F - Waste! Upcycling and Thrifting INFOGRAPHIC

I have a cool infographic to share today from Nicola Silcock from The Farthing about upcycling and thrifting.

Upcycling and thrifting are two environmentally-friendly practices that go hand in hand. They’re huge trends in the interiors, fashion and design industry and have become increasingly popular over the years. In the UK – 1.6 million tons of ‘waste’ is thrown out, 42% of which is furniture. Imagine the condition of some of these pieces that could do with a little maintenance work and sold as something completely transformed!

There’s a lot of confusion when you hear the word ‘upcycling’ – people often think it’s synonymous with recycling, but there’s actually quite a difference between these two words. The difference between recycling and upcycling is that with recycling, raw materials are created into new consumer products (such as a disposed water bottle broken down into another plastic container), whereas upcycling uses various products to create something entirely new and not the same product again. Upcycled products are generally worth more in value than the original intended use.

Thrifting is the act of shopping at a second-hand shop, ‘thrift’ store or flea market with the intent of finding an interesting item at a cheap price. The resale industries brings in $4 billion annually to the US market, and over 80% of people world-wide buy, use or wear second hand goods.

Companies such as Patagonia, Hermes and Terracycle are paving the way for upcycling and inspire their consumers to do the same. If you’re interested in saving money, helping the environment and engaging your creativity – look no further than the art of upcycling! Our infographic is a fantastic resource for educating and raising awareness on upcycling and thrifting.

In addition to this we have created a little flow chart that can help you decode whether you should thrift your finds (or not!) – at The Farthing we understand the struggle of deciding whether to invest in your new find, so we’re here to help you make an informed decision.

Have you tried upcycling and thrifting?

Nicola Silcock is a Marketing Executive at The Farthing – an online interiors boutique with a fabulous collection of eclectic, ethically sourced and handpicked homewares.

(Disclosure: No compensation was received for this post.)