I always look forward to goodies from Artecnica ~ so much good stuff ~ and good for the world too! As part of their Design w/ Conscience initiative ~ TBWA (yes the advertising agency massive) approached them to help recycle their billboards... their solution? these adorably inspired Stretch Bags! I have written about a LOT of recycled bags over the years ~ everything from truck tarps to windbreakers to fire hoses to gymnastics horses... but it's been a while since one has been innovative enough to grab my attention like this one!
The Artecnica TBWA Recycled Billboard Stretch Bag is debuting this month and is part of the newest 2009 collection - "A single cut, without glue or a stitch, 100% billboard bag lies flat and weightless but transforms into a shoulder Stretch bag, that can carry up to 33lbs. Perfect for the beach, the gym or market." See more pics on the next page!
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There are some things you can read about and only when you play with it and get to take it apart in person do you fully understand how awesome it is. It also doesn't hurt to first see it in an awesomely large grouping arranged like a sculpture on the 3rd floor deck of the The Standard, New York with all of NYC as the backdrop... and then again back down on the ground in a shipping container both intact and taken apart...
Of course i'm talking about Artek's 10 Unit System by Shigeru Ban! Both Artek and Shigeru Ban are known for their love of beautiful simplicity, functionality, and sustainability ~ so it's no surprise that this 10 Unit System emobodies all of those qualities wonderfully. "Systematizing, Standardizing, Making It Accessible." This is the chair who's motto is boldly "One chair is enough"... and being constructed of 10 identical L shaped pieces, one can create chairs of varying designs, stools, coffee tables, and even combine them for benches and more. When feel like a quick change, simply rearrange the pieces! These are made from ProFi, an environmentally friendly wood-plastic composite - non-toxic, sustainable, and recyclable, it utilizes the surplus materials from the label stock production of UPM. (Artek also used this material for the Artek Pavillion that was sold by Sotheby's as well as floor tiles.)
Take a look on the next page for images from the The Standard, New York deck ~ in the Playful New Finnish Design 09 shipping container ~ up close ~ press photos ~ and even the really fun propoganda cut/paste/photocopy zine looking booklet!
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Where bad letters go when they die? Ok so they aren't bad ~ but the awesome photography of finnish company, Characters, certainly makes it seem like these are the ones that fell off Sesame Street's letters of the day... only to end up drunk and in an alley all alone? Basically these are recycled - "saved" letters - orphaned when old signage is neglected or discarded... when i saw these over at designboom, i couldn't resist seeing if they had NOTCOT available ~ and then debating whether to get some... it'd look pretty crazy to have your own ex-neon sign graveyard... mis matched reincarnated letters all LED'd out?
So what happens? "When company signs and logos are taken down, they get demolished. We recycle the characters into individual design objects. We dismantle the letters, clean them up, add a new transformer, LED lights and the power cord, and put them back together." See some of the stunning photography on the next page!
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I have a thing for messenger bags and a fascination with bags made of out unexpected recycled materials (i think it started with Freitag in high school) ~ and throughout the life of NOTCOT, we've looked at so many... from truck tarps to sea sails to parachutes to jackets and more... but when i spotted this at Springwise, i did a double, triple, quadruple take...
Zirkeltraining ~ is a german line of bags, wallets, laptop sleeves, etc made from recycled vintage 1950's gymnastics equipment... from pummel horses to floor mats to rescue nets... with some truck tarps thrown in as well... Their photography is also eery but captivating... and the whole thing fascinated me until someone mentioned how many crotches have been on 1950's pummel horse leather... but still... i had to share it with you... so see more pictures on the next page!
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TO WIN: Leave a comment over at Delight ~ Tell us about how YOU go green! ENTER BY 12/1 . WINNER: Mahrinah in California!
Happy Thanksgiving! Since i might be tied up a bit, thought i'd get this one up early for those of you looking for things to do and win between the festivities, or those of you who may be stuck at work... or black friday hunting... or... well, here! Giveaway #11 is from our good friends at Delight - They have a new deal every day, and quite the arsenal of incredible gifts, and gorgeous gift wrap! I always loved the clean look of an ivory white ribbon on a brown box... and now they've even come up with a great eco-friendly gift wrap, all the goodies tied up in a reusable RuMe bag! (So smart, its such a nice idea!) So what is this big Thanksgiving giveaway? Basically the ultimate green goody basket!!! Well, they call it the Eco-Delightful GET GREEN Gift Set - and its got about 50 things in there! If you count the pencils and lollipops separately... you can check my math on the next page... as well as see each and every product included! Some highlights ~ another chance to win the I Am Not A Paper Cup, the fun Twist sponges that have packaging that turns into bird feeders, reusable bags of multiple sorts, stainless steel water bottle, and more!
P.S.
Don't forget ~ for this one, please Leave a comment over at Delight ~ Tell us about how YOU go green!
