Innovation, Upcycling- Erakina

Introduction

Upcycling means giving the product a second life in a creative way. It is not the same as recycling but a different term. It gives a new value to the old product. Upcycling can be done on any product. It is generally done on a waste product. Upcycling is very common in a country like India.

Ideas for Upcycling-

1. The old ladder can be changed into a useful bookshelf.
2. The vintage suitcase can be changed into a chair which can be very useful for guests to sit.
3. Old football can be created to plant pot.
4. A person can change his/her cycle to a washbasin stand which can be very creative.
5. We can change one’s old jeans into a beautiful bag.
6. Old beer bottles can be changed into a beautiful chandelier.
7. Tyres can be made so comfortable for a seating purpose they will look creative.
8. Everyday gloves can be changed into a beautiful doll and a broom can be changed into a doll’s hair.
9. Western toilet seats can be changed to a beautiful couch. In Japan, a restaurant follows this kind of decorum in the restaurant, utensils can also be seen in the same way. 
10. Cardboard boxes can be changed to collecting items like earrings etc.

Old telephone changed to a study lamp

Advantages-

1. Upcycling is an environmentally friendly process, it doesn’t involve that many chemicals in it. Actually, it is a very creative process.
2. Minimizes the cost of production as people themselves can make upcycled products that don’t need that much cost.
3. It automatically saves the natural resources of our mother earth e.g. if we use toilet seats for the couch, the resources used for making furniture can be reduced to 0.
4. It supports the local business, which can be useful for a country like India as we are promoting “Atma Nirbhar Bharat”.
5. It educates the customers about creativity which will be useful for a person.
6. It gives information about all the different types of products which include creativity.
7. It can save a lot of money as we are creating a new product from waste that can be available in our homes.

Disadvantages-

1. It can create our home into a junk spot as people who are interested in upcycling will automatically collect junk and waste items in their own homes which can take up all the space available in a beautiful home  
2. It can create a negative impact on a person as he/she may not be able to manage both that is his/her work and their creativity. It can even lead to stress.
3. Some products cannot be recycled easily as it takes more energy so it is better than upcycling is not for some products.

Jars converted to lamps

Upcycling vs. Recycling-

• Recycling is a process in which a product is broken into pieces and converted into a new product whereas upcycling is renovating the product into a new creative one. e.g. tire into a couch.
• Recycling needs lots of energy to recycle a product such as plastic converting into a new plastic product whereas upcycling doesn’t require much energy.
• Recycled products have less quality compared to original products, simply they lose their originality after recycling. But upcycling it is different as it doesn’t lose its originality, it becomes more creative than before.
• Recycling can produce toxic waste because of the long process of converting it into a new product whereas upcycling doesn’t produce toxic waste as it doesn’t have a specific factory, in the maximum cases upcycling is done in one’s house.
• The recycling process is very simple as all the processes are done by machines. It is not the case in upcycling as it requires manual work for creativity so the upcycling process is more complex than recycling.
• Recycling can be applied to unlimited products namely steel, plastic, aluminum, etc. Upcycling has a limited amount of products that can be upcycled like tyres, cardboard, shoe boxes, etc.

Old tyre into the beautiful plant pot

Conclusion-

Upcycling process is a very useful process that can be done by all creative people. It doesn’t need many steps as he/she can do the way they want. Many restaurants follow this trend of upcycling. It can create another employment opportunity. There are no such factories that upcycle things.