National Upcycling Day

Every year, National Upcycling Day is observed on June 24th. The purpose of this holiday is to encourage people to upcycle products they would otherwise throw away. Upcycling is the process of transforming waste materials into new products to prevent them from ending up in landfills.

Although this day has been around for only a few years, it has had a major impact on people’s perception of what they consider trash. As long as the trash is turned into something of greater value than it was before or has a higher environmental value, then the spirit of this holiday is being properly observed.

It’s a way for all of us to rethink waste and change our relationship with it to something more positive for the environment.

The History of National Upcycling Day

Before we can talk about when this holiday was created, we first have to discuss the origin of the term “upcycling.” This term was coined by German engineer Reiner Pilz during the 1990s. He used the term to describe a process of transforming waste materials into new products that hold higher value.

Nowadays, the term has been extended to also describe the process of transforming trash into something that has a higher value for the environment. National Upcycling Day was first observed on June 24, 2019. This is when an upcycling company called TerraCycle invented the holiday to promote the benefits of upcycling.

They also envisioned this holiday as a way to encourage people to be more mindful of the waste they create. It has been observed ever since to help people recycle and upcycle everything they can to prevent these items from ending up in the world’s landfills.

Observing National Upcycling Day

The best way to observe this holiday is by learning more about upcycling and considering how this process can be used to transform your ordinary trash products. It’s also a good day to teach children about recycling and to begin efforts in transforming waste into something useful.

While observing this holiday, people can also take the time to spread the word about it using the hashtag #NationalUpcyclingDay on social media.

When is it?
This year (2024)
June 24 Monday
Next year (2025)
June 24 Tuesday
Last year (2023)
June 24 Saturday
Topic
Nature & Environment