The Upcycling Movement: Towards a Culture of Luxury Deconsumption

The world cannot sustain the depletion of its resources for commercial benefit: this gives rise to the immediate global responsibility to engage in sustainable methods of consumption. Deconsumption can be considered a form of... [ view full abstract ]

The world cannot sustain the depletion of its resources for commercial benefit: this gives rise to the immediate global responsibility to engage in sustainable methods of consumption. Deconsumption can be considered a form of sustainable consumption: a production method whereby products are created using as little new material resources as possible. This ethnographic study investigates the upcycling culture and the Mamukko brand. It found that Mamukko is positioned parallel to cultural beliefs and therefore uses both luxury and ethical (deconsumption) strategies. Consumers may identify with either the symbolic luxury or green elements of the brand to construct an identity. We show the upcycling movement to be an avant-garde cultural development, which provides consumers with essential identity capital, but in a way that is environmentally sustainable. We suggest that the upcycling movement can contribute to a global context of sustainable consumption by establishing a consumer culture based on luxury deconsumption.