“Upcycling,” the process of taking waste materials and turning them into better quality products, isn’t exactly a new term, but it sure is trendy to say these days. And I’m glad. A big part of my environmental education has to do with the importance of upcycling instead of consuming a new product when possible.

Today I’m going to demonstrate a fun way to create upcycled vases from garbage.

What you need

• Empty cylinders such as soup cans, juice canisters, etc.

• Spray paint

• Scraps of ribbon

• Dried flowers or other decorations

What you do

• Wash and dry all containers

• Spray paint containers allow to dry completely (according to directions on spray paint, approximately 12 hours)

• Decorate as desired

When you first look at empty soup cans, scraps of ribbon, and old, dried out flowers it doesn’t seem like much. But with a little spray paint, trash is suddenly upcycled into something you can both admire and brag about. This project inspires me to look with new eyes at what other perfectly usable items I’m overlooking. I’m sure I have a long way to go!