Tag Archives: recycling

Behold, A Wedding Dress Made Out Of Newspaper

You’ve seen prom dresses fashioned with duct tape. The next DIY sartorial eyeful is a wedding dress made completely from newspaper. I can’t imagine any bride wants ink stains on her big day, but at least designer Jenna Braga proves she could hack it on one of those weird “Project Runway” challenges. And hey, if it does take off, maybe it will bail out the struggling newspaper industry! [YouTube] Keep reading »

Do Not Want: A YSL Bag Made Of Plastic Bags — For $1,720

For a while a few years ago, everywhere you looked you’d see those Anya Hindmarch “I Am Not a Plastic Bag” bags — a cheeky take on environmentalism and sustainability. Now, Yves St. Laurent has their own, rather twisted take on recycling; they’ve created a bag made from plastic bags and manufactured by artisans in Burkina Faso. And it costs $1,720. Called the “Muse Two Artisanal,” YSL says the bag show’s the company’s “commitment to innovation in design and particularly to corporate social responsibility, demonstrated in the initiative’s alliance with a non-profit women’s organization and its use of recycled materials.” But we’d like to know just how much of that immensely high sticker price is making it back to the women who made the bag. [YSL] Keep reading »

New Ford Focus Will Use Recycled Jeans For Interior Furnishings

Do you ever wonder about clothing you give away to the Goodwill? Who will wear it next? Or will it just get trashed? It would be cool to think that in your next drop-off, your blue jeans get recycled by becoming part of a car. That may sound weird, but Ford is apparently releasing a new version of its Focus model, which will use recycled denim to outfit the interior. Reports Forbes: “Each new Ford Focus will have roughly two pairs of average-sized American jeans in it. The recycled blue jeans will be used as both sound absorption material and carpet backing.” But apparently this isn’t the company’s first experience dealing with recycling and eco-friendly materials. It has already been using recycled resin and yarn for seat covers and other furnishings. We suppose making a big deal about this could be more about trying to get good press and seducing the growing class of customers looking for eco-friendly things to show off, but it still seems like a resourceful way to go. [Forbes via Good] Keep reading »

How To Recycle Your Pumpkin Carcass

Some eco-friendly ways to re-use your jack-o-lantern carcass from last night. Orange is the new green. I’m thinking vase. You? [BuzzFeed] Keep reading »

It’s A Cool Dress Made From Computer Wires, But Can You Wear It?

This dress, made from old computer wires, is by designer Tina Sparkles for the Keep Austin Beautiful Recycled Fashion Show. The “Project Runway” enthusiast in me thinks it looks awesome. But the practical side of me thinks constructing clothing that’s unwearable in the real world from repurposed “e-waste” isn’t really that green, considering how you are using resources like electricity while you make it. Sparkles calls the dress an “art project” and says it took her all summer to build. But lucky for us, she also has a book called Little Green Dresses with 50 far more practical patterns for re-used/recycled apparel. And if you’re interested in cutting back on your own “e-waste,” Sparkles offers more info on her website.

[Laughing Squid and Tina Sparkles] Keep reading »

Guess How Many Coke Bottles This Recycled Chair Is Made Of?

Check out this high-design chair, created in partnership with furniture design firm Emeco and Coca-Cola. The cute seat is made from recycled plastic Coke bottles! Care to guesstimate how many it takes to make one chair? The answer after the jump! [PSFK] Keep reading »

Reuse, Recycle And Rekn.It Old Sweaters

Rekn.it is a re-knitting service begun by graphic designer Haik Avanian. How does it work? Easy. You print a shipping label from his adorably designed website, Rekn.it, slap it on an envelope containing your old, tired sweater, and send it off to Haik. Then his mom (yup, hi mom!) transforms it into a new and “useful object” for $30—January’s “useful object” is a scarf—and then he ships it on back to you! Next month, depending on your votes, it may be an iPod cozy, cut-off gloves, or even socks. Genius, no? [Rekn.it] Keep reading »

DIY Light Brite

Sometimes the prettiest things are the simplest things—designer Anke Weiss made these light designs by making pin holes in old food packages. Are you handy with a needle? Then take a stab at your own. [Notcot.org] Keep reading »

Another Genius Use For Bubble Wrap

Bubble wrap is making a comeback, people. We’re not sure, however, if this means that we’ve regressed to childhood, or if people are getting more inventive. Either way, we had a good chuckle at the bubble wrap tie, with the plastic material hidden underneath to annoy your boss with during meetings. Now, here’s the 2010 bubble wrap calendar, which allows you to keep track of the date by popping a bubble each day.

The only problem is … how can you pop just one? Guess this is a Zen practice in discipline as well. [Gizmodo] Keep reading »

One Person’s Trash Is Another Person’s … Shrunken Head?

Paris-born artist Junior Fritz Jacquet has figured out a unique way to give new life to old toilet paper rolls. In an effort to keep the cardboard cores from clogging landfills, Jacquet turns them into eco-art through a series of intricate origami-like folds, enhanced with layers of richly colored paint and varnish. The result is something like a shrunken head, reminiscent of the faces one might see on a totem pole. What do you think of this kind of crafty recycling? [via Greenwala] Keep reading »