Carleton student Nikki Zhang is a finalist in the competition “Start something with Alesse” for her innovative idea that will turn people’s junk into reusable goods.
Zhang is among five other finalists competing to be one of the two winners who will receive $5,000 and be partnered with a mentor.
For the fourth-year architecture student specializing in conservation and sustainability, the competition is the perfect way for her to open up a workshop for recycled products.
Zhang’s dream is to establish a workshop, the Upcycling Garage, where the public could find materials to change old items into new ones. It would also include a store, the Island of Refit Toys, where the community could buy recycled pieces and materials for their own projects or consign their work.
“It is a very small project that could have a very big effect,” Zhang said. “It is good for the environment and it reduces landfill [waste].”
The idea came from an old Christmas movie where Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer visited the Island of Misfit Toys. The island was filled with toys that were considered broken and in the end Rudolph saves them so that they could go to children for Christmas.
“I thought the story was very similar to my idea but it is called refit toys because you are reusing, you are recycling.”
Zhang said she hopes the experience will be the start of a social movement to upcycle the old rather than always buying the new.
“I want people to really enjoy this whole idea of reusing things, so people move out of this ‘got to buy new stuff’ idea and really realize that old things have value,” she said.
Zhang finds out on March 19 if she will be one of the two winners.
Zhang said if she wins, she plans to put the money towards buying a space for the workshop and helping with legal fees but, regardless of the outcome, she believes the competition has already put her ideas in motion.
“[The competition] gave me the incentive to take the idea out of pure concept and make it more realistic. Whether I win or lose I am going to keep working on this. I want to make the Island of Refit Toys real.”
