From the designer who dislikes waste, Katcha Bilek presents her collection of stylish & versatile bags & belts, crocodiles & chandeliers, from upcycled, recycled & reclaimed materials.

Katcha began selling her upcycled inner-tube bags in Spain from the late nineties. Living in an out-of-service fire engine as she travelled across Europe, she was regularly found selling them out of the back to passers by!

“They were in demand,” she says, “because they were an intelligent alternative to animal skins, and boring high-street copies and people realised this. The bags and bike tyre belts are robust and versatile – perfect for living on the road, and for an urban lifestyle too.

I think because they are design-led and hand-crafted, people were attracted to them – my methods cut out industrial machinery and any chance of unethical practices. Plus, each piece is completely unique – you might cut the same design from an inner-tube, but the final result will always be slightly different.”

Her designs have an intrinsic element of relaying environmental issues. “Promoting awareness of the environment and of the raw resources and materials we consume daily  are essential components in all of my creations.”

Katcha continually expresses her love of design, beauty and originality through transforming discarded materials and objects she finds on a scavenge, fashioning them into useful, well-designed pieces.

Katcha Bilek has also designed some popular upcycled tyre sculptures. But, in true Katcha style, not just any ordinary sculptural design – these are life-sized crocodiles from unwanted tyres!
Her full collection can be viewed at the coexist gallery on Stokescroft, St. Pauls, Bristol. Beware the crocs.

For more information email: hannah-jane[at]re-collect.net
Visit our website: www.re-collect.net
Follow us on Twitter @katchabilek, @hjfantaskis
Find us on Facebook: Katcha Bilek (bit.ly/gLPTfx)

Argyle Cushion Project on http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com

Upcycling is becoming increasingly popular among groups and individuals concerned about climate change.  Recycling is great but it requires energy and resources to collect, sort and process unwanted items and waste.

Upcycling is an even greener way of recycling – you find a new purpose for your unwanted items before you chuck them away.  It’s all about taking disposable things and creating something useful  from them.  Usually the only energy being used is your own and it can save you money too.

For example, you might use an old woolly jumper to make a cushion cover or stuff all your plastic bags into a giant sock to create a draught excluder.  Instead of buying expensive arts & crafts sets for your kids, keep hold of old egg cartons, cardboard boxes and other containers – you’ll be surprised how long some unwanted cardboard and a set of paints can keep children amused.

The need to find alternative ways to deal with our waste has never been greater – across Britain we throw a staggering amount of stuff into landfill. Even if you look just at clothing and textiles…. we throw 1.8 million tonnes away every year.

Making your cut-off jeans is an easy first upcycling project

Instead of paying extra for eco-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton or bamboo silk, try transforming an old item of clothing into something new, for example cutting old faded jeans into vintage style shorts for the summer.

Upcycling helps the environment in several ways;

So, before you start filling your recycling bags, have a think about other uses for your unwanted bits and pieces and you’ll not only help the environment, but should also save yourself some money too.

All the material are locally sourced and made in Bristol

http://re-collect.net/

There are a few great tips, links and ideas to get you started on turning that old dining table and chairs into something FUNky

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1327549/How–revamp-furniture.html

To combat the effect of this on the environment and take advantage of the free material a British company has started producing clothing and accessories that would be ideal for taking back to the festivals next year.  UK based WiTHiNTENT produce rain jackets and bags and will have stalls at Glastonbury.

Ben Fogle and Britain’s leading ethically sourced coffee brand Kenco
today announced the regional winners of the Kenco Eco Refill Young Eco Designer
competition. 12 lucky finalists have now been selected to be in with a chance of
claiming the Kenco Young Eco Designer 2010 title and seeing their design
transformed into reality.

Vote now!

From imaginative designs such as dinosaurs to kites, Ben Fogle and the judging
panel, including representatives from Kenco and Terracycle, have selected 12
finalists from hundreds of eco-inspired entries. And now it’s over to
you! From today until the 25th May, Kenco is calling upon the nation to cast
their vote and decide who they would like to see crowned Kenco Young Eco
Designer 2010. To vote for your favourite, visit www.kenco.co.uk , or join the Kenco Facebook group and vote there
- www.facebook.com/kencouk

I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the designs, all of which
demonstrate how we can re-think rubbish in a fun and creative way. It’s
been incredibly tough choosing just 12 finalists from so many great ideas, but
there can only be one winner, and that decision is up to you! You have until the
25th May to cast your vote, so get voting for your favourite now! says
Ben Fogle, head judge on Young Eco Designer.

The number of entries has been fantastic and shows that
there’s a growing generation of environmentally conscious upcyclers. We
hope people will continue to be creative with their rubbish and think twice
before sending things to landfill. Good luck to everyone who has taken part in
Kenco Young Eco Designer, says Toby Smart, Kenco Brand Manager.

As well as the coveted title, the lucky winner will win a 4 night trip to New
York City* for a family of four, where they will have a unique opportunity to
visit TerraCycle, Kenco upcycling partner, and see
firsthand where rubbish, including Kenco Eco Refill packs, is already being
turned into upcycled products such as pencil cases, bags and backpacks.

Children and their families across the UK have embraced the challenge of
reducing and reusing waste creatively to avoid sending rubbish to landfill. From
the roadshows, where Ben Fogle toured the country on an upcycled Routemaster
bus, to online, where thousands of budding designers around the country uploaded
their designs, the response has been fantastic.

To vote for your favourite, visit www.kenco.co.uk or www.facebook.com/kencouk

Voting closes 25th May 2010.

This gives me loads of great arty ideas that not only mean reusing old books but will give you a fantastic unique clock that is ideal for a living room or bedroom near a book shelf.

I would recomend going for something old or a book that has an extra special meaning to you.

Full tutorial can be found here – Turn an Old Book into a Working Clock

… but, sometimes you may have a book that is just damaged or completely unwanted and in which case Chris Job over at Curbly.com has come up with an ingenious solution for our upcycling needs

For a reasonable small fee, you can turn anything from an old holey T-Shirt to unwanted curtains into some new underwear.

http://www.folksy.com/shops/prettygreen

You can even get them made to your order including specifying the following.

-Delicate floaty wings
-Bows
-Ruffle edging
-Size
-Colour of elastic
-Lace

Sounds like a fantastic service at a great price, we would love to hear from anyone who has tried this.

We all seem to get more than you could ever reuse, recycling is an option but it is no where near as much fun or as rewarding as upcycling them into something else that you can use.

I came across this article which shows you how to turn a few decorative plastic bags into some drink coasters.   They look good and I would assume that after using them for a while you could still recycle and get the warm fuzzy feeling that you are saving the environment twice!

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/plastic_bag_drinking_coasters

An example of upcycled coasters for sale can be found on www.notonthehighstreet.com