Upcycling is a component of sustainability in which waste materials are used to provide new products. It is generally a reinvestment in the environment. This process allows for the reduction of waste and use of virgin materials. “Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value.” The term upcycling was coined by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, authors of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

I have been a freelancer for many businesses and have observed the amount of trash that is put out into the world – for the sole purpose of being a profitable competitor in an economical empire. This has effected me adversely and I find balance in salvaging this trash to make something useful that will hopefully replace the purchasing of a mass-marketed product. The materials I use as a palette for my concepts are salvaged materials found mostly in corporate trash bins and dumpsters. I usually end up at SCRAP gathering pieces and parts to make something work.