Jess Poisl, founder of rubbishREMADE, and Elizabeth Mueller, founders of Swathe, are both life-long creative reusers. Growing up near a landfill inspired Jess to think twice before throwing things away as a child, searching instead for imaginative ways to give a second life to what would otherwise wind up in the ever-expanding dump. In pursuit of an affordable way to give meaningful gifts to friends and family after college, Jess turned to upcycling once again, an endeavor that would eventually lead to the foundation of the rubbishREMADE Collective.
Elizabeth fondly recalls building houses for her Barbies out of soap crates with her sisters as children. It wasn’t until she became a parent that she decided to channel her adaptive reuse-imagination into gift wrapping. After she and her husband became foster parents, her family doubled in size overnight, and she watched their household trash production grow exponentially. Then, the holidays came around and she found herself face to face with a mountain of gifts waiting to be wrapped. She cringed at the idea of buying enough paper to wrap them all and remembered her grandmother, who saved used wrapping paper to reuse year after year. “My grandma used to make her four kids take the tape off of her gifts, so carefully… so that that paper gift wrap could be used again and again and again,” she recalls. Rather than reusing paper, Elizabeth tore into her linen closet in search of a specific set of itchy red sheets that she knew her family hated to sleep on. Those itchy red sheets became the very first reusable wraps Elizabeth ever made. Though the gift wrap was hand-cut and unhemmed that first year, her family seemed to have just as much fun unwrapping and throwing the balled-up fabric at each other as they would have with disposable paper, and so Elizabeth hemmed them and reused the same sheets the following year.
Eventually, Elizabeth started using fabric gift wrap for gifts to family and friends, which then grew into the business known as Swathe. The most important thing to Elizabeth when she decided to start selling reusable gift wrap was to be sure she would be able to use materials she could feel good about. “I didn’t want to create something that would just contribute to the problem,” she explains, so she sources upcycled fabric and ribbons made from recycled water bottles for every Swathe wrap.
After selling koozies made from crocheted plastic bags (a.k.a plarn – for plastic yarn) at the Riverwest Random Recycled Art and Gifts Show (RRRAGS) in 2018, Jess sold her left-over products at Riverwest Co-op, where she was introduced to her now-friend Amelia, who was the first to join the rubbishREMADE collective with her upcycled dish scrubbies. “It’s just me, and I need friends,” Jess laughs, “and so Amelia was my first friend!” And make friends, she did. By the end of the first year, there were ten makers selling their upcycled creations alongside Jess as part of rubbishREMADE.
A true labor of love, both Jess and Elizabeth infuse a bit of their spirit into every piece they create. When making gifts for loved ones, Jess explains that she actively thinks about the person who will receive the gift, and finds even more enjoyment in the making process from that visualization. “It’s a very meditative practice for me,” says Jess. Elizabeth mentions that love is sewn into every Swathe, laughing that it is true, no matter how cheesy it may sound. “When I’m sewing… or when I’m cutting the fabric… all of that is helping my mental health” she explains. “I feel really lucky that what I get to do with my time is helping my mental health while also providing something for other humans that will hopefully make them smile and be joyful.”
Making, upcycling, and sharing their gifts helps both women grapple with eco-anxiety. “How is me using my [reusables] every day making a difference? Sometimes it feels like it’s not, to be honest,” Elizabeth admits. “But how many people am I inspiring to also do that thing? And then it feels like maybe we can make a difference.” Jess shares a similar sentiment, commenting “I know how much purpose and joy I get out of using these materials, and it makes me feel better because it’s the one thing I can do that feels a little under my control, because these problems are on such a large scale that individual action seems really overwhelming… so finding those people around you who also think that way makes you feel like you’re making a bigger impact.”
The key to making a bigger impact, of course, is community. Jess delights in the camaraderie she has found among makers throughout Milwaukee since establishing rubbishREMADE. “The enthusiasm out there for upcycled things is surprising to me” she laughs, “for a long time, I felt like this weirdo, on an island, obsessed about garbage.” Elizabeth agrees, sharing some of her apprehension about starting her own business. “Going into being a small business owner in Milwaukee, I was really nervous… that it would be competitive, and I would say it is the antithesis of that.” “People are great,” Jess nods, adding “it is a really supportive community.”
Jess and Elizabeth both mused that nobody on their holiday gift list would be getting anything new this year – they’ll be shopping second-hand first, and supporting local businesses. Each Made in Milwaukee gift set comes lovingly wrapped in your choice of reusable gift wrap from Swathe, so you can have your order delivered directly to the recipient, knowing it will arrive ready to open. Add on a one-of-a-kind, upcycled, etched-glass mug from rubbishREMADE at check out. Each mug is hand-selected and etched by Jess with her own lotus-inspired design. Jess will only make as many mugs as she can find second-hand, so get one before they’re gone!
