Art Birds

I picked up the book 'Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science and Evolution' by David Rothenberg today at the lovely Ben McNally bookshop on Bay in Toronto.  In reading it on the long train ride back, I have learned that there is a little bird called the Bowerbird, that makes assemblage art in order to attract a mate.  What the best part is, each type of bowerbird makes a unique shape, and prefers different colours and materials for decoration.  What a wonderful thing to learn on a rainy Monday.

biopolymers out of everything?

I try to stay attuned to what's going on with biopolymers and a few things have popped out recently in regards to new functional options. In the past week I got some information about biopolymers made out of chicken feathers (though I thought I might have seen this one before). And a new funding for 'spider silk' biopolymer implementation. If only I could get my designer hands on some of those materials - AMAZING - absolutely AMAZING!

All of the news including Pepsi's 100% biopolymer bottle have given me great hope for the industry - I'm certainly hoping its not a passing trend, but creates sustainable options for the future of materials.

The photo above is some of my preliminary bioplastic research back in 2007 - I can't believe its been that long!

Project Inspirations

In trying to figure out an economical method for storing all of my imaginary materials - I came across this image from Ferm Living:

Now it may not look like much at the moment, but I have a plan. My favorite thing to buy when I have cash in my wallet are empty wine crates from the local SAQ. They are beautiful wood, and they sell them for a very small sum of money for charity.

Step 1: Buy crates - use an oil rub to make them the same colour as the ones in the picture, and then line with some sort of textile - I think plain muslin or canvas should be sufficient for this project.

Step 2: Get them set up like this - or think about how this can be translated into a drawer type structure

Green Products Innovation Institute

I wish the Green Products Innovation Institute was a real place where I could go and study... but I guess it is in its own way... Basically, its seemingly the next step in Cradle-to-Cradle in the creation of a more holistic design economy. It is seemingly being implemented in California in order to create a 'sustainable economy' (sorry for the quotation marks, but I had to - I believe everything to do with sustainability needs to come with quotation marks). Pretty awesome, and I can't wait until the toxicity database is ready to be perused....

I was away...

Sorry... I've been away in oh so many senses it seems. I was on the West Coast for the OLYMPICS and to be around for the birth of my nephew (whom I love and adore). While I was gone, I spent lots of time making things, but strangely I forgot to take pictures... or maybe not so strangely (how very much like me to forget to document). I did take a lovely little day trip to Salt Spring Island and was truly enthralled with the beautiful textures of the forest. The pictures below are a few I managed to eek out of my little camera.

Textiles CAN save the world

Often when talking about sustainability and textiles, I often get the feeling that others believe the impact of textiles isn't big enough in order to require more thought past organic/fairtrade/reused/recycled or shared. Of course I beg to differ, and often cite the many sins of textile industries, and the impact of production, transport, use and disposal, and that the textile industry is not just big - but GIANT, and has the power and capabilities of contributing solutions for not just fashion, but many other industries, including architecture, agriculture, transportation, and many more I can't recall at the moment. I came across an article today in Azure of something I've heard of before, but had forgotten about, and I'm glad to have found it again. It is the solar harvesting textiles created by Sheila Kenndey and Frano Violich. They have been working on the creation of viable energy harvesting solutions using window blinds, and other surfaces, and worked on Portable Light Project, and are now working on a larger scale, looking at powering entire structures using their technology. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to get her hands on a bit to play with... This is such a lovely and feasible and implementable technology - if only we could get more ideas and technology!

A new blog, and a place I want to go...

My darling friend Chloe made me aware of this lovely blog - Pruned... and in their posts I found this... International Garden Festival at Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens. I want to go! The drive is so very long, but oh how lovely....

Material Database!

I love materials... Rematerialise is all about Eco Smart Materials from Kingston University (UK Kingston, not Canada Kingston). Thanks Sarah for the link!

Green Xchange

Creative Commons is going GIANT. They are making a patent networking platform for sustainability in partnership with Nike and BestBuy. How cool is this. Thanks to Worldchanging for the report!!! I want a patent now, so I can share it. Thank you to here for the nice image of kids with ice cream... now I want ice cream too...

