'Typically, 50% of what you put in your recycling bin is never recycled. It's sorted and thrown out?', said Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, a recycling company. 

When I read this quote I felt the need to do something from my end towards following the 3 R?s to save our environment. So I got the idea of upcycling waste paper, straws, etc and converting them into something useful. I used waste newspaper and magazines to make a stationery holder. Then I used straws to make jewellery. This was one of the easiest and even the best one according to me. And lastly I made a waste bin out of old magazine pages. 

So for my upcycling project I started by the stationery holder. I took the first few pages of the newspaper and folded them into long strips. Then when I had enough of these. I started to interlock two at a time to make the sides and base. When a proper shape was made I made it firm by taping it all around. After I put the tape it lost its beauty so I decided to add pistachio shells on this outside to beautify it. Once that was done I painted it and then the final product was ready! It looked amazing! 

Then I made jewellery out of straws. At first it seemed very complicated but then it turned out to be easy. So I started by splitting a straw from the hole and then I slid it till the end. Then I folded the straw in triangle. Once I reached the end I sealed it with a tape. Then I went through the same process and made many of those. When there were enough I joined them using a thread and knotted it at the end. And then a necklace made from straws was ready! To make the bracelet I used the same method all I had to do was measure the size of my wrist.

And lastly I made a waste bin out of magazine paper. So to do this I used a lot of magazine pages...but then I realised I was making something really interesting out of it. I started by tearing off a page and folding it alternatively. Once it became a long strip I made it into a circle. Then I make more of these and tape them together to create the sides of the bin. Then I took a cardboard and cut out the base of the bin. Then a added tape to secure it and prevent it from moving. 

I reused the waste paper and plastics, and by doing this I have contributed towards saving 12 trees. As it take 12 trees to make a single sheet of paper.

I truly believe in the 3R's and the I feel that I have  successfully achieved my goal of upcycling.