Going GREEN

For this particular blog, I was having some trouble coming up with an idea of what to write about. Thanks to Google, I stumbled upon an awesome website that posts pictures of designs that are innovative and functional, but use things that might be thrown away otherwise. It is called "Inhabitat" and was started by NYC designer Jill Fehrenbacher. Her goal was to "search for new ways to improve the world through forward-thinking, high-tech, and environmentally conscious design" (www.inhabitat.com). The designs pictured immediately captured my attention because of the fact that I had no idea what half of the designs were constructed of because they were so well done.

The first design that caught my eye was a chair. Although the design of the chair seemed quite simplistic and modern like, the inside of the chair was filled with old, rolled-up newspapers for support. The newspapers themselves provided functional form as well as stability in order to keep the chair comfortable and supportive. The chair has sharp edges, not rounded like a nice, squishy chair, but it does serve its functional purpose. The use of the old newspapers was an excellent idea since so many people today get the daily paper and then immediately throw it away, sometimes without even reading. This gives a use to those old newspapers that would otherwise turn into the waste that is polluting our earth.

Another design that I found to be quite hideous but fascinating was an inflatable chair full of garbage. The top part of the chair was full of empty plastic bottles. In the bottom portion of the chair, there were old nylons, a flipper, old paper and cardboard, old plastic and more. I would never put this chair in my house, but I believe the concept of the chair is a great idea. I think this design would have been much more appealing if the designer stuck to trash in a similar color scheme or of a similar family, for example if the bottles were used through out the chair. The idea as great because so many people throw away tons of things every year when it can be turned into art to make a statement or it can be saved and designed for use with a functional purpose.

As for the next design, at first glimpse, I could not tell what the skirts that the two girls shown were made out of. I then realized that they were made completely out of white, plastic spoons! The skirts were put together so intricately that it was difficult to tell that they were not made out of normal skirt materials. The designers of these skirts also make tote bags out of old billboard banners. They are very colorful and functional bags that can be used for everyday use. The group that creates these designs is TOUCH. They work with recycled products to make bags, skirts, and such for women.

I think that designs that can come from recycling products are great. With all of this "going green" talk, it is wonderful to see that the design world is taking it seriously. Hopefully, other people may come to terms with this and begin taking a second thought before throwing certain things away. It is true and proven through these designs that one person's trash is another person's treasure!