The three terms reduce, reuse, and recycle are used to cut down the amount of waste we throw away and conserve natural resoures, land, and energy. Reduce means to lessen how much you use something; and example is to not shower as long so that you can save water. Reuse means to use something again after it has already been used; an example would be reusing a water bottle a few times before you recycle it. And lastly, recycle is the process of reprocess in order to recondition the substance and its function. The term upcycling means to reuse materials without degrading the quality or composition of the material for its next use. This is different from recycling because when you recycle, you break down the substance to make the same substance in a newer form.

Step 1: Upcycled Lightbulb

My project is an upcycled lightbulb. After a while, our lightbulbs will no longer work and we would have to throw them away. Since it is close to the holidays right now, I decided to use those lightbulbs and turn them into ornaments. My materials consist of the paint (black,white, etc), a brush, and the nonfunctioning lightbulb. Each paint bottle cost me about 80 cents, and I already had the paint brush at my house.