Upcycling is when a person reuses (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of a higher quality or value than the original according to Dictionary.com. Ongoing scientific research has proven that participating in upcycling  instead of throwing away or recycling trash, saves the energy needed to break down that material, which inevitably decrease the amount of CO2 released into our atmosphere. It also helps save money by not having to buy new materials such as clothes or jewelry.

     At North Harford, junior Emily Boling has participated in upcycling.  “I know that I reuse bottles and stuff, like I store money in it, like little things like that. I know I’ve used makeup bags for pencil cases cause there’s really no point in throwing it away when other people can use it or you reuse it yourself, so it doesn’t go in a landfill, it’s just pointless waste,” said the junior.

    Boling adds, “Upcycling save a lot of resources, like natural resources are used for things and it pointless to throw them away if there nothing wrong with it.”

    Also, Senior Vanessa Lane, whose mother owns Belle Patri, which is a furniture store that takes used furniture and makes them into beautiful new pieces, comments people should upcycle because “You can reuse stuff instead of unecessarly throwing them away for waste.” She also added that a fun idea for upcycling is to “take old clothing and turn them into covers for seat cushions.”

    Thrifting has also become a great way now a days to upcycle since it allows people to buy used clothing and wear or make them into their own new clothing masterpiece.

    Some places that a person can shop or take their used items to are Uptown Cheapskate in Bel Air and Goodwill in Bel Air. At Uptown Cheapskate will even give you money back for the clothes you donate.They have popular brands from Nike to American Eagle.

    Kid to Kid is also a popular reselling destination, especially for kids toys and clothes, where you can get tons of gently used kids clothing for a lot less than retail value.

    Junior Sanie Niles says she likes going to the Goodwill in Bel Air because “it’s the biggest and the cleanest.” She says she goes thrifting because she can “never find clothes [she] likes at stores like Macy’s or branded clothes as well as for the some great deals at thrift stores on stuff so unique you’d never be able to find it anywhere else.” Niles recommends thrift shopping because it’s cheaper and you can get more for your money, but warns of washing the clothes before wearing them.

    Ellie Wood, also a junior, thrifts at not only Goodwill but also through rummage sales.

She says that thrifting is good to “find stuff that fits your style” and is fun as long as you’re “committed enough to your style to dig through loads of coal to find a gem.”