The Upcycler's Manifesto

Upcycled design has been hijacked by the Bourgeoisie! In its nature Upcycling is the art to turning waste into something of greater use and value and so it should be cheap, abundant and most importantly accessible to all.
As part of a more sustainable approach to design Upcycling must not be reactionary, it must strike forth, proudly and with the cry REVOLUTION! Most Designers using Upcycling now are reactionary, they seeks to create products that make less, little or no further impact on the environment but they must still satisfy the whims of their Bourgeois masters, they must turn massive profit, they must create exclusive clubs of style and they must be celebrities, basking in the glory of fame whilst crippling progress with their copyrights and high price tags.

Upcyclers must go boldly forth with these thoughts in their minds and in their hearts:

• We are not the tools of the Bourgeoisie
• Industry should serve the people, people should not serve them, they should not be made to feel ashamed for using incandescent bulbs, industry should be ashamed of creating energy from such polluting methods.
• Waste = Food
• Design is about helping people, not excluding them
• Upcyclers must strive to save every working product or useful material from landfill
• We do not believe in Copyright, ideas are cheap and it stalls progress. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
• We must empower the people to decide for themselves what functions their products need and how they want them to look and feel. They should not be force fed some aesthetic conjured up in a studio and produced en masse regardless of culture, taste and need.
• Everybody is a designer! Do we not design our own habitats? Choose our own style? Create our own recipes?
• Share your ideas, you have nothing to lose but pride and everything to gain in the wealth of the ideas others will share with you!

So go forth designers, create, customise, upgrade and prolong the life of your products. Do not settle for someone else’s idea of ‘cool’, use what you find to create what you want, when you want.

Save the planet, save money, save your identity and save your creativity!