As of Mar. 15, the Upcycling Club had its first meeting since officially forming. The club offers a creative space to take things that were once discarded and craft them into something new, and the members are eager to share this new style of art with Carlsbad High.
Although the club has only recently begun, the founders have many plans for the future, some of which are now in effect. Junior and Co-president Olivia Kawano builds on what the club is about.
“Upcycling Club is a club where you take all of your old or unused items and make them into something more useful, and maybe something you could use,” Kawano said.
While the club has supplied many of its own provisions, the members are eager to expand their creative capacities by using different materials. With the help of contributions from students and peers, the club can create and upcycle more pieces.
“We’re planning on setting up a box either in the office or in Mr. Levitt’s room to try and get donations from other people,” Kawano said.
Within recent weeks the club held its first few meetings, where they got to know one another’s creative capabilities and shared interest in upcycling. Although the group has only just begun, they already have plans to advance the production of their creations.
“We started off by making origami out of old assignments and papers,” Kawano said. “And then at the second meeting, we made posters to introduce the club a little bit more. So we haven’t done a whole lot so far but once we get the boxes up we should be able to start upcycling the donations.”
While Kawano brings a great deal of innovation to the club, she couldn’t have done it without the joint leadership of her co-president. The two have now brought the club to life, but it may not have gotten its start without the help of Kawano’s first partner.
“We originally made the idea of thrifting things and making them into different items, I just pursued it with a different partner,” Kawano said. “Then we decided to make it a little bit more sustainable instead of just buying clothes and then making that into something new.”
Although the club is built on its own creative works, the group takes inspiration from different environments. While pursuing other extracurriculars, some members discovered new ways to expand the art form.
“Every Sunday the C3 [Carlsbad Clean-Up Crew] Club goes on a cleanup, and a lot of the time people will find really cool bottles or items that would be left around on the beach,” Kawano said. “So we could possibly clean those up and use them for something.”
The club also values waste reduction, which is channeled into the inspiration of its art. The group recognizes these environmental issues in their craft and will continue to minimize Carlsbad’s waste levels one production at a time.
“We want to make it more of a club that if you want to get rid of something or you decide you don’t like something, it can be a place where you can make it into something else,” Kawano said. “Just overall making everything more sustainable and producing less waste.”