Upcycle CHQ, GreenClusta Technologies LLC, 322 Washington Street, Jamestown, NY (2026)

09/03/2026

A few weeks ago, we asked our community about reusing building materials, and one opportunity came up again and again:

Deconstruction and material salvage.

When an older house, barn or building is renovated or demolished, there can still be tremendous value inside it—old lumber, doors, windows, flooring, bricks, cabinets, fixtures, hardware and more.

Too often, useful materials leave as debris.

But what if more of them could be carefully recovered before demolition and put back into use?

That could mean affordable materials for repairs and renovations, supplies for makers and builders, preservation of unique architectural pieces, less material going to waste—and potentially new local economic opportunities.

But before we talk about what could be built around this idea, we want to find the people.

Have you ever taken apart an old house, barn or building to save materials?

- Have you salvaged old lumber, doors, windows, flooring, bricks, fixtures or architectural pieces?

- Are you a contractor, carpenter, tradesperson, preservationist or someone who has learned how to do this through experience?

- Or are you someone who would genuinely like to learn?

Tell us about your experience or interest in the comments.

We know the buildings and materials are here.

Now we want to discover the people, skills and knowledge that could help us save more of them.

09/02/2026

We moved from just an Idea to the First Made in CHQ Collection-

A few months ago, we launched the UpcycleCHQ Maker Pilot Program with a simple question:

What can happen when reusable materials are placed in the hands of local makers?

We invited people from across our community to take part, share their skills, work with materials that might otherwise be overlooked, and explore what those materials could become.

Along the way, something important happened.

This program has helped us discover and connect with talented makers in our community — people with creativity, craftsmanship, experience, and skills that deserve to be seen and supported.

The goal was never just to make things.

We wanted to learn whether local skills, reusable materials, creativity, and community support could come together to create products of real value — and potentially open new opportunities for makers.

Now, we are beginning to see the first results.

Reclaimed denim, men’s shirts, tablecloths, placemats, blankets, skirts, upholstery fabric, and other secondhand materials have been transformed into durable bags, artwork, and other one-of-a-kind creations.

These pieces are more than products.

They represent the first chapter of the UpcycleCHQ Maker Pilot Program and the beginning of what we hope will become a much larger Made in CHQ network.

In the coming days, some of these first creations will be auctioned and offered to our community, giving you an opportunity to own something locally made while supporting both the makers and the broader UpcycleCHQ vision.

As we move through September, we’ll also continue sharing the stories behind the products.

Our next question is just as important as the first:

Can we build a market that truly values what our local makers create?

We’re excited to find out — together.

And years from now, we hope we’ll look back at these first pieces and remember: this is where it started.

They pictures show some of the very first creations from the UpcycleCHQ Maker Pilot Program. If you could take one home, which would you choose—and what makes it your favorite?

09/01/2026

You don’t always think about a plumber or electrician—until you really need one.

A pipe breaks. The heat stops working. An outlet fails. A home needs rewiring. Something that seemed simple suddenly requires knowledge most of us don’t have.

And today, finding a skilled tradesperson can sometimes mean waiting longer and paying more, simply because these skills are valuable and experienced people aren’t always easy to find.

That got us thinking:

How much plumbing and electrical knowledge still exists right here in our community?

-Are you a plumber or electrician?

- Did you learn some of these skills from a parent, relative, employer or mentor?

- Are you retired from the trade but still have years of knowledge?

- Are you currently learning or apprenticing?

Most importantly:

How did you learn the trade?

And do you think enough people are learning these skills today?

Please comment below. Know anyone with these skills tag them.

These are the kinds of practical skills every community depends on—and knowledge this valuable is worth recognizing and passing on.

08/31/2026

Upcycle CHQ Maker Spotlight today is on D’Arsie Mae — When Discarded Objects Become Art, Jewelry & Stories

What can you make from a broken Pyrex dish?, A piece of plastic washed up on the shore of Lake Erie?, An old chandelier? A discarded toy? Or even a broken brick pulled from a creek?

For D’Arsie Mae, the answer might be something beautiful enough to wear.

And sometimes, something meaningful enough to become a family treasure.

D’Arsie is an interdisciplinary artist working from her home studio in Fredonia, NY, with more than 30 years of experience creating and sculpting.

She works across ceramics, watercolor, wood, pewter casting and jewelry, drawing inspiration from nature, historical jewelry and architectural design.

But one thing immediately caught our attention:

D’Arsie has an incredible ability to see artistic possibilities in objects most of us would overlook.

Beach plastic becomes statement jewelry.

D’Arsie created her Flotsam Series using discarded objects she collected from the beaches of Lake Erie.

Instead of simply seeing pieces of plastic as litter, she became curious about them.

