How these P.E.I. entrepreneurs are upcycling old into new

With climate change on everyone's mind, the notion of upcycling has gained traction as a trend, and not just for the penny-wise.

Upcycling is more than repairing or refinishing it's taking things that were built for one purpose and making them into something new.

Island craftspeople and entrepreneurs are embracing the trend, and say people are responding to their products everything from candles poured into vintage glassware, to speakers made from suitcases, to furniture and art from old boards.

1. Found on P.E.I.

By day he's a development officer with the Canadian Cancer Society, and also has a side gig as a drummer with cover band Adam MacGregor and the Foes.

But Liam Kearney has been enthusiastic about collecting vintage things for years, and has now turned to upcycling some of those things into other things.

He turns vintage suitcases into speakers: he dismantles old speakers he finds at thrift stores, cuts out openings for them in the suitcases, then adds a wireless amplifier at the back that users can control with a smart phone or other device.

"Being a drummer, I wanted to have something that was small for acoustic gigs, and I saw that somebody had taken an old piece of luggage and turned it into a bass drum," he said. After trying different pieces of luggage, he found one he liked and has been using it successfully as a drum for about a year.

"I thought hmm, I wonder what else I can do with all this old luggage I've been acquiring?"

A quick online search revealed the speaker idea. After he experimented with the design on about half a dozen pieces of luggage, he now has a system in place and has been selling them since the spring.

"Looks great, sounds great and grabbing everybody's eye too!" Kearney said. The suitcase speakers cost $275 to $380. He also upcycles old AM radios into wireless speakers

He said people are surprised by the sound quality and the look of the vintage suitcases.

"They just can't believe that this is coming out of a piece of luggage, and it's a real conversation piece for their home too," he said. "You get the look of the decor with the old piece of luggage that everybody likes, but then it's functional as well."

He also makes art from video games and scrabble tiles, and bookends from old toys.

Most of the money he makes goes back into collecting more things, he said "It's certainly not for the money."

2. Ellie & Arthur

Tracy Cantin is an opera singer from Summerside who this summer turned her passion for vintage glassware into a small side business called Ellie & Arthur. The 33-year-old pours coconut wax and organic fragrance oils into the glassware and creates candles.

The idea took shape over the last few years when she began making candles as gifts for friends.

When she took a break this summer from working all over the world, she poured hundreds of candles into colourful antique glass vessels including goblets, vases, cream and sugar bowls and candy dishes.

"I kind of had my pick, at the beginning, of some really beautiful pieces to work with," Cantin said her mother owns an antique store in Summerside.

She has sold close to 200 of the candles on consignment in a few different P.E.I. shops as well as online. Prices range from $15 to $150 depending on the value and size of the glass.

"I'm delighted with the reception, people are really liking them," Cantin said.

She's now scouring the Island for more antique glassware so she can keep up with demand.

"I'm just delighted that these beautiful, beautiful pieces of glassware are being looked at again in a different way and people are remembering and seeing the beauty in them again," she said.

'I'm quite proud to be part of this upcycling movement."

3. Amy Liz Upcycled

Amy Robertson saidshe's been upcycling her whole life as one of seven children growing up in a three-bedroom bungalow, "everything was upcycled!" she said.

"For me, that's why I do upcycling, because there's such a creative challenge to creating things from things that are no longer useful," she said.

Robertson runs Amy Liz Upcycled and Wood & Whales online and throughconsignment at local craft stores, as a side business during the day the 37-year-old is a recreation centre administrator.

She has upcycled furniture and old wooden windows, but for the last few years has been enthralled with whales, cutting them from pieces of an old lobster shack or other wood she scavenges from renovations or teardowns.

"There's just something very therapeutic to making these whales they all come out a little bit different," she said, adding she even upcycles old hardware like screws. The whales sell for $40 to $200, and she has sold about 75 of them.

She's proud that she's taught herself to use a jigsaw and a router and has kept all her fingers.

However Robertson said it's difficult to make a dependable living from upcycling.

"The problem with upcycling, and I guess the excitement with it too, is that you never know what you're going to have so you can't count on something that you're going to make 14 of these," she said. "I might not be able to get wood next week."

4. The Lighting Works

For years, Glen Milner of St. Peters restored antique lamps as a hobby-slash-side business.

When he retired to P.E.I. a few years ago, he said he couldn't find much vintage lighting, so he started building his own lamps from reclaimed metal in a steam punk style.

Now, the 63-year-old owns and runs The Lighting Works, and upcycles everything from vintage fans and fire extinguishers to Brownie cameras and old musical instruments like trumpets.

He finds his materials at places like yard sales and flea markets.

"I like building them, I like the historic pieces, something that's got a bit of history to it, something that's got a story to tell," Milner said. "People enjoy seeing the older pieces. They bring back memories."

He's been selling them at P.E.I. artisan shops as well as his own seasonal shop in St. Peters, and has now decided to open a year-round store on Water Streetin Charlottetown this spring.

He said some people love the connection to history, while others just think the lamps look cool.

The Lighting Works lamps cost $125 to $1,600.

More P.E.I. news