About

About Upcycle with Jing

At Upcycle with Jing, we want you to both look and feel good when wearing our jewelry. Every one of our jewelry pieces have been handcrafted from PET plastic bottles we found in Helsinki.

Fast fashion is no longer the new black. You want to look good and feel good – not just because your new earrings perfectly pull together your look, but because you know when you put those earrings on, you’re making a difference.

For too long now, the environment has been ravaged in search of precious metals that are then used to make traditional forms of jewelry. 

We’re different.

With our jewelry, not only will you wear an exquisitely beautiful necklace, hairpiece, or brooch, but you’ll also give a second life to plastic that would otherwise be left to pollute the environment.

You proudly show off exactly who you are in everything you wear. Time to show everyone that sustainability is in style, and it’s not going anywhere.

 

About our Jewelry

Our inspiration is what we set out to save – nature. Everything in our collection is a tribute to and embodiment of the beauty of flowers. Flowers are delicate and gorgeous – and so is our jewelry. Every brooch, hairpiece, necklace, and pair of earrings is handcrafted to finessed perfection.

When choosing the materials to make our jewelry, we’re mindful of every decision we make. We considered different aspects of the materials we need when we chose them – from how they look aesthetically to what their environmental impact is. 

For our jewelry pieces, we use: 

  • PET Plastic bottles
  • Brass 
  • Plastic beads 

PET Plastic Bottles 

Finland has a great recycling record. Around 90% of plastic bottles are recycled consistently. Because of this amazing recycling rate, we try not to use plastic bottles that are easily recycled. We focus on non-recyclable bottles that otherwise wouldn’t have a second life. By focusing on these bottles, we’re able to give a second life to a lot of plastic bottles and keep them out of our environment. 

Brass 

We choose brass because it has a lower CO2 impact than pure gold or pure silver. Our metal parts are fully brass and coated with a thin layer of 14k gold or silver. We source these parts from China and, although it can be harder to trace mined metal, we know that our materials have a lower impact than other mined metals. 

Plastic Beads 

The plastic beads we use look like pearls, but aren’t real pearls because the harvesting process of pearls isn’t in line with our ethical values.

 

How We Support Local Jobs

We recruit makers for our team locally in Finland. Many of them are immigrants and stay-at-home mums and we focus on providing them stress-free work environment that also supports their well-being. The result is a job that they love doing and wholeheartedly support. We carefully train them in the process of making our jewelry, and they’ve said that the process is meditative and stress-relieving.

We’re sure to curate a work environment that cares about each maker personally – their well-being always comes first and they’re able to make the jewelry at home in their free time.

We are proud to announce that we’ve been awarded the Key Flag Symbol mark.

⁠Key Flag Symbol is a registered collective mark. It demonstrates that the product has been manufactured or the service has been produced in Finland, creating Finnish jobs. The objective of the Key Flag Symbol mark of origin is to provide information on the Finnish origin of a product or service and its contribution to Finnish work.⁠

We’re proud to produce local jobs, stimulate our local economy, and represent high-quality Finnish craftsmanship. 

 

Why Is Plastic a Problem? 

Plastic is a major problem because it doesn’t decompose. Many plastics are only used once and then they’re thrown away. They accumulate in landfills, take over our oceans, and destroy the beauty of our natural landscapes. 

They end up breaking down into tiny pieces and are then consumed by animals. Because of this, the toxic effects of plastics end up in the bellies of wildlife up and down the food chain. 

Even when you put plastic in a recycling bin, there’s no guarantee it will be recycled. Many countries don’t have strong enough systems in place to process all the plastic being recycled – so they still end up in our environment. 


We’re committed to doing our part in handling the plastic problem through upcycling. We use PET plastic bottles that we find in Helsinki to create each unique jewelry piece. This is the plastic that makes up the bottles that commonly hold soda and water. We’re making sure our city stays beautiful and giving nature a chance to stay plastic-free.

 

Our Mission

Our mission is simple yet profound: 

To elevate a wearer’s self-confidence through uniquely styled, sustainable jewelry, and lessen our collective waste output in the process.

Recycling and reusing are crucial behaviours that we should all adopt in our lives. Our actions truly make a difference in the amount of waste we produce. This allows us to have a positive impact on the planet instead of a negative one. 

It isn’t always easy, but it is always worth it. At Upcycle with Jing, we refuse to participate in harmful mining or production practices. We’re different because we craft with repurposed materials and style our collections in the name of fashion and ethics.

And we aren’t stopping with just our jewelry…  

Within the next 15 years, we see ourselves as a leading voice in a community of upcyclers, with the goal of annually transforming a minimum of 80 tons of unused waste into valuable products.

