What is Upcycling?
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.
Upcycling is the opposite of downcycling, which is the other half of the recycling process. Downcycling involves converting materials and products into new materials of lesser quality. Most recycling involves converting or extracting useful materials from a product and creating a different product or material.
The Upcycling Project:
In this project, children have to use available scrap to come up with a design/ product in either of the below category:
- Furniture
- Appliances
- Games
Materials Required:
| No | Material | Qty | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardboard | 1 | Local hardware store |
| 2 | CDs | 1 | Mumbai: Lamington Road |
| 3 | Plastic Bottles | 1 | Local Stationery |
| 4 | Old Clothes | 1 | Scrap |
| 5 | Newspapers | 1 | Local Stationery |
| 6 | Scissors | 1 | Local Stationery |
| 7 | Tape | 1 | Local Stationery |
Links for Ideas/ Inspiration:
Furniture:
- DIY Cardboard Furniture on Instructables
- Paper Furniture by Bhakti Panchal
- Chairs from Plastic Bottles
Appliances/ Products:
Games: