#diy ethics

Let me preface this by saying I’ve done it — painted old furniture, turned mason jars into storage, the usual. But here’s the thing: upcycling often gets a free pass for being ‘eco-friendly’ when it’s literally just a Band-Aid solution. If that ‘vintage’ coffee table you’re refinishing was already headed to a landfill, did you really save the planet? Or did you just spend 8 hours sanding something that could’ve been recycled properly?

Worse, we’re told to ‘get creative’ with materials that are functionally obsolete. Why not just buy new, high-quality materials designed for the project? A proper countertop isn’t made from glued-together milk cartons.

This isn’t about dismissing resourcefulness. It’s about calling out the myth that upcycling is inherently ethical. What’s the end goal — a ‘cool’ project, or actually reducing waste? Let’s have the conversation.