The Benefits of Upcycling Your Clothes with Olesya Lane

The difference between recycling and upcycling your clothes and how it goes way beyond just environmental benefits.

The most popular episode on my podcast by far is episode 26  Too many clothes but nothing to wear and from experience as a decluttering coach I know that many people struggle with overful closets.

The average person only wears about 20% of the clothing in his or her closets, most clothing is not worn because it's the result of an impulse buy, doesn't fit correctly, or we don't like the colour. Sometimes we've forgotten we even have the item because the closet is so full we can't see what we have.  At the same time most people I know struggle with letting go of clothes. 

So in this episode my guest Olesya Lane is talking about another option on what to do with these clothes we are not wearing. Instead of giving them to charity, we can upcycle them and by doing so we are helping the environment, we save money, and to top it off it's good for our mental and emotional health. 

Watch the video below so you can see the items that she upcycled and shows while we are talking. 

• First Olesya tells us a little bit about the history of upcycling clothes
• then she explains the difference between recycling and upcycling 
• we are talking about the benefits of upcycling and those are of course environmental, but not only what you think. Listen in for example what she says how much water is needed to make a pair of jeans, it's mind boggling.
• Another benefit is that you can repurpose pieces of clothing that have a lot of meaning for you, like from your child when it was a toddler or from a loved one who passed. 

If you find value in what Olesya and I are talking about, please share it with your family and friends. Because if you find value in it, they will too