. Much appreciated.
Very informative! I am definitely going to think more deeply about my own interactions with plastic and the waste I produce. Thank you for sharing 🙏
Thanks. I needed good quality cotton for a project and went to a thrift store. Found 2 Big and Tall shirts (excellent fabric-100% cotton) and made two baby quilts from them. Also used fabric scraps from another project. Quilts still being used years later..
Interesting perspectives
I would change the definition of upcycling from products to items because a lot of things upcycled weren’t and aren’t products. Plastics aren’t recyclable they can only be down cycled. I think you should mention how people who down cycle plastics are putting their health at risk by breathing in toxic plastic fumes. People who work at plastic companies get cancer from the chemicals which are only volatile when the plastic is heated. Beyond those small disagreements I think your video is excellent. :)
Very interesting, thank you. I love your facial hair, but the way!
DARKO BRANDON
Would mixing gasoline with styrofoam to make crazy glue be an upcycle? How to do this safely in an urban environment tho...(saw that on an Asian video sometime back and have been stockpiling styrofoam from my various sources to one day, maybe...)
Here is a video content idea that you might enjoy exploring: Where is the overlap between LEAN and Zero Waste? How can they work together to enhance our home environment and sustainability? SEE Paul Akers 2 Second LEAN
Very true but I would like to add that if upcycling is done on a bigger scale as a project using or combining materials it makes more sense. If you have a lot of one thing you have a material. If you have a lot of different things, you have trash. For example check the project Flip Flopi , A boat made from recycled plastic and up cycled rubber flip flops! I came across their channel today. So I guess it is true that the algorithm is suggesting smaller channels again.
PS : subscribed :)
Using an old tee-shirt that has old holes to make something new, even rags - good! Using an old to me tee-shirt, one that's perfectly good but I don't like on me, e.g. its too small, I don't like the colour - bad! Unless you can't find someone that would use the product as is. I apply this thought to anything I'm donating / re-using. Will it reach someone that will use it? Is it more useful as is.
I keep looking for used shuttles for weaving bc I'd rather buy used than new and 50% of the ones I see have been turned into stupid candle holders. Also makes a bit upset when I see people "upcycle" treadle sewing machines into side tables. Like. You have destroyed a tool that someone could have used and made something commonplace instead
Hey you have dreamcast!
Its reused products that lead to buying the same thing that costs far more than anticipated.
I don't think anyone paints vegetables.
there are crafts that use plants as stamps like a potato carved into a shape and dipped in paint or things like celery that already have a cool shape
what a fantastic video!! i hope it gets more exposure in the sustainability community. a lot of people really dont think of long term impacts, like you said. thanks for sharing; much love!! 💖
So good to hear someone talking about it. I am always nervous when I see bare materials like stone, wood, glass and cardbord being glued and painted. It feels WRONG and I always know it does more harm than good.