Everyone is concerned about the environment and its depletion of natural resources. You have heard about the 3 R’s- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to save our environment. Many other initiatives are now reducing our carbon emissions. Upcycling has given it a totally new meaning.
Upcycling is commonly known as “Creative Reuse” which in simple terms means converting waste materials, by-products, or even unwanted products into either new material or a new product that is perceived to be of better quality. In other words, the new product created is either equivalent to or higher than the quality or value original product.
Upcycling for a Circular Economy:
Upcycling also creates a circular economy. A circular economy means a system that uses and reuses goods many times rather than throwing them away after the first use. This is one of the best initiatives to support our depleting natural resources as the load on them reduces significantly.
Impact on Environment:
Why do we do upcycle? It helps reduce waste and thus aids in better utilisation of our limited resources.
1. Reducing Landfills
Many brands and designers today are now so creative that they can make absolutely new and beautiful stuff from old stuff. So many products that were once dumped into landfills are now finding their way into the factories of several creative people
2. Reducing the use of Natural Resources
When you recycle/upcycle you contribute to the environment. When you upcycle, you use the existing raw materials in the production process of something new and hence don’t use any other natural resource. You will be surprised to know that a single cotton t-shirt that we sometimes just discard requires a whopping 2700 litres of water to produce cotton.
3. Supporting Local/Rural Industry
When you engage in upcycling it requires the support of small businesses as well as the setting up of rural village industries. This plays an important role in supporting your own local industries and making your economy boom.
4. Costs Reduce
It is but natural if your designs of new products are made from used products, the cost of raw material procurement drastically reduces and thus brings down your overall manufacturing costs
Upcycling & Technology:
Samsung is today being applauded for its initiative “Galaxy Upcycling at Home Program” which encourages users to repurpose their old smartphones or gadgets for a new application.
Research has proved time and again that Upcycling is most beneficial when it comes to smartphones. Why is it so? This is because on average a smartphone or a mobile user upgrades or changes his device once in 2 years. So there! You have plenty of old mobile phones to upcycle.
Upcycling your Old phone: Some brilliant initiatives:
Brands like Samsung and other Android phone manufacturers have come up with several features on their mobile handsets that you do not need multiple gadgets at your home.
1. Google Home: Install the latest Android Operating System that offers the OK, Google Command. Connect it to a Bluetooth speaker and you are ready to go!
2. All in One Remote: One Remote, multiple gadgets! Install all the necessary apps on your smartphone for all your entertainment systems at home and it works very well.
3. Music Player: Your smartphone today has become your music player. Download your favourite music app and hear music on the go! You can also now download Movie Apps like Netflix to enjoy entertainment at its best.
4. Baby Monitor: Do away with those overly priced monitors for your baby. Your Android Phone is the best baby monitor you can have. There are many baby monitor apps available on your Play Store or simply use Skype running on both your mobile phones- old and new!
5. Security Camera: Don’t fret if you don’t have a security camera installed in your home. An Android phone will make your home safe and sound. Use your old smartphone or an unused one as your security camera. Just download the security camera app and plug your mobile phone into a power socket. Place it where you want and you will get real-time updates wherever you are.
All the above ideas are a better bet than rather just throwing away your old mobile phones. Electronic waste is straining our earth and therefore we must definitely think twice before changing smartphones or other electronic gadgets frequently.
Upcycling your laptop: Some brilliant initiatives:
Changing your old laptop to a newer one with a better processor and storage capacity is easy. But have you thought about what you can do with the old one? I’ll tell you there are plenty of reasons why you should not throw it away. Statistics show us that we generate roughly 50 million tons of electronic waste every year. Whoa! What does that translate into? It’s as good as disposing of 1000 laptops every SECOND!
So do your part, and reduce E-Waste. Some fun ideas could be to use it as a digital photo frame or if you are a hardware/software Pro convert it into an advanced NAS data storage system.
If you have the expertise, convert your old laptop into a Gaming Server. What does that mean you ask? Usually, when you are playing multiple games online you are connecting to a server that is handling multiple users. With your own personal gaming server, you and your friends can play games uninterrupted without anyone controlling the gaming server. The best option is to use it as an additional
External Monitor. Works best for those who are writers who need to look at multiple pieces of information. This way, you can do your search on one monitor and type your essay/report on the project on the other. Virtual networking computing systems allow you to control another computer remotely.
If all the above does not fit your bill, then do your but by using the parts of the laptop. Always remember that never throw away your old laptop directly into the garbage. Instead, take it for Recycling whereby the parts are dismantled and processed to be reused for another finished product. Always remember Upcycle/Reuse is a better option than Recycle.
Do your Bit- Upcycling begins at Home!
- Next time you find something broken at home, repair it and give it a new life
- Encourage buying from brands/designers that use this method for their manufacturing process
Upcycling your laptops/smartphones/tabs and other electronic gadgets is the only way out to lessen the impact on our mother earth.
By the end of this article, I hope we have shown you several reasons and ways you can reuse/upcycle your old smartphones/laptops instead of just throwing them away. We hope these ideas motivate you to reuse more things around your home rather than throw them away to buy a newer version of the same.
