Island In the (Air)Stream: Floating Sculpture Goes Missing
August 10, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Delana in Art & Design & Nature & Ecosystems & News & Politics. ]
If you live in Europe and recently saw a lush green island floating by in the sky, don’t worry – you haven’t lost your mind. A team of U.K. artists and designers have lost something very important to them, though: this mesmerizing floating structure called Is Land.
(all images via: Is Land)
At the Secret Garden Party festival in Cambridgeshire in July, a group of vandals cut the support ropes tethering Is Land to the ground. The helium-filled floating island sailed away on the wind, carrying with it months of hard work on the part of artist Sarah Cockings, designer Laurence Symonds and a whole team of other contributors.
Is Land, a lushly vegetated artificial island in the sky, is a sculpture that reminds us all how close and how far away our perfect worlds are. It floats above the heads of onlookers, tantalizing them with glimpses of a lovely but ever-unreachable landscape.
Sadly, the few malicious festival-goers who decided to set Is Land aloft nearly deprived an American audience of this beautiful sculpture. It was due to make its first American appearance at Burning Man 2011 shortly after the Secret Garden Party. Thanks to the generosity of the Secret Garden Party fund, the Is Land creators have been able to start work on a new version of the piece that will be presented at Burning Man.
The team is still on the hunt for the original, however. Due to the time and money invested in Is Land, it would be a shame for this beautiful piece of art to disappear forever. According to wind patterns, the helium-filled sculpture should have touched down somewhere in the Czech Republic. Anyone who has seen Is Land or has information on its whereabouts can contact the designers through their website.
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Recycling Flashmob = Street Art + Guerrilla Activism
April 10, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Delana in Art & Design & Home & Garden & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
When you see a piece of waste on the ground, do you walk by it? Or do you take a moment to pick it up and put it in its proper place? This question was at the center of one of the absolute coolest flashmobs ever. A large crowd in a mall celebrated the one person who took the time to make a difference.
According to the above video, 671 million kg of plastic products are produced each year. And every year, 400 million recyclable containers are not recycled in Quebec alone. 18,000 pieces of plastic float on every square kilometer of the ocean, making it obvious that our garbage is a growing problem. This incredible flashmob calls attention to just how many people choose to ignore that problem.
The look on the woman’s face when she is confronted by a cheering mob is priceless. This exercise in humor and positive reinforcement reminds us that every small action that helps the environment is a step in the right direction.
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Pretty Smart: Great Green Gift & Product Packaging
April 4, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Science & Research. ]
Some people say it’s what’s inside that counts, but the truth is, packaging plays a big role not only in the presentation of a product but in the earth-friendliness of its life cycle. And considering all the plastic that temporarily protects a product and then gets pitched into landfills, we need all the eco-innovation we can get. These 14 sustainable gift wrap ideas & product packages make bulky, wasteful wrappings a thing of the past, choosing reclaimed, recyclable and natural materials for beautiful and efficient results.
360 Paper Bottle
(image via: core77)
60 million plastic bottles are thrown away every day in the United States alone, and it’s not just the waste that’s a problem – plastic is made from petroleum. So what can we do about it? One possible solution is the 360 paper bottle concept, made of fully recyclable food-safe paper. It even has a paper lid!
DIY Gift Wrap by Grey Likes Weddings
(image via: style me pretty)
If you tend to think of DIY gift wrap made of recycled materials as a little too rustic for your tastes, check out these gorgeous examples of creative reuse. Summer Watkins of Grey Likes Weddings created the decorative accents on these gifts using reclaimed items like vintage brooches, thrift store sweaters, book pages, fabric scraps and natural greenery.
Billerud Fiberform Biodegradable Packaging
(images via: below the clouds)
From Swedish packaging designer Billerud comes ‘Fiberform’, biodegradable and recyclable packaging that takes plastic out of the equation for all manner of products from food to cosmetics. This paper-based packaging can be embossed or printed and fits securely around package contents to protect it.
Molded Paperboard for Newton Running Shoes
(image via: sustainable is good)
Simple, green and cost-effective, this molded paperboard box made for Newton Running Shoes eliminates the need for tissue paper padding by creating a tight custom fit around the shoes. You won’t even find disposable packing materials inside the shoes – instead, they include a pair of socks and a reusable bag!
Universal Cardboard Packaging by Patrick Sung
(image via: design milk)
Don’t you hate it when you order a small item that comes in a ridiculously oversized cardboard box? Patrick Sung’s Universal Packaging System (UPACKS) could make that problem a thing of the past. This innovative packaging concept not only bends around objects of virtually any shape for packaging that’s easy to customize, it’s strong and durable, too. One drawback, however, is a lack of stackability, which might require further thinking outside the box (literally).
