With a little creativity and a passion for waste reduction, even lint and toilet paper rolls can be upcycled, proving that nothing is too wasteful to throw away.
In a post to Reddit's r/upcycling thread, a user shared a photo of a homemade fire starter made from upcycled trash. Users took old toilet paper rolls, stuffed them with lint, melted old candle wax, and wrapped them in spare holiday gift wrapping paper. What they were left with was a fun fire starter to use in the fireplace.
Upcycling is a great way to save money and reduce waste sent to landfills. Not only will you avoid throwing things away, but you'll also avoid having to buy new products that often come with a lot of packaging and waste. This practice contributes to a circular economy where consumerism takes a restorative and regenerative approach. This will reduce methane pollution from landfills and also reduce emissions from the shipping sector.
The World Economic Forum states in its article on circular economy: “A well-constructed circular economy should focus on avoiding the recycling stage at all costs. It may sound simple, but it is important to prevent waste from being generated in the first place.” The only one. realistic strategy. ” This highlights that while recycling is still important, upcycling is so important because the most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. .
Upcycling isn't just about creative DIY projects. Companies are increasingly upcycling. This means you don't have to do all the upcycling yourself. You can send your unwanted products to companies like GotSneaker and Patagonia to have them upcycled. A list of other companies that upcycle their products can be found here.
Commenters on this post were impressed by the upcycled fire starters and were inspired to try making their own fire starters.
“I liked this idea. Using egg cartons, [lint] I covered each spot with wax,” one user wrote.
Another said: “I love how you made it so colorful using things you had and disposable items you found. Looks great!”
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