Reworking discarded materials into something of higher value or quality: pallet furniture, quilt tops from worn shirts, jewelry from hardware. The name is recent but the practice is the old household thrift every craft tradition carries, given new purpose by environmental concern. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
OriginThe word is credited to Reiner Pilz in a 1994 interview, and was popularized by the 2002 book Cradle to Cradle 1 FAQs
What is the difference between upcycling and recycling?
Upcycling reuses without breaking a material down; recycling does, often losing quality.
Recycling breaks a material down and remakes it, often losing quality in the process, a version of that loss called downcycling. Upcycling skips the breakdown: it reworks a discarded object or material directly into something of equal or higher value, keeping more of the original material and craftsmanship intact.
Connections
Associated With
Quilting, Crafts The Amish quilt is the article's own named example of upcycling applied to quilting.
Additional Source Upcycling (Wikipedia)Examples section, on the Amish quilt
Source Slow Fashion (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Upcycling (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality
Downcycling section
Downcycling is the opposite of upcycling and the other part of the recycling process. Downcycling involves converting materials and products into new materials, sometimes of lesser quality.
Associated With: Quilting, Examples section, on the Amish quilt
The Amish quilt, for example, came about through reapplication of salvaged fabric.
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