Everything Is Up To Us

I have been doing many things in the past; a graphic designer, an employee of large corporations, a freelancer, a Japanese home cooking website creator, an avid gardener, a non-profit starter, a food pantry volunteer, and also a mother of a child.

Recycling and up cycling became my hobby since I moved to New York, because so many valuable things (to me) are left on curbs to be trashed. I started to put more effort to this upcycling project since the Covid restriction. I also started to work part-time at thrift stores.

Have you imagined how many landfill trash one person can generate in a year? While some people have more than they can eat and discard the left over, others starve. The price of garment dropped drastically in the last 100 years, and we now trash our clothes even though they can be used longer. We all feel the effect of serious global warming now. No wonder many young generations seriously worry about the future.

I want to invite you to join the movement of recycling. Think how to extend the life of goods, and how to add value to recycled items, so that people prefer to get recycled rather than brand new items.

We need to clearly realize that each one of us are given huge power to determine the future of our planet. Indeed, it is an extraordinary time we live. Everything is up to us.

Sincerely,

Yukiyo Nagata