Sustainability Spotlight
Recycling and Upcycling
One of the easiest ways to contribute to sustainability is to recycle and upcycle. …but what exactly is the difference between recycling and upcycling? You might think it’s something along the lines of “using old materials and making them new again,” but there is a significant difference between recycling and upcycling.
What does ‘recycling’ mean?
Recycling is taking waste and breaking it down into raw materials to then create something new from it, such as how we can use old newspaper to create recycled newspaper products like egg cartons, insulation, or even kitty litter.
What is ‘Upcycling’?
Upcycling, on the other hand, is taking something old or used and reusing it for a new purpose, while giving it a second life or function. A great example is how an old Maola milk bottle can be used as a flower vase. We don’t have to process it or break it down to upcycle the milk bottle as something else. When we upcycle, we reuse an item for a different purpose.
Now that you know the difference between recycling and upcycling, why don’t you give upcycling a shot and check out how we repurposed an old Maola milk carton into a flower vase? Try it for yourself!
