Lightbulb Baubles

Christmas is a perfect time to get reusing. There are so many opportunities to make decorations, cards, Christmas trees and gifts from old Christmas items or unwanted objects you would easily find around your home. As an example, I took four lightbulbs which no longer work, and used some leftover beads and ribbon to upcycle them into Christmassy baubles for the Christmas tree.

Step 1: Find unusable light bulbs in that drawer of things you have no use for, but keep hoping they may work one day.

Step 2: Gather an assortment of craft items to decorate your bauble. I used beads and a gold pen, but you could use whatever you like. Buttons, glitter, ribbons and sequins would be fun too!

Step 3: Draw quick sketches of your ideal baubles to play around with layout of materials and ideas. It will make the making process easier!

Step 4: Use a glue gun or superglue to attach decorations to the lightbulb as you like. Leave to dry.

Step 5: Hang on your Christmas tree and show all your friends!

If you fancy making your own baubles, you can enter the Lightbulbs direct competition! email a link to your blog post entry to competition@lightbulbs-direct.com and visit the website for all the terms and conditions of entry.

The Bower Reuse & Repair Centre Co-op

Another brilliant thing about the Addison Road Centre, in addition to Reverse Garbage and the Sunday market is the Bower Reuse and Repair Centre Cooperative. Check out their website for more information and you can also follow them on social media.

Reverse Garbage

I've been working at this awesome place, Australia's largest creative re-use centre! Check out the Reverse Garbage website and social media for more info and the latest stock updates.

Salvaging Sewing Machines

This sewing machine was salvaged from a Household Waste and Recycle Centre (HWRC) last month in East London. I'm shocked that people choose to discard sewing machines at their local HWRC when there are so many avenues which enable them to stay in use including ebay, freecycle, flooting and taking it to a charity shop.

In addition to multiple re-use avenues, there is also a growing craft market forcing a rise of sewing machine sales. I have found articles each year from 2009 'Tesco sells two sewing machines a minute' to 2013 'Britain's got a sewing bee in it's bonnet causing sewing machine sales to soar' documenting the clear demand from a growing market.

In addition to the Singer below, I sorted through many other sewing machines that had been rescued. They were old electrical machines, with matching top thread and bobbin threaded up and ready to sew, with an array of spare bobbins, unpickers, needles and safety pins in the little storage compartment, with the cable and foot pedal wrapped carefully around the machine. They are definitely not waste and should be used!

The Sewing Machine Project operates in America, collecting and distributing unwanted sewing machines to communities around the world, supporting people to pursue creative projects.

If anyone knows of any sewing machine re-use projects in the UK please do let me know!

Take Back Schemes

Following a visit to Brighton in November 2011, I blogged about the Vans recycling scheme I saw advertised in their shop window and mentioned how great it would be if more shops started operating and promoting take back schemes to increase the available avenues for garments to be re-used and recycled.

It is now nineteen months later and I am very happy to follow up the Vans blog post with examples of more take back schemes I have spotted in shops around London. Furthermore, many schemes include a financial incentive to encourage customers to bring unwanted garments back when they visit the store.

As more people choose to shop in out-of-town malls and shopping centres such as Westfield, traditional behaviours of donating second hand clothing to local charity shops can become increasingly inconvenient.

The Green Style Blog on the British Vogue website recently featured a similar take back for recycle scheme launched by the global  retailer Intimissimi. The following images were taken at Jack Jones, H&M, Marks and Spencer and Clarks.

Jack Jones

H and M

Marks and Spencer

Clarks

Recycle Week 2013

As part of recycle week 2013, DEFRA have developed this infographic about clothing waste with support from WRAP. It's shocking to see the figures, but great to see clothing in the spotlight for recycle week!

Don't let your clothes be disposable - reduce, re-use and recycle!

Living and Giving Westbourne Grove

Salvation Army Reusable Bag

Salvation Army Charity Shop Re-usable bag. Offering discounts on future products if you bring back your bag next time you shop at the Salvation Army.

Metro Re-create in Association with Oxfam

above image from www.metro.co.uk

Metro launches their competition to encourage Art and Design students or graduates (of two years) to use the paper to inspire an artistic creation that responds to one of the four themes below:

Morning
Green
Free
Urban

And fits into one of the 3 categories:

Art
Design
Fashion and Jewellery

The deadline for entries is March 26th 2010. There are three great judges, one representing each of the three categories.

The winning pieces will also feature in the metro newspaper, online at metro.co.uk and in Oxfam stores. And 20 runners up prizes will be awarded to those who narrowly miss the top spot.

See the website for more information and to apply

Platform 21 Repair Manifesto

Platform 21 is a 'design platform aiming to positively influence the relationship between user and product' www.platform21.nl

Just in case the above isn't a clear image, their repair manifesto (downloaded from their website) is...

1) Make your products live longer
Repairing means taking the opportunity to give your product a second life. Don't ditch it, stitch it! Don't end it, mend it! Repairing is not anti-consumption, it is anti-needlessly throwing things away

2) Things should be designed so that they can be repaired
Product designers: make your products repairable. Share clear, understandable information about DIY repairs
Consumers: Buy things you know can be repaired, or else find out why they don't exist. Be critical and inquisitive

3) Repair is not replacement
Replacement is throwing away the broken bit. This is NOT the kind of repair that we're talking about.

