The Green Makerspace

The holidays are upon us, and that means the potential for increased waste. Whether you are celebrating the  winter solstice ,  Christmas , Hanukkah , Kwanzaa , or any other holiday falling in and around December, you may find yourself tossing out much more trash as compared to any other time of year. This could come from eating more food, doing more shopping, wrapping more presents, buying decorations, or increasing your traveling.  Photography of Green Pine Tree  [Photograph], by I Iriser, 2017, Pexels ( https://www.pexels.com/photo/photography-of-green-pine-tree-943898 ).  CC0 1.0 . Holiday Waste: As an interesting research-based side note, I spent an inordinate amount of time tracking down an often repeated claim that we (in the U.S.) produce 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Years. Sites like ABC News , Architectural Digest ,  Earth911 , Fox News , and WBUR Boston have all recently referred to this statistic, which some claim comes from the ...

Today I want to talk about green engineering. This goes beyond the the basic day-to-day activities that we've discussed so far, like upcycling ,  reducing, reusing, recycling, or repairing . This involves developing an increased awareness and interest in large scale projects designed to have a greater impact on the planet. I'm talking about renewable energy, folks!  Wind turbine [Photograph], by U. Jelting, 2016., Wikimedia Commons ( https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wind_Turbine_(184178167).jpeg ). CC0 1.0. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines green engineering as  "the design, commercialization, and use of processes and products that minimize pollution, promote sustainability, and protect human health without sacrificing economic viability and efficiency" (2023). This involves the development of processes and products that integrate environmental impact assessments, conserve and improve natural ecosystems, minimize the depletion of natural r...

Welcome to the third post of the blog dedicated to green(er) makerspaces! Today I want to talk about upcycling. Upcycling is when you create " something new from discarded materials by repairing, refurbishing, or repurposing them ." When upcycling, you are essentially adding value to a reused or repaired item's compositional elements (Lebby, 2021). Consider it a form of that second famous "R" (Reduce, Reuse , and Recycle), "Reuse!"  Upcycling Projects and Crafts: Encourage the practice of upcycling in your makerspace by providing crafts and materials which once had other uses. These could be plastic, aluminum, or glass containers. They can be pieces of old clothing and other fabric-based objects. You can even upcycle waste from industrial production  (Back et al, 2015)!  Where to find stuff to reuse: Freecycle.org  - A website dedicated to helping people find and give away free stuff, with the intention of keeping usable items out of landfills.  Facebo...