24th June marks Upcycling Day and we’re celebrating! Upcycling is a growing trend and a great way for everybody to get creative. From DIY crafts, recycling and re-using odds and ends from around the house to re-vamping old furniture to give it a new lease of life.
Another reason why this day is special to Reclaim Nation is because we are all for sustainability and recycling. Our furniture is made using solid reclaimed timbers that would otherwise have been sent to landfill or discarded. Every year, 10 million tonnes of wood is disposed of in the UK, with only 1 million tonnes of it being recycled. The rest is then sent to landfill. That is a tremendous amount of resource being wasted that could have been used. Around the world, the wastage is significantly higher, and we really feel this cannot continue.
There are so many ways in which wood can be re-used and furniture can be upcycled. All of our products have been carefully crafted and handled with care to create truly beautiful pieces of reclaimed furniture for everyone to enjoy. Not only are these reclaimed timbers given a new lease of life, but we also try to preserve the natural beauty of the wood so you can get a glimpse of it’s past life. A lot of time and effort goes into the creation of our furniture because we want to make sure they are cherished for a very long time.
Although the wood is reclaimed and displays various markings, live edges and wood grains, these features are what makes our products real and unique, and it’s where you can find beauty in imperfection. Nothing is truly perfect, but you can try to get as close to perfection as possible, however sometimes there is much more beauty and inspiration to be found within imperfection.
If we truly want to live in a more sustainable world that doesn’t waste natural resources or any resources for that matter, we really need to think about what we do with our waste and what we can save from being wasted. Up-cycling and recycling plays a big part in this. It’s important for us to educate ourselves on how we can prevent materials from being wasted and what we can do in our everyday lives to make a difference.
Whether it’s recycling that cereal box, or putting that old table up on the internet for sale so that someone else can give it a new life instead of throwing it away or even taking some time out to sand and re-paint that old dresser that you don’t like the look of anymore because you think it’s reached the end of its life and giving it a makeover, every action no matter how small or big, it can really make a difference!