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Oooh, on things i'm slightly kicking myself for now... i was just in Sephora today and gave in to one of those packaging influenced spontaneous splurges... Jurlique's new Biodynamic line is GORGEOUS! The packaging is just beautiful ~ in that high quality bottles, beautiful curves, unique yet functional, frosted glass kind of way... and all of their inserts and boxes are 100% post-consumer recycled paper... the sampler kit of the new lines come in what appear to be egg cartons at first - which are also 100% recyclable.... not to mention their products are all natural, made from plants and flowers from their South Australian farms.
The part i'm kicking myself over? I knew it sounded familiar! A quick search through email reminded me that this is the exact line i missed a bbq launch event for in Hollywood at the infamous Hillhaven Lodge, which is the kind of place filled with hollywood legends - originally home to Ingrid Bergman - and currently home to Brett Ratner - who had the photography book Hilhaven Lodge: The Photo Booth Pictures showing pages of fun hollywood types in photo booth pics... (my excuse is that i got caught up in san diego!) Basically, i hate to admit that sometimes PR folks know exactly what types of products fit perfectly with my tastes before i do, because when i wandered through Sephora i couldn't resist playing with every product in the Jurlique Biodynamic line, and ended up picking the sampler with all the adorable scaled down minis and the fabulous egg carton-esque packaging to photograph and share with you.
Also... while i've only just started trying it out, the all natural line feels incredibly refreshing and light, and i guess i'll find out by morning how my skin responds to it! Take a look at the many pics on the next page, there's something so nice about the shape of the glass bottles they've designed.
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Random discoveries at Outside Lands include the City Bag Trade ~ Kendra Stanley takes old rain jackets and refashions them into grocery bags... while i'm a bit mixed on the pattern design (which is also downloadable) and the visible edge stitching ~ i do love the material and concept... best part of using rain jackets, other than the lightweight and crazy vintage/recycled logos? Functional Pockets! I gave in and got a NASA one with two button pockets AND a zip pocket! It's a bit large on me though, might have to do some hacking to taking the handles up an inch or so... See more pics on the next page!
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Charcoal can be messy stuff... luckily for us dynamic design duo, Mike and Maaike, have tackled this process with their new Baja BBQ Firepack for Design Annex/Lazzari. The design of the packaging as a recycled, functional aspect of the process is just genius.
"The Baja BBQ Firepack is charcoal packaging that lights instantly and burns away in the grille, making the barbeque experience simple, clean and chemical free. Made from 100% recycled biodegradable paper pulp, the package contains 2 lbs of natural lump charcoal and features an integrated chimney that creates perfect hot coals in 15-20 minutes without the aid of chemicals or lighter fluid. Available at gourmet supermarkets. Manufactured by Lazzari/ Design Annex - patent pending" See the process in pics on the next page...
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I think this is the most interesting Reusable Bag story yet... Target teams up with Newsweek and Terracycle to create reusable totes out of fused target plastic bags! Finally - a recycled reusable bag that looks like the bags it came from and is replacing! And that's not all... the Newsweek aspect is fascinating as well - you rip off the cover of the latest "green" issue, and are taught how to tape up the cover into a prepaid envelope that you can put Target plastic bags in, and mail them in for a coupon to get one of the Terracycle $6 ReTotes for free in a Target Store. Basically the bags end up feeling much like those blue/yellow IKEA bags ~ a bit on the crunchy side, and probably waterproof (with the exception of the seam perhaps. See the press release here.
So in usual NOTCOT fashion, we couldn't help ourselves, and picked up an issue, took a few sneaky shots in Target of the display, and walk you through the whole process in pictures on the next page! I suppose my one biggest question is... these bags made in Vietnam, are they actually out of bags people have recycled? Or did they use new bags to make the first batch of bags to get this whole program rolling?
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While at CA Boom V, the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery had a booth with a mesmerizing series of Butterfly Installations by Paul Villinski. Apparently he is quite the recontextualist of found objects... transforming found gloves into dresses and comforters, wheelchairs and radio flyers into planes, and my favorite - beer cans into butterflies which when installed appear to be flying and fluttering with every breeze. Villinski's site describes this collection: "These pieces explore themes of transformation and recovery through the metamorphosis of crushed beer cans from the streets of New York into flocks of realistically crafted butterflies." See close ups of the CA Boom installation and others after the jump!
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"Mottainai Furoshiki" has been created by Yuriko Koike, Japan's Minister of the Environment, as a symbol of Japanese culture to reduce waste. Furoshiki is a Japanese traditional wrapping cloth which is used repeatedly in a stylish way. "The utilization of this "Mottainai Furoshiki" will contribute to reducing household waste from plastic bags. The Minister presented the "Mottainai Furoshiki" at the Senior Officials Meeting on the 3R Initiative held in Tokyo, Japan on March 6-8, 2006."