You aren’t someone who just wants a new jewelry piece. You’re someone who wants to make a difference in the world with your purchase, with your fashion choices. When you support us, you’re becoming part of the positive change in the world. You’re committing to put your euro behind a company that: 

  • doesn’t cut corners
  • ensures sustainability at each step in our process
  • is devoted to helping other businesses do the same 

Together, we can handle plastic 

 

Our Values

We have four main values that we uphold in our business: 

Sustainable Living – To make manufacturing, selling, and purchasing choices that do less harm and prepare the path towards revitalizing the world’s ecosystems.

Personalised Beauty – To encourage custom looks that represent the wearer and speak to their life journey.

Social Responsibility – To do well by our neighbors, making choices that are just and morally sound. We also strive to provide job opportunities for local crafters and disabled people.

Environmental Stewardship – To promote environmental prosperity and resilience, safeguarding the world for ourselves and future generations.

 

Our Social Responsibility

The environment means a lot to us. That’s why we’re leading the way with upcycled jewelry for any occasion. We make sure your euro goes further than just buying our products. That’s why 7% of all profit generated on this website is donated to Project Greenhands, an environmental outreach project aimed at significantly increasing the green cover in a southern state in India.

 

Meet Your Designer – Jing Wang

designer wang jing at her upcycle studio in Helsinki, handmade in Finland, eco-friendly jewelry, bridal earrings

My name is Jing Wang, the founder and designer of Upcycle with Jing brand. My design journey began in China, where shortly after starting my studies in industrial design at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, I realized that my field often relied on wasteful use of precious resources and was causing significant harm to the environment. As a result, I lost interest in the discipline and instead wanted to create responsible, handmade products with a sense of warmth.

In 2012, I came to Aalto University's School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Finland as a postgraduate student to focus on sustainable design and to study the artistic recycling of disposable plastics. After graduation, I founded my own design brand, Upcycle with Jing Jewelry, in Helsinki, creating jewelry from recycled plastic bottles and fulfilling my dream.

This country showed me that one person's waste can indeed become another person's treasure. Since then, I have been an enthusiastic supporter of environmentally friendly production methods and have been dedicated to promoting upgraded and recycled jewelry that not only showcases our unique personalities but also represents the environmental values we cherish.

I am not someone who wears beautiful jewelry every day, but I have a heart that loves beauty. I love designing beautiful things and bringing joy to others. My customers may not wear beautiful jewelry every day, but they too have a heart that loves beauty and life. When they purchase our jewelry, they are embracing the idea of accepting themselves and their love for beauty, and adding more color and joy to their lives. Their joy is a great motivation for us to keep going.

I also organize DIY jewelry workshops for companies and schools, allowing people to experience the process of creating unique and environmentally friendly jewelry from discarded plastic bottles.

To learn more about our products and workshops, please visit our website at www.upcyclewithjing.com, or follow us on IG or Tik Tok: @upcyclewithjing.

 

我叫汪婧,我的设计之路始于中国,在我开始在无锡江南大学学习工业设计后不久,我意识到我的专业很多时候是基于对宝贵资源的浪费,对环境造成了很大的伤害。因此我对这门学科失去了兴趣,我更希望的是做有责任,有温度的手工产品。

2012年我来到芬兰阿尔托大学设计与艺术学院进修研究生,将我的精力转向了可持续发展设计,研究一次性塑料的艺术性回收利用。毕业后我在赫尔辛基创立了自己的首个设计品牌Upcycle with Jing Jewelry,制作塑料瓶回收首饰,实现了我的梦想。

这个国家向我展示了一个人的废物确实可以成为另一个人的宝藏。从那时起,我一直是环保生产方法的热情支持者,并且一直致力于推广升级再造的首饰,这些首饰不仅可以突显我们每个人独特的个性,而且可以代表我们内心所向往的环保价值理念。

我并不是一个每天都带漂亮首饰的人,但是我有一颗热爱美的心。我喜欢设计美好的东西,并且喜欢为别人带来美好的心情。我的客户呢,其实也不一定是每天都有佩戴美丽首饰的机会。但是他们也有热爱美,热爱生活的心。她们购买我们的首饰,是给自己购买了一种我接受我自己爱美之心的想法,也给她们平静的生活带来了很多亮色, 她们的喜悦,这也是支持我们走下去的一大动力。

同时我也为公司和学校开设DIY首饰工作坊,让大家亲身体验一下用废旧塑料瓶创作出独一无二的环保首饰的过程。

想要了解更多产品和工作坊的资讯,请访问我们的官网 www.upcyclewithjing.com,或关注我们的IGTik Tok: @upcyclewithjing

 

Regards,

wang jing signature
Jing Wang, Designer at Upcycle with Jing

Instagram & Facebook: @upcyclewithjing
email: jing@upcyclewithjing.com
phone: +358 (0) 443883818

Company name Upcycle with Jing
Business ID 2696839-4
Address Vermonkuja 1, 00370 Helsinki, FINLAND