About

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." (Native American Proverb)
Taking care of this planet we all share shouldn't be that hard...just remember the three R's of the environment.

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.

Simple. Got it? Let's do it! Recycling is okay and ideally, especially, at this point in time, everything should be recycled (circular economy ftw!) but the reality is that Recycling is BSRecycling is a Sham. More or less...
"Recycling is simply a PR tool for the plastics industry to sell more plastic; only 10% of plastics ever get recycled" (Plastic Wars @~53 min). 
That doesn't mean you get to be all defeatist about it though. Keep in mind that environmental perfection is unrealistic but better to make some effort than none at all. The real solutions are systemic. Individualizing the problem just let's those who could fix the system continue not fixing it. Too much blame and responsibility is placed on consumers by corporations while they are the biggest contributors. So while recycling seems like the best solution know that there are other things you can do that have a stronger effect. Look back at the three R's and notice their order. Reduce is first and foremost. The most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. Second we have reuse and that's where Upcycling comes in.
"Recycling means to turn waste into a reusable product or to refurbish a product for reuse. Upcycling, a particular form of recycling, involves turning waste material or an unwanted product into a better-quality product." (Recycling vs. Upcycling).
"Not only does the process of upcycling keep tons of waste from entering our landfills, lakes, and waterways (where they’ll sit for centuries!), it reduces the amount of CO2 entering our atmosphere by making use of old materials instead of extracting resources to create new ones. Believe it or not, for every ton of tossed textiles that get upcycled, 20 tons of CO2 is prevented from entering the atmosphere!" (Earth Hero).
thee Kiss of Life upcycling is the result of my ever growing Eco-conscious attitude.

My name is Nalin (pronounced nay-LYN), an artisan, your fellow Earthican. I give old clothes and things, thee Kiss of Life. My brainchild, that I've named based on its meaning: an action or event that revives a failing enterprise. Basically revitalizing old things (specifically clothing anything fabric) i.e. upcycling. It is mainly through Etsy that I'm able to make my creations available to others. My creations are revitalized and for you to utilize, in the form of bags and hats. All designed and sewn up by yours truly.

I feel terrible throwing out clothes. That's why I don't throw out clothing and instead either pass it onto someone else, donate it to a local organization or find it a new purpose.

Clothes may not be the first thing that comes to mind when speaking of recycling but it is certainly no less important. Especially since fast fashion has made clothes very disposable. A good read on the topic is 'Fast clothes' versus 'green clothes' by Elisabeth Rosenthal A good watch is The True Cost documentary. Find out who pays the price for our clothing.

I really do hope that my items serve as examples or even inspiration for what can be done with what we already have. In this blog, I will share whatever I can about my upcycling and sewing work, some recipes here and there and whatever else I deem worthy of sharing.

Most, if not all my upcycled bags take more than two materials or items so with these old before and after photos (the ruffled owl bag was one of the first designs I came up with), you can get an idea of what things were and see what they became. Some of the items in the photos are what make up the inside lining of a bag, in case you can't tell how it's being used.

Thank you for reading!

☮♥♻








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