Transforming secondhand finds into treasures

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

(CNN) — You don’t have to sacrifice style for sustainability.

Kelsey MacDermaid and Becky Wright, called The Sorry Girls online, are proving you can go green without losing style cred with the content they create. MacDermaid envisioned her ideal wedding outfit and then sourced it preloved on Facebook Marketplace. Wright designed her entire mid-century modern living room of her new home only with thrifted pieces.

And many of The Sorry Girls’ videos center around upcycling: the process of utilizing discarded or existing materials to create a product you are looking for rather than buying it new.

This kind of reimagining could have huge benefits for cutting down on the waste and environmental resources that go into the retail and fashion industries, said Jules Lennon, fashion initiative lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an organization that promotes eliminating waste and pollution through design.

“Our research shows that the equivalent of one garbage truck worth of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every single second,” she said.

MacDermaid and Wright are part of a much larger movement grounded in thinking more sustainably about shopping and styling: More people are buying resold items, and runway shows are beginning to feature “preloved” elements, Lennon added.

A special role The Sorry Girls play is in giving individuals the skills and inspiration to start incorporating upcycling into their own lives –– and make it look cool.

Reuse over recycle

The sustainability of upcycling comes from both the reduction in buying and saving products from being discarded, said Marco van Hees, lecturer of circular business engineering and senior researcher of urban upcycling at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

“We’re just using things and throwing them away or even burning them –– which is maybe even the worst that you can do,” he said.

Trash has overwhelmed cities, and incinerating the refuse can release toxic material into the environment, van Hees said. And recycling products after they have been discarded isn’t always the best alternative.

“Recycling costs a lot of energy,” he said. “You destroy it, basically, you make the value less, and then you’re going to do something with it again, which, again costs a lot of energy.”

Reducing how often you buy and increasing how long products last also helps mitigate environmental impacts such as overconsumption of raw materials, water usage and runoff of production chemicals, Lennon said.

“We’re really working to create a circular economy for fashion, where products are used more, they’re made to be made again, and they’re made from safe and recycled or renewable input,” she said. That circular economy can include repairing, remaking, reselling and renting items.

Your design might be better

Thrifting, buying and upcycling clothing and interior decor started for The Sorry Girls in college when they were trying to save a buck, MacDermaid said.

“As we’ve grown up, we realized that actually such a core of who we are is just making sure we’re thrifting and buying secondhand,” she added. “It is equally a sustainable and eco-friendly thing to do as it is good for your wallet.”

While The Sorry Girls are saving money and thinking sustainably, they have also found that using what already exists and upcycling has enhanced their designs, Wright said.

“Shopping secondhand really gives you the opportunity to be creative and get pieces that nobody else has, which makes for the most interesting spaces … spaces that feel curated and collected instead of things that look like they just came off the shelf from a big-box store,” she added.

Some people are buying into upcycling for the beauty of it first and foremost, van Hees has found in his research. Seeing the personalization, sentiment, work and history behind a piece of furniture or a clothing item can make it more desirable, he said.

When it comes to furniture especially, newer things tend to be made to fall apart faster, according to Wright.

“That’s why we also say, when you’re thinking about redoing a space, look at what you already own and seeing if anything can be upcycled there to work better for you,” Wright said. “Because those things are probably older and probably better made, and we want to keep them in our life for as long as possible.”

Skills to get you started

Giving a piece you already own or bought secondhand a new life can sound daunting, but starting small can still make a difference, MacDermaid said.

For years, MacDermaid has exclusively bought pre-owned clothes, and often a simple trip to a tailor or utilizing basic sewing skills can make the piece feel made for you, she said.

You also don’t need a complete overhaul to make a piece of furniture feel new. Start by just changing the knobs on a dresser, MacDermaid said. Or you can use peel-and-stick wallpaper or tile to add your style to a bookcase, she added.

A good second step is learning how to properly paint a piece of furniture, MacDermaid said.

“As long as you’re taking the proper care to do the prep, then that paint job should turn out good, you’ll have a smooth finish, and it’ll last for a long time,” she said.

Don’t be afraid to experiment, especially if you can find something simple to work on, like a large picture frame from the thrift store, Wright said.

Choosing one tool at a time and learning how to use it effectively can get you far, MacDermaid said.

“We are film students. We’re not woodworkers or carpenters, but you start with one tool and then you really learn to love it,” she said. “And then you add another tool and another tool. Starting with something as simple as an electric sander or a circle saw can get you really far.”

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