Online site Upcycle Studio has won the eco shopping category at the 2014 Green Lifestyle Awards.
The Green Lifestyle Awards were started by Green Lifestyle magazine in 2012 to recognise people and businesses leading the charge toward a cleaner and greener living environment.
“We were completely taken by surprise when we found out that we were a top nominee let alone the winner,” says Upcycle Studio founder Joanne Crocker. “Being only a year and a half old and working with very limited resources made the win even more satisfying. It was really amazing to be acknowledged by such a great group of people so early on, it has definitely inspired us to push on to bigger and better things.”
When Crocker began Upcycle Studio in early 2013, she was focused on ensuring her business didn’t harm the environment. “The inspiration behind Upcycle was wanting to do something that contributed positively to the environment rather than burdening it. I’ve worked for other businesses in the past where the environment was not even a consideration and I knew whatever I did, I wanted it to be different.”
Upcycling involves taking old or discarded materials that would otherwise be destined for landfill and transforming them into something else. This could be plastic bags woven to create colourful cushions, old newspapers turned into pencils, or seatbelts turned into bags.
“A typical Upcycle trademark is usually evidence of the material or object’s past life which gives the new item far more character and individuality than any ‘off the production line’ product,” says Crocker.
Crocker sources products for Upcycle Studio from over 10 countries, and is always searching for new makers. “We do design some of our products in-house but we learnt very quickly that we can’t do everything, although we’d really love to. Currently we’re working on a range of sari silk scarves, throws and beach bags which are all our own designs. We also have some new truck tube bags in the making too.”
