Hello Environmentality listeners,
Jaime, Ahmed and Fola chatted to Cintia Gonzalez about upcycling. Cintia comes from a crafty family and has learnt
how to sew and knit from her mother. Cintia has been blogging for the
past 5 years.
| Courtesy of mypoppet.com.au |
Upcycling is when something new is made from something old
or something that might have been thrown away. Although its roots may have come
from thriftiness, upcycling not only benefits your hip pocket but also the
environment. By choosing to reuse, we are diverting waste from landfill and
saving the water, energy and resources that would have gone into making new
products.
Upcycling is also great to develop and learn new skills. By
creating your own products, you will be more likely to appreciate the time and
skill required to make the product, hence more likely to value it and less
likely to throw it away. You don’t need to have formal training to start, just
interest! Start small and build up your skill set with each project. A good
project to start with is decorating old jars and shoe boxes for storing things.
Pinterest is great if you’re stuck for ideas as we were! You-tube is also
fantastic if you’re looking to up-skill.
One of Cintia’s projects is a braided carpet made from 13
old t-shirts that have been worn out. Cut into strips, the t-shirts were braided
and sew together. One of Cintia’s better known projects is the cross stitch chair
that was fixed and covered in wool cross stitch pattern. The chair has been
featured in international design websites and magazines.
| Braided T-Shirt Rug, Courtesy of mypoppet.com.au |
For other projects and photo step to step guides, check out
Cintia’s blog. You can also follow Cintia on twitter @mypoppetshop and
instagram
The joy Cintia attains from creating her own products is
infectious and Cintia’s enthusiasm can clearly be shown through her work. To hear
more about Cintia’s blog, her other projects, yoghurt container curtains and
catch some of Cintia’s enthusiasm, listen to the podcast.
For more information about the Broadmeadows Bicycle Hub,
click on Banksia Garden’s website.
The Environmental champions monthly social catch up meets the
second Wednesday of every month from 6:30pm till 9pm at the Hume Global Learning Centre. For bookings and other events, go to http://www.livegreenhume.eventbrite.com.au or call 9205 2310
Tracks played:
What are friends for- Gabriel Lynch
Waking up is hard to do- Go You Huskies
Lights down- Go You Huskies
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