Where did this piece come from?

What was it originally?

How did it end up here?

After carefully sterilizing and sealing the materials, she incorporates them into necklaces—sometimes researching the origin of a broken piece and making its history part of the meaning of the finished artwork.

Then there's a necklace with an even more local story.

D’Arsie recovered a piece of copper tubing and a broken brick from Canadaway Creek near Forest Avenue in Fredonia.

She transformed those unlikely materials into a necklace.

That piece went on to be exhibited—and sold—at the Tri-County Arts Council's Something Big Show in 2024.

From creek debris... to an exhibited work of art.

But one of the most touching transformations she shared with us started accidentally in her own kitchen.

Gram's Pyrex

D’Arsie had a Pyrex baking dish that belonged to her grandmother, Evelyn. Then one day, it cracked in the oven.

For many of us, that might have been the end of a treasured family object.

D’Arsie saw another possibility. She carefully transformed the broken pieces into beautiful earrings and necklaces.

Today, many of Evelyn's children and grandchildren wear pieces of that baking dish.

As D’Arsie beautifully described it: "A mishap became material to create a family celebration of Grandma Evelyn."

We absolutely love this.

The original object may be gone, but its story continues—now divided among members of the family who can actually wear a little piece of their grandmother's memory.

And D’Arsie keeps experimenting.

Recycled chandelier droplets become a gorgeous statement necklace.

- Discarded toys become the beginning of an entirely new jewelry series.

- Game pieces and found objects become wearable art.

- Lake Erie debris becomes the Flotsam Series.

- And in her studio, D’Arsie also casts her own jewelry components in fine pewter.

Her skills extend beyond creating new work.

D’Arsie repairs jewelry—from restringing pieces to completely restructuring older jewelry into new designs. She also researches and provides general appraisal of jewelry.

Her philosophy after three decades of making is wonderfully simple:

A passion for repurposing and using what you have.

And that philosophy extends beyond her studio.

During the pandemic, D’Arsie started TradeStuff Fredonia, a Facebook group created around a grassroots idea: connect neighbors so that things people no longer needed could find someone else who could use them.

The group grew, and today it continues under volunteer management.

That's community reuse in its simplest form.

One person has something they don't need.

Someone else needs it.

We're excited to share D’Arsie's work because it represents something we talk about often at UpcycleCHQ:

Materials don't necessarily lose their value when their original purpose ends.

Sometimes that's when creativity begins.

And if you'd like to see D’Arsie's work in person, she has two upcoming opportunities:

- Art Trail — September 5 & 6
Sacred Grounds Coffee House, Lily Dale, NY

- Panama Rocks Foliage Festival — October 3 & 4

She'll be offering her hand-cast pewter and ceramic work.

You can also follow her work online:

- Instagram:

- Etsy: D’Arsie Mae

08/30/2026

Farmers markets are more than places to buy fresh food. They support local farmers, growers, bakers, makers and small businesses—and help keep more of what we spend within our communities.

We’d love to hear about your experience with local farmers markets.

-Which local farmers market do you go to?

- What do you enjoy most about it?

- What is missing that you would like to see there?

- What do you think would make our farmers markets better?

If you’re a farmer, vendor, market organizer or regular shopper, we’d especially love your perspective.

There could be some great ideas hiding in this conversation.

Nea Haskin Jamestown Farmers Market Peaceful SOUL Farmers Market Lakewood Farmers Market Fredonia Farmers Market Kristen Kovatch Bentley

08/29/2026

In one of our recent conversations, we noticed something interesting: a lot of people save their glass jars instead of throwing them away. And also around many areas they are not recycled.

So now we want to see what happens to all those jars!

What do you reuse them for?

Food storage? Seeds? Crafts? Organizing screws and small tools? Homemade products? Gardening? Something completely different?

And if you have a creative or unusual way of reusing glass jars, we especially want to see it.

There may be a much bigger local reuse opportunity hiding inside something as ordinary as a glass jar.

08/28/2026

What do you have for sale, to share, or to exchange?

Maybe it’s something you make, grow, bake, repair or no longer need. Maybe you offer a local service or have useful materials someone else could use.

Post it in the comments!

- Add a photo
- Include your location
- Add your price—or tell us what you’d like to exchange

And don’t forget to look through the comments—you might find exactly what you need from someone nearby.

Buy local. Share local. Exchange local. Keep value in our community.

08/27/2026

This week, our Upcycle CHQ community grew to more than 1,400 followers!

But what excites us most isn’t the number—it’s what’s happening through the conversations here.

People are sharing skills. Offering to teach others. Identifying reusable materials. Offering tools, equipment and spaces. Making connections. Sharing knowledge. And helping us discover opportunities we didn’t know existed.

