Columnists

As I munched my lunch today I was reminded of all of the waste that comes with our everyday lives. I bought a yogurt at a coffee shop, and that yogurt container’s gonna have to make the trek to the recycling plant. I received an interesting note from Canadian company TerraCycle describing how they’re working to “upcycle” waste from common single-use packaging in school lunches.

TerraCycle, in partnership with Kraft Canada, has started a “Brigade” system pays schools and non-profit organizations two cent per package to collect non-recyclable food packaging. TerraCycle has sponsorships to collect Kool-Aid Jammers, Del Monte beverages, Mr. Christie’s Snak Paks and other Mr. Christie cookies and crackers, and Back to Nature nuts and trail mixes.

I don’t have kids, so it’s easy for me to say that it would be best to avoid buying lunch foods that come in non-recyclable packaging. But I can see that, like most problems, a variety of solutions are required, and upcycling waste into other products isn’t a bad one. TerraCycle says that drink pouches will be sewn into durable containers such as tote bags and pencil cases, while cracker wrappers will be fused together into sheets of waterproof fabric, which then can be made into umbrellas, shower curtains, backpacks and placemats.

To sign up for the TerraCycle program, click here.

Have you ever bought or made something constructed with reused something else?

We’re five days away from Christmas, when many people around the world will join in the annual ritual of giving and receiving. I’m predicting that economic conditions have danced with the crafter movement to create a surge of hand-made gifts this year.

I’m not very good at making things, aside from little songs, so I love to receive a hand-made photo scrapbook, hand-made cards, all things hand-knit… and pretty much anything made with love. But there’s one class of stuff that no one wants under the tree: upcycled handicrafts.

The definition of upcycling isn’t yet set in stone, but it strikes me as: using materials pretty much as-is to construct or adorn new materials.

Whether it’s a picture frame decorated with used dental flossers, a doll’s head making an appearance on a toilet paper cosy or an old sock repurposed into a fruit protector, some things, as documented on Regretsy, are just not meant to be reused.

Hey, I’m sure there are great ways to upcycle. All I’m saying is, in this case, it may be better to give upcycled items to a true fan: oneself.

Prove me wrong! Do you have a great idea for a gift made with reused materials?