“Upcycling” can be defined as the process of redesigning wastes into more useful and durable products in the goal of ultimately reducing wastes in the landfills. Unlike recycling, which involves breaking down waste materials to produce a new product, upcycling gives a second life to waste materials through redesigning offering endless benefits from environmental, social, economic, and personal aspects. Frankly speaking, I was not familiar with upcycling before I was assigned this topic from Tunza. But as I did my research, I realized that I was perfectly prepared for this upcycling and decided to start concrete activities beginning from next month.

During recent years, I’ve volunteered to temporarily take care of cats until they got formally adopted from a nearby animal rescue center (also known as “Cat Fostering Services”). The spread of COVID-19 has made people more interested in pets due to their “boredom” indoors during the lockdown, but this sudden attention has led to unprepared adoptions and more frequent abandons of cats. As a result, more cats needed shelters to live temporarily until they are adopted again after being abandoned from their fickle owners. So far, I have looked after a total of 6 cats, each with differing time spans from weeks to months. Looking after them, I’ve realized the urgent need for more volunteers and donations. Cats, by nature, have a habit of climbing up high places and scratching different objects to manage their claws. To prevent cats from climbing up the kitchen ceiling and scratching couches, the usage of sat-down poles called “Cat towers” and scratching tools called “scratchers” are crucial for indoor cats. Scratchers are mainly made of corrugated cardboard or bundles of strings, and they must be replaced from time to time as they are used which could be quite expensive to buy every time. 

After receiving the new topic from Tunza this month, I tried to find out what kind of upcycling I could do and an idea popped up: If I made scratchers by myself using various boxes, this activity of combining the current crisis with reusable resources and upgrading the value of used materials would be the perfect sample of upcycle!

The rescue center that I work with, Four Paws, is in need of donations of various cat products in order to distribute them for free to people in need. I will donate the scratchers I made by using discarded paper, hoping that it will one day be used by real cats. For me, who emphasized "practice in my daily life" when I applied for the Tunza Environmental Ambassador, I am so happy and excited to be able to come up with this idea through Tunza activities. Thank you, Tunza!