/r/upcycling
Upcycling is reusing waste or unwanted materials without destroying them in order to create something new.
What is the difference between Recycling and Upcycling?
Recycling takes waste products, breaks them down, then forms them into something new. Upcycling is reusing waste or unwanted materials without destroying them in order to create something new, which makes upcycling more energy efficient than recycling.
More About r/Upcycling
This subreddit is for people who have come together to turn waste or unwanted items into something useful. We encourage reducing, reusing and recycling waste in the traditional fashion, but there are some things that don't recycle well, or would otherwise be thrown away. For these types of materials, we encourage re-purposing the materials.
This space is for anything upcycling. All relevant posts are welcome.
Challenge of The Month
Each month we will have a challenge on the sub. This month's challenge can be found at the top of the page as a post. You will need to upcycle something in the theme we give you and then post a picture of it in the comments of the post
All participants will get a special flair that will get updated when you do more challenges.
Posting Policy
We have a very simple posting policy. We realize that some Redditors have relevant blogs or Etsy shops. It's OK to post them here, but only if you are contributing to the Reddit community more than you are posting and cross-posting your own content.
Where did my post go?
Reddit has an aggressive system for weeding out spam, especially if you're new or cross-posting the same content throughout many subreddits. If you notice your post is missing and doesn't get any responses by the end of the day, just feel free to message the mod to bring attention to the spam trap.
Related Subreddits
/r/upcycling
I'm a student and I've been collecting all my useless paper sheets from school since September, either test papers or random exercices I don't need anymore. Now it's getting a LOT of paper so I wanna start using it.
I've been thinking of using it for paper mache but I don't know if printer paper is good for this type of project (pls tell me). I could also use it to make my own paper I could turn into my own sketchbook, but I don't think I have the space to do this, so if you have any other idea of what else I could do with my paper sheets, please share it! Thanks :)
Found this affliction shirt at the thrift store and it was missing all but 2 buttons in the back but not in the front, these are the buttons on the garment and i want to replace them, where can i find buttons like these or these ones exactly
I recently shared a sandwich board I made with dresser drawers I found dumped on the side of the road and am back with my latest project, which will hold fresh loaves of bread at upcoming farmers market events. The wood comes from pallets, discarded 2x4 remnants found here and there, and a small plywood remnant from an old project.
My boba was served in this heavy duty plastic cup with a nice lid. It says it's recyclable but I wanna see save it. Any ideas to help it look better? I wanna get rid of all of that text or make it a different color or something but idk what to do exactly. Maybe flip it upside down and spray paint the outside of the cup?
I have a couple trash bags full of knit clothing leftover after a garage sale I'd like to reuse. Varying weights from super thin to heavy. Ideas?
I already pulled out all the wovens to turn into quilt fabric. I don't think these would work as quilt batting unfortunately - too heavy and washing would be an issue.
I do not want to make a rag rug of any type. Done that before and just no.
How do you get this dye stain out of this shirt without ruining the shirt?? Looks like it could be from jeansโฆ itโs pretty faint but def noticeable
As a crafter Iโve been looking for number six plastic to use to make shrinky dinks. I do not want to buy them (waste). Are there any other plastics that are common that yโall know of that are mainly number six?
I found this leaf and was inspired by the seasons. Hope you enjoy!
I made my first wearable upcycle! A thrifted, vintage tablecloth that I made into a dress. Not perfect, but Iโll get there.
Iโm in my 20s and still have my baby blanket sitting in a basket untouched for years. Itโs adorable (got bunnies on it) and the fabric is in pretty good shape still, but I just have nothing to do with it in its current form.
Have any of you ever upcycled a baby blanket or have any ideas? Mine is quilted and made of woven fabric, so I was considering maybe cutting it up and using it in a patchwork quilt or maybe making a larger quilt with the entire face of the baby blanket intact as the centerpiece. Making it into a bag somehow could also be cute, maybe? Any thoughts on ways to use one?
I know this is ridiculous, but I was looking for ways to upcycle old Android phone. Since my cat loves to watch bird videos on the TV, I thought it would be funny to make him a tiny MCM-style mini TV. So I made a design in CAD, 3d printed the parts, painted & assembled itโฆ and now he watches birds & squirrels on TV while eating his dinner. It was a fun little project. Full build video is here if anyone cares to see how it came together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPs45uDzphw
I have about 40 of these little bottles/vials. All have lids. All are amber glass. I don't want to just throw them away but what might be a good use for so many of them?
Hi! I am upcycling a chest of drawers and I am planning to put wallpaper on the doors. However, I can't decide what knobest to use... Can you give me some recommendations?
I thought I could do gold ones, but I am afraid they will get lost in the wallpaper. Should I go for solid white ones instead? I have attached a mockup of how the wallpaper will look. Thank you in advance!
This is my childhood blanket. It's around fifteen years old, but still in pretty great shape. I'm looking for a way to upcycle it into something I could have around me near-constantly that would preserve the texture of the yarn. Both small and big project ideas welcome!! I do not currently knit or crochet, but I do sew occasionally! I own a sewing machin machine that I'm still learning to use, but I also hand sew. Sharpie for size reference ig.
So I have two scented candles I absolutely love, but one had the wicks burn out, and the other had one wick migrate to an unsafe using position, right up against the glass.
I'd like to melt them down and turn them into wax cubes for my little wax burner, but have no idea how to get it out.
Last time I tried, I used the 'pour hot water into the jar' method, and the jar shattered into popcorn glass.
Any safer ways? I'd rather avoid damaging the jars.
I know my pups will shred this in minutes but it's a great use for fabric scraps and stuffing from old toys