The word ‘new’ and that feeling of buying something that’s ‘new’ or making something out of ‘new’ materials, there’s a danger they’re all missing something that should be obvious. Everything came from somewhere else!
While away in Sheffield this summer we reflected on some of the themes that regularly come up when working with stuff that already exists, because let’s be honest, there’s no need to make any more stuff out of virgin materials. Almost everything we need already exists and can be reused, repaired, renovated, recycled or reimagined.
Wastesmiths started when a group of creative people who are passionate about reducing the impact of human stuff on the environment decided to organise and start a social enterprise. One thing we’ve realised over the last three years is that giving people the tools to become more aware of where things come from and where they go when they’re thrown ‘away’ is one of the most powerful things we can do.
New stuff doesn’t magically appear when the box is opened. Stuff doesn’t magically disappear when it goes in the bin. The honest thing to admit here is that we’re all fighting the urge to be seduced by the magic almost daily within the Wastesmiths team. It’s attractive.
In reality we are all temporary guardians of the stuff we have for the time that we have it. Every object will have had guardians before us and maybe guardians after us. That doesn’t make the objects we own any less special or any less new to you. In fact we’re hoping by embodying this perspective we can make the objects we own feel even more special.
Wastesmiths C.I.C. 
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