4) What doesn't kill it makes it stronger.
Every time we repair something, we add to it's potential, its history, its soul and its inherent beauty

5) Repairing is a creative challenge
MAking repairs is good for the imagination. Using new techniques, tools and materials ushers in possibility rather than dead ends

6) Repair survives fashion
Repair is not about styling or trends. There are no due-dates for repairable items

7) To repair is to discover
As you fix objects, you'll learn amazing things about how they actually work. Or don't work.

8) Repair - even in good times!
If you think this manifesto has to do with the recession, forget it. This isn't about money, it's about a mentality.

9) Repaired things are unique
Even fakes become originals when you repair them

10) Repairing is about independence
Don't be a slave to technology - be it's maste. If it's broken, fix it and make it better. And if you're a master, empower others

11) You can repair anything, even a plastic bag.
Buy we'd recommend getting a bag that will last longer, and then repairing it if necessary.

STOP RECYCLING START REPAIRING

Clothing Ration Books

After a weekend spent with Grandma, old photographs and Wedding Albums of 4 generations, the clothing ration books above were found mixed in with various family birth and death certificates.

No clothes could be bought without also handing over the ration coupons, leading to the development of a 'black market' where those who did not want to buy any new clothes could sell their coupons to others wanting or needing new clothing for example, a wedding dress.

Revolve: Recycled Products

Walking past a skip today I saw this circuit board on the top of the contents. It reminded me of a company I heard of initially about 3 years ago -Revolve UK. They take circuit boards, plastic bags, juice cartons, coffee cups, yoghurt pots and plastic bottles and recycle them into new materials and products. Click here to be taken to their website. They are familiar products made with unusual and unique 100% recycled materials.

Monsoon Campaign - Clothes for Life

Another national high street retailer taking action to encourage consumers to reuse, pass on and donate their unwanted clothing.

Monsoon have launched the 'Clothes for life' campaign
where you will receive a £5 voucher for future purchases of Monsoon clothing (over £30) when you take to the store and donate items of unwanted Monsoon clothing.

The money raised from the resale of these clothes will help support the NewLife Foundation.

Initiatives like this provide fantastic potential source material for Upcycling designers. Maybe to make more people aware of the scheme Monsoon could pass on some of the clothing to Upcycling designers/student designers to create unique garment designs from unwanted Monsoon clothing. The remade and one off pieces would be of a higher value and able to raise more money for the charity.

Urban Outfitters: ReNewAll

check out the website

Read the interview

The Urban Renewal (RenewAll) collection from Urban Outfitters is a great example of how Upcycling can be included within the high street fashion retailers. Each piece is made in America from vintage clothing and surplus textile stock.

Urban Outfitters do have a quirky image and maybe this is why the Renewal Collections have sold well. Could the ideas behind the renewal and upcycling format work and sell in all high street stores? What is important is that a stereotype of upcycling doesn't evolve. It is not a 'style', it is not a 'look', it is a method of garment production. A diverse variety of styles and designs can be created, styles to suit all types of fashion retailers using reclaimed garments and textiles.

LMB Textile Recycling

LMB In East London

Professional Texile Recyclers

Lawrence M. Barry is a large textile resale, reuse and upcycling plant.

With over 400 textile and clothing donation banks around London, LMB are a great source for Upcycling designers.

The majority of the clothing donated is sold to African second hand clothing merchants who sell on the clothing or 'mitumba' in markets.

The clothing unsuitable for resale or reuse is sold to textile downcycling and flocking companies who break down the fibres to create fabrics of lower quality.

As well as sourcing unwanted clothing, LMB also work with companies to take the old uniforms and promotional clothing that is no longer required.

The company is involved with education and design collaborations, providing source material for Upcycling designers and design students at various Universities including University of the Arts London.

A new initiative with students from the Univeristy of East London and Dr.Noki to open an Upcycling shop on Bethnal Green Road!!! AMAZING!!!

I collaborated with Zoe Fletcher who is also on my MA course to create a short film about the amazing work LMB do! Click here to be taken to You Tube

Mary Queen of Charity Shops

Following the successful television series, Mary Portas teamed up with Grazia to create a pop up charity/vintage shop early summer 2009 in Westfield Shopping Centre, West London.

Charity Shop project:

It can only be a good thing for charity shops to improve their 'brand'. A higher profile will not only to encourage consumers to donate unwanted clothing but also to consider them as a place to shop.

The television show highlighted the amount of 'junk' people own and want to clear out, but aren't good enough quality to be sold on or donated to charity organisations.

As a result of this, a mainstream option needs to become available for the clothing people no longer want to wear and feel isn't good enough to be sold in a charity shop. This clothing, the current destination for which is the bin (and therefore landfill), should be collected by or donated to rag/textile recycling businesses to be recycled or downcycled - and diverted from landfill.

Many people are also unaware of the links charity organisations have with such textile recyling companies. Any garments passed on to charity organisations that they cannot sell will be passed on to recycling rag companies.

1 Garment - 5 Days - 5 Ways

Taking one trench coat and wearing it every day for 5 days.

Each evening I transformed the shape, neither adding nor taking away any fabric from the original garment.

This alteration and transformation journey aims to highlight the potential variety within one item of clothing and to encourage creativity to extend the life cycles of garments that are no longer desired.

Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

UPcycling: Make an impact
(but not on the environment)