Upcycling SLO

Written by Matt Foote | 06 May 2010

A Conservation with Jennifer Alexander of the new SLO based arts & crafts movement, "UpCycle SLO"

Q: How would you define "Up-cycling" as opposed to, say, "re-cycling",
re-purposing", "re-using", etc.?

A: Upcycling is basically the process of using repurposed materials to create something even better than it already was, or at least something that will have continued use instead of just throwing it away or sending it to be re-cycled. Recycling itself depletes a lot of resources and really should be the last resort in the process of reduce, reuse, recycle. Reusing is basically the same thing as upcycling as well. UpcycleSLO not only wants to empower people to reuse things in a creative way but we also want to send the message out there of reducing as well; becoming less of a consumer and more of a creator. I actually like the wikipedia article about upcycling. It talks about how the word first came into being, who coined it, and what it exactly means...possibly it is more clear than I can explain it. *"Upcycling* is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

How did you come to be involved with this movement? Where did you hear of
it, what was your call-to-action moment when you decided to actually DO
something with it?

I come from a long line of seamstress and creative people. My Russian great-grandmother got the family through the depression by making clothes for many famous people in Los Angeles. She actually sewed Mrs. Sees’ (of Sees Candy) undergarments and Tyrone Power’s baby clothes. I am not an excellent seamstress; I do it more for the creative, relaxing quality of it so I don't like being stringent about it or following patterns and I think that is what makes my creative projects more "homemade" and "unique" looking. I just started this summer getting back into the craft, but I was too poor to buy materials at the craft stores, so I just started using material from old clothes or clothes I found at the thrift stores. Then going to the library I found there are tons of books out there actually about making similar things to what I was making, and realized this was actually a movement. My friend Sara and I decided to start UpcycleSLO and we pooled all of our interests and goals of what we would like to see here in this community. We started with a small trunk show at her house, and then I heard of the Swap-O-Rama-Rama and just had to put one on here in town and thought it would be a great way to get the name of UpcycleSLO and what we want to do out there in the community. Ever since I have done massive networking, a lot of research about the movement, and even visited clubs, organizations, and non-profits in the bay area that are doing similar things. Sara and I both are very socially responsible people so we decided from the get go that this would always be something that would ultimately go back to benefit the community somehow and we want to teach people how empowering it is to be more creative in this consumer world.

How has it been so far, as far as local interest and participation?

 So far I have had an awesome journey of networking to get Swap-O-Rama-Rama off the ground and to build interest for it in the community. And with that I have been able to spread the news about UpcycleSLO as well. There are a few people who don't really take the time to really hear about what we are doing but for the most part I have found the community very excited and supportive of what we want to do. We are lucky because we have the university community here that brings in progressive thinkers. Also I feel San Luis Obispo is so rooted in the beautiful nature we have here we all can't help but be concerned about the sustainability of it. I think this all leads to a perfect environment for people to both be more creative and innovative about their fashion choices. I don't want to go too far off in a tangent about this but I watched the Gandhi movie and it really inspired me because Gandhi himself made his own clothing and he did this as a protest against the colonization of India by the British. Sometimes I wonder if fashion and consumerism is really that important of an aspect to focus on when trying to promote sustainability in the world, since really clothing going into landfills only makes up like less than 10% of what usually goes in. However, watching this movie made me realize what a powerful voice we can have through our consumer choices and changes can be made through these choices. That is why I, as a new year’s resolution, decided not to buy anything new for the entire year. Not only are we concerned about where our clothes are going when we are done with them, we are worried about where they are coming from as well. There are many concerns around the textile industry. Use of harsh chemicals, exploitation of foreign workers, and resource depletion from getting mass amounts of t-shirts made in Myanmar to a retail store in San Luis Obispo.

What are some things that ya'll have coming up that we can look forward to?

 Our goal with UpcycleSLO is to put together a creative co-op where people would have a space to come where creative materials would be available to them at any time. We would have frequent artistic workshops, and even a place for people to sell or display their recycled arts. We also want to continue having annual trunk shows to empower and support local artists, and we want to continue going into the community to show people how to use repurposed materials to make beautiful, usable things. We also want to frequently support the local non-profits we admire so much.