You’re not just following this journey. You’re helping shape it.

As we take this journey of discovering our community assets, we want to keep bringing you along and occasionally explain what drives many of the questions and discussions you see here.

When we say community assets, we mean the things that already exist around us:

- Skills and knowledge people have
- Materials that could be reused or transformed
- Tools and equipment already in our communities
- Spaces that could be shared or put to greater use
- People, businesses and organizations willing to participate

When we ask, “Who knows how to weave?” or “Who knows about foraging?” we’re discovering skills and knowledge.

When we ask businesses about metal scraps, households about glass jars, or what materials are being discarded, we’re discovering potential resources.

When we ask about tools, equipment and spaces, we’re beginning to understand what our community already has the capacity to do.

And then comes the exciting part:

What happens when we begin connecting all of these things?

A skill could become a class, service or source of income.

An unused space could help someone get an idea started.

Shared equipment could help a maker create without having to buy everything.

A material currently considered waste could become the starting point for a new locally made product.

And some of these connections could eventually become micro-businesses, jobs and new local economic opportunities.

We’re especially excited about local material innovation—looking at materials generated by our businesses, farms, homes and natural surroundings and asking:

What else could this become?

Could our makers, businesses, researchers, students and problem-solvers experiment with these materials and discover completely new uses for them?

And we’re already beginning to see what this can look like.

Over the past few months, our UpcycleCHQ Pilot Maker Program has been putting one part of this idea into practice.

Local makers have been taking materials that could have remained unused or eventually become waste and turning them into unique, useful and creative products.

Now the pilot is reaching an exciting stage.

In September, we’ll begin showcasing some of these first UpcycleCHQ products. I have shared 3 of such products in this post.

We’ll share more of the products,and begin exploring an important question:

Can we create real economic value from materials that previously had little or no value?

So watch for that in September.

You’ll begin seeing some of these ideas become things you can actually see, use, appreciate—and buy.

That’s what drives much of our work:

- Discover what we already have.
- Recognize its value.
- Connect it.
- Experiment with it.
And see what our community can create from it.

Sometimes innovation doesn’t begin with bringing something new into a community.

Sometimes it begins by seeing the value in what—and who—was already here.

Thank you to every one of our 1,400+ followers for asking questions, sharing knowledge, offering ideas, making connections and helping us build this together.

And as we look toward what comes next, we’d really like to hear from you:

Of everything we’re exploring—skills, materials, tools, spaces and locally made products—what are YOU most excited to see us develop next?

Tell us below. Your answers help shape where we go next.💚

For partnership, collaboration, inquiry , please reach out to us via direct message, phone call or email [email protected]

Audubon Community Nature Center James Prendergast Library Association Crown Street Roasting Company Sacred Grounds Coffee House My CHQ Dylan Moran Becky Luh Brenda Jakiela-Wilcox Mark Wenzler Claire Johnson Baker Mackenzie Hewes Chautauqua Institution Lily Reslink Mary Winslow Maxwell The Upholstery Place Michelle Vullo Stacey Rae Thrasher Nanette Bartkowiak Amanda Lauryl Shari Kay Rebecca Joy Terri Ackerley Groh Debbie Mckinsey Debra Eck Pamela Putt Kathy Bunker 💚

08/26/2026

Foraging has come up several times in our conversations, and we’re discovering that people want to learn.

There is so much knowledge around identifying local plants, berries, herbs, mushrooms and other wild foods—knowledge that was once commonly passed from one person to another.

So we want to find the people who still have that experience.

Do you forage? What do you safely identify and use locally?

Would you be interested in sharing your knowledge or helping teach a small class or guided walk?

And if you want to learn, tell us that too!

We’re exploring knowledgeable instructors, partners and suitable spaces to bring more hands-on skill sharing into our communities.

Who knows this stuff? Please comment below or Tag someone who does.

08/25/2026

What useful skill was once common in your family or community but is becoming harder to find today?

Maybe your grandparents knew it. Maybe a neighbor, retired tradesperson, farmer, craftsperson—or you still do.

Sewing. Canning. Tool sharpening. Woodworking. Repairing things. Foraging. Traditional cooking. Building techniques. Working with older equipment. And probably many skills we haven’t even thought about.

We want to find these skills—and the people who still have them.

If we discover people willing to share what they know, we’d love to explore bringing people together for small classes and hands-on learning, so these skills can be passed on instead of disappearing.

What skill are we at risk of losing? Who still knows how to do it? Tag them if you can.

Let’s find the knowledge still living in our community—and pass it on.

Upcycle CHQ

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

09/01/2026

08/31/2026

08/30/2026

08/29/2026

08/28/2026

08/27/2026

08/26/2026

08/25/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request