DIY: CD Spindle for Bagel Transport
(image via: blisstree)
Need to keep a bagel sandwich protected while on the go? One genius Flickr user named piwonka came up with this novel idea using a reclaimed CD spindle. If only this would catch on at the neighborhood deli.
Banana Leaves as Natural Packaging
(image via: inhabitat)
Naturally durable and water-resistant, banana leaves could serve as an eco-friendly packaging option for all kinds of applications. In a series called Packaging the Future, Inhabitat outlines the many virtues of banana leaf packaging, especially for food. These tough leaves can even be folded into cute little bowls.
MoMA TerraSkin Treeless Paper Packaging
(image via: sustainable is good)
Made of 80 percent calcium carbonate mineral powder and 20 percent resin, TerraSkin is tree-free and requires 50 percent less energy to create than regular fiber-based paper. It’s got a bright white color without bleaching, is naturally tear-resistant and repels water, requiring less ink when printing. The Museum of Modern Art began using TerraSkin for its gift boxing and packaging needs in 2006.
EcoTubes Recycled Paper Lip Balm
(image via: phoenix botanicals etsy)
Want plastic-free lip balm that still provides tube-like ease of application? Etsy seller Phoenix Botanicals offers a trio of organic herbal lip balms in biodegradable recycled paper containers that contain 20% more product than plastic tubes with no waste.
Mushroom Packaging
(images via: inhabitat)
Renewable, natural and fire-resistant, packaging made from mushrooms can biodegrade even without oxygen and requires little energy to produce. Created by Ecovative Design, ‘Mycobond’ requires just one eighth the energy and one tenth the carbon dioxide of traditional foam packing material and could eventually make its way into our homes cradling electronics, furniture, décor and countless other items. Because mushrooms can grow practically anywhere, this packaging could be produced locally, saving even more energy.
Yves Behar Box/Bag for Puma
(image via: dezeen)
San Francisco designer Yves Behar of Fuseproject created this cool box/bag combo for footwear brand Puma. Called Clever Little Bag, the packaging consists of a flat-pack cardboard tray that fits inside a reusable recycled heat-woven case with a handle. This design uses 65% less cardboard than the standard shoe box and requires no laminated printing, no tissue paper and no plastic carrying bag. Clever indeed.
Japanese Furoshiki Reusable Gift Cloth
(image via: reuseit.com)
Why use disposable gift wrap at all when you could simply wrap the gift in a beautiful reusable organic cotton cloth? It’s easy to cut wrapping cloth out of any fabric you have on hand, or you could go with an elegant pre-made option like this organic cotton version by Chewing the Cud, inspired by the traditional Japanese Furoshiki cloth and printed with soy inks.
Recycled Paper Envelope from Book Pages
(image via: mistybliss)
A beautiful, one-of-a-kind shipping or gift envelope is as simple as sewing some book pages together. You could also use brown paper bags, as in this tutorial by Natural Kids.
Biodegradable Packaging for McDonald’s
(image via: inhabitat)
McDonalds will likely never truly earn the right to call itself ‘green’, but it would earn a lot of cred if it picked up this concept for biodegradable packaging by University of the Arts grad student Andrew Millar. The bags are made of naturally grease-resistant grass fiber and fold out into compartmentalized trays for tidy, low-waste meals on the go.
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Turning Trash to Treasure: 16 Styrofoam Sculptures
January 3, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Tricks & Hacks. ]
Like a plague, it’s always there: present in virtually every package we receive, not to mention every landfill known to man, where it will remain for hundreds if not thousands of years. But though styrofoam is designed to be disposable, some artists are flouting that convention and using it as an unexpectedly versatile medium in projects ranging from towering robots to entire retail stores. These 16 styrofoam art projects by 9 artists recycle the ubiquitous white foam into objects that transcend the transience of the material.
Michael Salter’s Styrofoam Car & Robots
(images via: michaelsalter.com)
A formula 1 car, a series of towering white robots surrounded by their miniatures – what can’t Michael Salter, a professor of digital arts at the University of Oregon, make out of styrofoam? Salter recycles used styrofoam packaging to craft his creations, and often uses the native form to create shapes rather than carving.
Couch & Lamps by Kwangho Lee
(image via: geekologie)
The first thing you may be tempted to ask upon viewing this all-styrofoam couch by Kwangho Lee is, ‘Why?” But, really, why not? It may not be the softest or best-looking material around, but heck, at least you’d float if your house ever flooded. Of course, this piece isn’t actually meant for use in the home – it’s art, and was part of a series called ‘Lifelike Design’. Lee also created sculptural lamp shades that resemble giant gobs of white paint.
