Upcycling: Packaging is the Product (is the packaging)...

It's been a while since I've come across a good example of upcycling, so here's a refresher: "upcycling" is where materials are recycled into a product, use, or purpose which is of higher quality or value than the original. This is as opposed to "downcycling," which most recycling is, where the reused material becomes lower and lower quality with each cycle. Anyway, here's a radical upcycle: designer David Gardener presents this lamp which is made of the same paper pulp material as many egg cartons - a very low-quality substance which represents the last stop before landfill in the paper cycle. Not only that, but the lamp halves fold to become their own packaging. Say what you may about the looks of the lamp (hmm), but the concept is really something!
[via Treehugger, Dezeen, & Gizmodo]