favor-“ette”: kuttlefish

April 21, 2015/

Earth Day is tomorrow – and it’s the 45th anniversary!

Did you know that Earth Day is the largest civic event in the world (I didn’t!)? It’s truly a global event, celebrating support for environmental programs and building community activism around the world (you can learn more at the Earth Day website).

I thought this was the perfect opportunity to share with you all one of my new favorite sites – Kuttlefish (all images courtesy of Kuttlefish).

coffee sack wine tote

I really love this company’s mission:

“At the heart of Kuttlefish, Inc. is the basic idea that reusing, recycling, or upcycling a material is good – that materials are worth something, even after they are thrown “away.” You will find this ethos throughout our company and community.

The idea for Kuttlefish took root in Africa where utilitarianism make use of every piece of rubber, metal and cloth. There are inner tubes being made into bungee straps, fallen trees being whittled by old men into toothpicks, metal of every kind being hammered and molded into small stoves, and little kids making cars out of bamboo that Tonka or Caterpillar would be proud of.

Once we saw this first-hand, we were shocked at the potential western businesses were missing out on. The more we traveled, the more we saw an opportunity to connect people, their ideas, and their high-quality work.”

wine bottle hook

And that’s just what you’ll discover when you visit Kuttlefish. It is a forum to share reuse ideas and projects, a marketplace for people and companies to buy and sell innovative products made from reused and recycled materials, and a B2B marketplace where companies can sell their by-products to other companies that can use and profit from them.

So basically you can browse the site for creative upcycled ideas, purchase items or even sell your own. I’ve posted some of my favorite finds from the site here but there are dozens more – in every category.

kuttlefish skeleton lampshade

“skeleton” lampshade

Kuttlefish also partners with other like-minded organizations – like Scrap USA (an organization that inspires creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the community) and Trashion Fashion Show.

You know that I’m a fan of the clever “re-use” – whether it’s a watering can turned planter, mason jar turned pourer or muffin tin turned art caddy. Kuttlefish is committed to this on a global level.

By the way, if you’re curious about the name (I know I was), cuttlefish are often referred to as “chameleons of the sea”, because they are able to change color, shape and texture – just like a product made of reused, recycled or upcycled materials.