Tara Donovan’s Cup Ceiling
(image via: mocoloco)
Installation artist Tara Donovan finds inspiration in the most mundane of materials, from toothpicks and drinking straws to paper plates and styrofoam cups. With the latter, Donovan created an undulating aerial landscape reminiscent of a cloud.
Life-Size Hummer by Andrew Junge
(images via: sfgate)
It’s perhaps the world’s least eco-friendly personal vehicle – rendered, fittingly perhaps, in a decidedly un-green material. Andrew Junge carved this life-sized replica of a Hummer while an artist-in-residence at San Francisco’s garbage dump, where he was able to salvage and repurpose all the styrofoam needed for the sculpture.
“I wish to examine and re-contextualize found objects and materials, to invest them with new life, and to sanctify – or at least acknowledge their presence in the world,” Junge explains in his artist’s statement. “Or perhaps, more accurately, to acknowledge my presence as these materials’ temporary curator, archivist and re-purposer.”
Illuminated Styrofoam Sculpture by Jason Rogenes
(images via: inhabitat)
They’ve cradled stereos, iPads, flat-screen televisions and toasters, and now these styrofoam pieces – which come in practically every shape imaginable – grace the walls of galleries, illuminated in futuristic-looking displays. Artist Jason Rogenes gives these scraps of trash new life with installations that hang from the ceiling like miniature space ships.
Snarkitechture Styrofoam Pop-Up Store
(images via: design boom)
The entire interior of a pop-up Richard Chai store in New York City was crafted from massive blocks of styrofoam by Brooklyn-based design firm Snarkitecture. After spending hours carving texture and niches from the blocks with a heated wire, the team achieved a result that calls to mind an ice hotel. While the styrofoam used wasn’t post-consumer, it was recycled afterwards, returned to the manufacturer and made into rigid-foam insulation panels.
Mario Brothers Pieta by Kordian Lewandowski
(images via: kordianl)
Princess Peach sorrowfully cradles Mario’s dead body in this parody of Michelangelo’s super-serious Pieta, carved from polystyrene by artist Kordian Lewandowski. The modern material is a fitting contrast to marble for this video-game-based scene.
Recycled Glass and Styrofoam Sculpture by Sungsoo Kim
(images via: sungsookimglass)
Can styrofoam have beauty in its own right, even when it’s not molded or carved to look like something else? Korean sculptor Sungsoo Kim translates the shapes of discarded styrofoam packing materials into colorful glass, giving them an aesthetic value that is only noticeable because of the change in material from something cheap and unwanted to a more ‘valid’ artist’s medium.
“In my work with Styrofoam, I try to find something concealed in it. The explicit purpose of this material is to protect products while they are in transit. As such, this material has a vital role in the economic machine, but ultimately it becomes trash. Its only value is conferred to it by the market value of the product it protects. That value is lost as soon as the product it protects is removed. The depreciation is astronomical from a consumer-commodity standpoint, but I think there is still something valuable in it, that the packaging has value as an object itself. My work of recycling packing Styrofoam is then to seek the ‘value’ which is unseen in its material reality.”
Faux Styrofoam by Fabio Viale
(images via: fabio viale)
Some artists working in styrofoam try to make their creations look as if they’re carved of marble, but sculptor Fabio Viale has the opposite intent. His ‘styrofoam’ sculptures actually are made of marble, given a pearly texture that makes it appear much softer than it really is.
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CSRminute: Accion International Reports on Microfinance Summit in India
September 30, 2010 by · View Comments
Corporate Social Responsibility News: Accion International Reports on Microfinance Summit in India; Italy’s Cinque Terre National Park Bans Plastic Water Bottles
CSRminute: Accion International Reports on Microfinance Summit in India
September 30, 2010 by · View Comments
Corporate Social Responsibility News: Accion International Reports on Microfinance Summit in India; Italy’s Cinque Terre National Park Bans Plastic Water Bottles
This Plastic World: Recycled Island Made of Old Bottles
April 30, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Delana in Art & Design, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Most of us have heard by now of the floating island of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean, sometimes called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. While other oceans have similar islands of plastic garbage, the Pacific island has been widely publicized as a prime example of our overconsumption of plastics and our poor methods of dealing with plastic waste. Dutch architects WHIM Architecture would like to put a more positive spin on the plastic island by making it into the first habitable ocean-bound floating garbage heap ever.
There have been plenty of ideas lately about farming and populating the oceans, but this appears to be one of the most ambitious ones. Its possibility would depend largely on how effectively an artificial island could be built of plastic, and just how permanent that island would be. Whether it would hold the weight of a population and its crops – not to mention having some sort of safety measures in place for when storms hit – is still a mystery. Nonetheless, it will be fascinating to see this and other seasteading ideas develop as architects and designers continue to look toward the vast oceans as our future habitat.
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