Is upcycling out of a thrift shop like adopting a pet from the ASPCA?

As I have been working with my team to get Hipcycle geared up for its October launch, I have had a chance to examine a lot of upcycled products. When I check these products out, I’m looking for things that I hope will be popular with our customers and sell well. That is: are they attractive and durable and unique and fairly priced? Are they really cool?

I also consider where any given product’s materials came from and how they were made. Does everything that we will carry on Hipcycle help the environment in some way by diverting materials from the landfill and reducing our reliance on new raw materials? That’s the goal. As I have asked myself these questions, I have come to the conclusion that there are two general types of materials that go into upcycled products, based on where the materials are sourced.

Skateboard decks rescued by "i RIDE i RECYCLE"

First, there are products that are made from materials that are clearly destined for the trash bin, and the people and companies that make these products have set up specific initiatives to divert this waste and make it into something really cool. For example, the collection “brigades” that Terracycle has set up to collect bottles, Capri Sun juice pouches, and many other types of material is well documented, and truly awesome. Also, Pittsburgh company Art of Board has set up a program called “i RIDE i RECYCLE.” This program works with with skateboard shops across the country to collect used decks (the part of the skateboard to which the wheels are attached), which Art of Board then fabricates into design interiors and products like furniture, frames, and mirrors.

Second, there are a lot of upcycled products that are made from “finds.” Most of these finds are acquired at garage sales and thrift shops, or fished out of basements and attics, and the end results are products that not only are beautiful and practical, but also inspirational…a sort of an “I never would have thought to do that!” result.

However, are these products achieving the same level of environmental impact? If the source materials came from a thrift shop, for example, it indicates to me that somebody thought it was worth something, and perhaps was not at risk of being taken to the landfill. Or, did the material that went into the product simply get diverted from the waste stream early in the process before it would have eventually been trashed?

So my question is this: Is upcycling items acquired from a thrift shop like adopting a pet from the ASPCA? If you adopt that pet, you have saved its life, because it will eventually be “put down” if no one comes and claims it. Is this analogous to the idea of buying materials from the thrift shop to make an “upcycled” product? Did you prevent something from eventually going to the landfill, or because these materials already have a value (they are in a store, after all), did you simply “repurpose” them into something creative and new, but not really make a dent in reducing the waste stream?

My thought is that there might be some of both. I am no expert on the thrift shop industry, but if you read the website for Value Village, a large west coast thrift shop chain, they claim that their recycling program prevented 500 million pounds of unsold merchandise from ending up in landfills last year. So, by this statement, it turns out that not everything in thrift shops has value (as determined by whether or not someone buys it), and there is a lot of future garbage on these shops’ shelves. When making new products, if the source materials come from these 500 million pounds, or what would have eventually become part of these 500 million pounds, then that product is definitely upcycled. However, if you go to Value Village and buy a perfectly good TV and make it into a Terrarium, that is a “repurposed,” but not an “upcycled” TV. Neat, perhaps, but not environmentally noble.

(BTW, support your local animal shelter!)