In the words of Minister Koike herself: "I've created what you might call a "mottainai furoshiki". The Japanese word mottainai means it's a shame for something to go to waste without having made use of its potential in full. The furoshiki is made of a fiber manufactured from recycled PET bottles, and has a birds-and-flowers motif drawn by Itoh Jakuchu, a painter of the mid-Edo era. The Japanese wrapping cloth known as the furoshiki is said to have been first used in the Muromachi Period(1392-1573), when people spread it out in place of a bath mat or wrapped one's clothes with it. The furoshiki is so handy that you can wrap almost anything in it regardless of size or shape with a little ingenuity by simply folding it in a right way. It's much better than Plastic bags you receive at supermarkets or wrapping paper, since it's highly resistant, reusable and multipurpose. In fact, it's one of the symbols of traditional Japanese culture, and puts an accent on taking care of things and avoiding wastes."
Perhaps what i need isn't a reusable bag... well i'm not sure how well i could do this for a BAG of groceries anyhow, but certain for gift wrap it opens up my options! Time to stock up on everything from Hermes scarves to fabric store scraps? See the chart of how to fold the designs after the jump. (Thanks, Craig!)
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In getting ready for another new year (Yay! 2008! I have no idea why i'm so excited for this one.) ~ just rediscovered this party popper chandelier by Stuart Haygarth, who collected up 1000 exploded party poppers on 01.01.00 after the MIllenium celebrations in London. Each popper is individually hung, and apparently create quite the organic swarm when hit (be it by a breeze or a bat). If he seems familiar, perhaps you've also seen some of his other found object chandeliers... like the one out of sun glasses? (images below!)
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I just got the sweetest email from Claire Sambrook, a senior lecturer of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Portsmouth, and i'm not sure why, but i think its refreshing to have someone sharing their student's work! I've had so many conversations recently about how there must be so many great student projects going unshown simply because they don't know how to market themselves, or are shy and maybe don't have much of an internet presence. Anyhow, she's shared this interesting "Perfect Perch" by 22 year old James Chu, a third year student in product design. His goal is to fill a need for "portable, cheap, lightweight and eco-friendly furniture" and he's thinking ahead already to all of the branding opportunities for these “Somewhere like Goodwood Racecourse could commission 1,000 carrying their name or a sponsor’s message and people could use them at the racecourse and then take them home afterwards. They would make excellent souvenirs.” The chairs have gone into production thanks to Hemingway Design and the South Coast Design Forum.
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On fun mysterious emails i get with great design pics, this one just showed up. I grew up being shown images of how you shouldn't throw away these plastic rings that hold 6 packs of cans together without cutting them up because dolphins and seagulls would die in them, etc... Well it looks like Adam Johnston has found a great use for them! (Although it doesn't look like you should sit on this one naked, or in short shorts, b/c this would leave quite an impression)
Kate Van Zele "Visited a design student friend of mine this weekend at the University of Cincinnati and was introduced to his newly designed chair. I’m convinced the underlying reason was for the beer, he holds tight to the environmental and sustainability story. Made of 6 pack rings that decompose after 3 months in direct sunlight, and the frame can be deconstructed to apply another layer of rings when needed. Seems like a good use of reinventing a common object with a new application."
UPDATE: check out the Hammock!
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Confession of the day: i totally google and google blogsearch 'notcot' (and tastespotting and notcouture) and get giddy when i find links and mentions to NOTCOT that are adorable, or from sites and people I end up totally hooked on. It is a guilty pleasure that people claim you'll get bored of, but that's such a lie. It just gets more exciting ~ especially all of the different languages, and its actually part of how i discover some incredible sites and designers. So today's find that has me grinning like an idiot?
Mari Santos does magical things with giant tshirts... i found this DIYThing interview with her about her, her life, her inspiration, her Urban OutFitters Urban Renewal Project - "Urban was looking for 20 artist/designers to work on some pieces for their Urban Renewal line, so I submitted some of my designs to them. A couple of days later, I received an email asking me if I’d be interested in working with them–I said yes, of course. I’ll be customizing some sweaters for their Urban Renewal Artist Customized project, and they’ll be sold in select Urban stores sometime during the holidays, so I’m really excited." (CONGRATS!)
Basically - long story short - she mentions her love of NOTCOT.org in her interview, and then i also noticed she links us on her page as well! All of which i noticed after completely falling for how adorable her Tshirt surgeries are (see her Urban Renewal Entry page)... and i'm so blown away i had to share it with you... more that i love below.
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Waste ~ Barcelona based company recycles automotive interiors for handmade bean bags of sorts.... designs reminiscent of Fatboy and Sumo Lounge. "Waste recycles discarded automotive upholstery to produce unique and limited-edition products. Ideally, no waste would be produced, but as it is, we are committed to transforming the reality of waste into something positive." via TreeHugger.
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Fahrer stands for Mobility, and appeal to my love of things made from recycled truck tarps, boat covers, etc... (see my extensive Recycled Bags List). These "MeinBands" by Berlin company Fahrer are a great new take on reflective bands and straps to keep your pants from getting caught/dirtied while biking, etc. (via BigChief)
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TO WIN: 
