Friday, December 18, 2015

Capitol Adorns Christmas Tree with Marine Debris

It's that time of year when my kids and I turn the dining room table into a factory for small handmade gifts constructed from reused materials. We've done penguins, snowmen, and Santa ornaments from old burned out light bulbs, refrigerator magnets from bottle caps, and stationary (note cards, envelopes, and notebooks) from old calendars, magazines, and cardboard.

Photo
Just a few of our creations. Henry the Light Bulb Penguin (left) serves an "elf on the shelf" function for my kiddos.



So I was delighted to read that some of the ornaments on this year's Capitol Christmas tree in Washington, D.C. are made from reused materials--and better yet, they're made from plastic marine debris in order to highlight the ocean plastic pollution problem.

The Capitol tree comes from a national forest in a different state each year, and is decorated by residents from that state. In 2015, the tree is from Chugach National Forest in Alaska, and artist Bonnie Dillard was selected to create ornaments after submitting a prototype of a fish made from plastic waste reclaimed from the sea.
From http://www.capitolchristmastree.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dillard-template.pdf

According to Smithsonian.com, "Her trashy tree ornaments were constructed by Alaskan schoolchildren this summer from ocean refuse picked up along the Alaska coast by members of a preservation organization." Awesome! These ornaments not only represent an important part of Alaskan culture and economy (fishing), but also provided an important experiential learning opportunity for the students who made the ornaments and for everyone who views them. This is real plastic pollution from the shores of state that provided our tree--not photos of floating plastic with a lack of context that makes it easy for our minds to categorize them as part of the Mythic Land of Away. Bravo, Ms. Dillard, for helping us face the waste we generate and fail to dispose of properly.

Read the full story on Smithsonian.com. And to learn more about marine plastic pollution and what you can do about it, see http://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/ and http://www.5gyres.org/.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Vinylize Makes Groovy Glasses From Old Records

I really need to set up an eye exam, and know it's time to replace my glasses, which are starting to get pretty beat up. So I've spent a bit of time thinking about glasses lately, and wondered if anyone out there was making glasses from reused materials. I came across Vinylize, made by Tipton Eyeworks in Budapest, Hungary, a company that creates eyeglass frames from old vinyl records.

According to material on their website, Tipton Eyeworks' founder, Zachary Tipton, was inspired to try old records as a material, by his father's old record collection in his garage. The first collection, made in 2004, was created from records salvaged from flea markets, fused with "biodegradable cellulose-acetate to insulate it from the effects of heat...As often as possible we use vintage acetate (always used on the Limited Edition series)." After milling with a precision CNC machine, they tumble each frame for "72 hours with wood cubes to make them smooth and shiny." See the "Quality and Design" section of their site for more information, and check out the video below, which provides an abbreviated overview of their process. On YouTube, you can learn about a limited edition set made from Pink Floyd's album High Hopes.

This article from the Budapest Times provides further info. Lovers of vinyl might be scandalized by the statement, "In the digital era the records have little use," but heartened to know that Tipton doesn't always send records the proverbial chopping block. When he finds one in good condition from an artist he likes, it ends up on his turntable instead.

Alas, Illinoisans, there appear to be no shops within our state that carry these frames, but if your heart is set on advertising your love for vintage vinyl, reuse, or both, on the prime real estate atop your nose, you can always shop online. The handmade grooviness is pricier than what you're probably used to, and probably out of my personal price range, but they're handmade and unique. I suppose some folks spend as much on expensive shoes, clothes, or jewelry. They even come with cases made from upcycled 7 inch vinyl singles--clever. And really reuseful.


Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Exploring All Thrifty States: Jenna's Excellent Adventure

We've all had those moments when we hear about a product, project, or idea that someone else has put out into the world and we think, "Geez, why didn't I think of that?!?" I had just such a moment recently, whilst reading a Washington Post article on the creative Jenna Isaacson Pfeuller.  Jenna's idea was born of necessity, as she shopped in thrift stores during a period of unemployment. A photographer with fond childhood memories of trips to thrift stores with her grandfather, she began taking photos of the stores she shopped at during her economic dry spell. This lead to a Kickstarter campaign and a partnership with Goodwill Industries, to document American culture through visits to thrift stores in every state--a project aptly titled "All Thrifty States."  What a fabulous, fun idea! I'm so jealous. Not of the unemployment (which is thankfully over), but of having such a bold, brilliant idea, and fearlessly following through. And of all the cool thrift store finds, of course.

Check out her web site, complete with slideshow at http://www.allthriftystates.com/. Although the "Stores We Hit" page implies that there are still several states left to go, the Washington Post article and slideshow testify to the fact that she has visited shops in the lower 48, with only Hawaii and Alaska remaining. Way to go, Jenna.

I think this would be such an interesting project to do with students of all ages--to visit local thrift stores and create a photo essay of the local community by documenting the discards and donations. Also, consider all the different types of stores and activities that might fall into the "thrift store" category. Sure, there's the local Goodwill and similar stores that sell reclaimed items for a cause, but what of used book stores, materials for the arts shops, consignment shops, antique malls, vintage vinyl vendors, etc.? What about the cadre of local garage sales? Does your area have a set of homes that seem to be in perpetual yard sale mode? And what about the online reuse landscape that spans eBay, Etsy, Freecycle, Craigslist, etc.?

I've written before about artists HA Schult and Chris Jordan, whose work reflects our society through what we throw away. Jenna's work, and the spin-off student project I've suggested, are a different way to paint a similar picture, showing who we are by what we cast aside. But the view is slightly different, for in thrift stores and the like, we see what we choose not to keep, but cannot quite let go of; what we no longer value, but which we believe will be of value to someone else. Why don't we see everything as having some value, to someone, somewhere?

Monday, January 5, 2015

Beyond Geek: Making Old Tech New Again

While enjoying our winter break, the kids and I came across an interesting series called Beyond Geek. We caught an episode that really piqued my interest, highlighting reuse AND electronics. Host Dan Reynoso interviews a married couple that make beautiful music together--using old computers and game consoles. Their instruments of choice include the Commodore 64, Apple II, and Gameboy handsets. They've even developed software (on floppy disks!) to use this old technology to generate electronic music. Where many see electronic waste, these folks see--and hear--art. Score one for reuse!

The episode also highlights the practice of "homebrew" NES game creation--intrepid geeks programming new games for the Nintendo NES system. Some of these "homebrewers" reuse old cartridges to house their new 8-bit adventures, while one pair actually have a manufacturer create new NES cartridges (read "job creation"). I love to see ingenuity extending the useful life of a product, and these folks are providing fun and nostalgia for gamers with technology that most would consider obsolete.

Check out a preview of "8-Bit of Fun" below.