Tangible Karma Day

Tangible Karma Day is the first Saturday in April

Karma, which is the idea that kind actions will result in kindness being returned to you, has a wide variety of forms across the globe and cultures. Popular sayings such as “Treat others how you want to be treated” and the golden rule have been used for centuries to describe something that many people believe is true. The energy you create, whether good or bad will come back to you eventually. Today is a day to help others and in doing so have this kindness returned to you. One example is to clean out unused items in your home and give them to the less fortunate or other people you believe need them more. Another example is to donate your time at various charities today. By helping others, this good karma will come back to you and you’ll feel good about yourself for helping those around you. 

History of Tangible Karma Day

The first Tangible Karma Day was held in 2005. The day was created by Amber Nicole Dilger, who works for a company of the same name. Her main idea for creating good karma was through recycling and reusing. By donating goods to the company such as clothing and furniture, Tangible Karma will donate these goods to others, essentially helping you help others in an easy way. Amber’s main motivation for this holiday was the fact that most of us have a lot of clutter in our homes. Most times this clutter is things we don’t use and just takes up space in our homes and minds. A home space is supposed to be calm and by having these unused items piling up it detracts from us finding solace in these places. Amber is also very environmentally friendly and is always trying to find new ways to make the most of the various resources it offers. Thus, Tangible Karma day was created to raise awareness of a new kind of recycling that incorporates these two causes. 

Examples of Upcycling 

As the name suggests, upcycling is the opposite of downcycling, which is what most people think of when they think of recycling. Instead of breaking materials down to return them to the Earth, upcycling repurposes these items to be able to be used again and again. This is seen often in modern art. Many artists take found materials such as broken pottery to assemble a new project. One example is the Dutch artist Max Zorn, who takes brown packaging tape and creates new artwork to hang on street lamps at night. Upcycling has also made an appearance in industry. Water bottles made from recycled plastic, pens made from recycled plastic, and cardboard made from recycled cardboard art are some examples. By reusing materials such as these, industries are improving their environmental footprint. Lastly, upcycling clothes has become immensely popular in recent years. Thrift stores such as Goodwill and Plato’s Closet have become very popular due to the fact that they offer unique finds at a quarter of the price of retail stores.By buying used clothing you are extending the life of the clothes and preventing them from being in landfills. Participating in any of these upcycling practices not only helps the earth but helps your karma as well. Energy is never destroyed just changed and by putting positive karma out in the world it will come back to you in some way.