10 Big, Really Hard Things We Can Do to Save the Planet

So I personally am really annoyed with the 'little' things that are supposedly going to save the world. I'm pretty sure just boiling one cup of water everytime you make a cup of tea isn't going to save the world. And the language that goes with this movement is rather ridiculous - one of the sayings that really bugs me is 'do your bit', which is borrowed from the propaganda for war time sacrifices. This movement cannot be about little sacrifices and small annoyances for the 'good' of the environment, it will never work. So I really liked this list from Worldchanging. Its about some hard stuff we are going to have to do. I'll start on Empowering Women, and something that isn't on there, material sustainability, and you take stabilizing the bottom billion, let me know how that goes.

Book Report

I read a book! It felt nice to just sit and read something on sustainability. So here's the book I read... Mid-course Correction by Ray C. Anderson. Good book - more like a giant case study - but simply written and all about the success of greening his company Interface (they make carpet). One pearl of wisdom I wanted to remember is to always ask "And then What?", when it comes to the byproducts of any design and its end of life.

Bioplastic Info

And I was going to make a website about bioplastics. Thank goodness I didn't. It already exists - now all they have to do is make it a bit more user friendly... and dare I say... more beautiful...

PLA Info

Here is some info on PLA - I <3 bioplastics! Looks like a good overarching article!

Leaving a trail of crumbs

I want one!!! First I would need a bike though. How utterly intriguing to leave a beautiful trail of your path, could turn out to be a bit creepy - dependant on the colour someone could follow you. I also wonder about the sustainability of random chalk paths on the road/sidewak/bike path. And the blue and greens? Do they contain heavy metal colourants? And as truly a useless but fun gadget is it just adding to the mountains of stuff meant to 'green the world'? So many questions. Created by Studio Gelardi - you can check out more information here. Via coolhunting.

Igniting Change

I found this awesome initiative today via Core77... Its everything all of us at MATF are working towards each in our own little way - so its nice to see it on a bigger scale. I think we will have to become involved in some way!

oh how I love a good bit of compost!

This isn't about just any compost - but the conference Compostmodern. Treehugger has posted videos of their conference on YouTube and you can check them out here... Oh how I can't wait to dig into a good bit of green design theory.

Eco-Pretty!

I was over at Whip-up today - I haven't be over there in AGES, and I forgot how much I love it.  Now I want to make these... Maybe I should make some for my sister for Christmas... I'm thinking they would be gorgeous painted as well.  The instructions can be found here - from esprit cabane...

Michael Braungart Lecture and my scanner is broken...

How exciting its is to go to lectures by people you hold in high regard. I recently got the opportunity to go to a lecture put on by the Design Council and MADE at the RSA featuring Michael Braungart. I was so glad to have been able to go. I often use Cradle and Cradle principles as a starting point for my design process - thinking about how things could be better. I've scanned in my notes for any of you who might want to read them. I must say so many things stand out as being little gems of wisdom - I think my favourite is "[sustainable design is] not about being less bad but more good" - if that make any sense out of context. PS - my scanner is broken so the notes have had to be slightly touched up in photoshop. The pic above is a raw scan of the cover of my notebook - kind of interesting I must say.

Another Book Report

Well I just found my notes on a book I read awhile back... In The Bubble by John Thackara. I have TONS of notes on this one. They were lost for awhile (they got tucked in with souvenirs from Romania). Really an amazing book. I would have to say, its one of the most well rounded and thoughtful book that I've read so far. If you are thinking about reading something - I suggest this one. I'm not posting my notes, because there are way too many of them. I'll give away one thing, solutions will become about interconnectivity - which I'm coming to realize is extremely important. He talks about schools and colleges not just being a 'teaching place' but more a of a place that is a network of organizations - a hub at the center drawing connections between things that are seemingly unconnected. Just re-reading my notes, makes me want to read the book all over again (it was that relevant)! If you want more of his musings - I have a link to his blog on the sidebar "Doors of Perception".

Can't just be me

Its interesting working as a singular silly little designer in this silly little world. We often think about our own agenda and project our ideas onto society... which never really works. I've always been really focused on technology that can save us from ourselves, and in this last project I've really come to see that it can't be like that. It has to involve as many people as possible - with both big and small efforts. So, do something yourself, and pass it on!