Graduates aim to cut student waste

Two University of Brighton graduates are aiming to make student living more sustainable with their innovative recycling enterprise.

Mei-Chun Huang, who studied MA Sustainable Design, and Moosun Yoo, who studied MA Fine Art, and are now developing their business under the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) Visa Scheme, have founded re-upbrighton to stop unwanted furniture and homewares ending up in landfill.

“We aim to develop a homeware sharing economy based on reducing, reusing and recycling,” says Mei. “These are the core principles of sustainable living.”

“Our focus is on student living, which is characteristically flexible, short term and economical. The typical high street or online consumer model does not suit this style of living, as students who opt to purchase new products only realise a fraction of their value before discarding them.

“Second hand options are available but they do not represent similar levels of convenience and availability. By collecting items from departing students and making them available to new students via reuse and up-cycling streams, this project aims to fulfil this need and generate an environmentally conscious form of consumer behavior.”

You can visit their website to see the range of products they have upcycled and have available to rent or buy.  “We can also repair or upcycle household items on demand for landlords and homeowners,” says Moosun.