Another DIY / repurposing idea that’s for the birds:
Why not turn an old paint can or coffee can into a birdfeeder?
(Of course, it doesn’t have to be as elaborate as the examples pictured!)
For a brief tutorial, see this Lowe’s Creative Ideas post.
![DIY / repurposing idea du jour:
Old boot screwed onto a tree or a fence = new bird house.
For additional bird house, feeder, and other bird-related posts, browse through this subset of the Unconsumption archive.
[Photo spotted on Facebook here, thanks to friend Jim Mitchem. Source apparently is Livesay Photography. (Kudos to photographers who add watermarks to their photos!)]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/47ce0672717594a3ee5f0ba862bd9912/tumblr_mhag1wVdeP1qzv12bo1_400.jpg)
DIY / repurposing idea du jour:
Old boot screwed onto a tree or a fence = new bird house.
For additional bird house, feeder, and other bird-related posts, browse through this subset of the Unconsumption archive.
[Photo spotted on Facebook here, thanks to friend Jim Mitchem. Source apparently is Livesay Photography. (Kudos to photographers who add watermarks to their photos!)]
For his MFA Thesis Exhibit last September, Pennsylvania artist James McNabb created a beautiful collection of architectural wonders using discarded wood. He describes his process as “sketching with a band saw,” and says initial intent was not to build skylines, but instead began with the creation of the individual wooden pieces which resembled tools or other strangely familiar objects.
After he built nearly 250 of them in a day they collectively began to resemble a miniature city. You can see many more works from the exhibition on his website.
(via Sketching with a Band Saw: James McNabb’s Scrap Wood Cityscapes | Colossal)
The washing-machine-drum firepit:
It’s a super-easy project and the design of the washing machine drum is perfect for a fire. Its small holes around the drum not only allow for oxygen flow to the fire but also make for a pretty light show. Joe added some welded feet to ours and painted it black but if you omit the extra features you can make this in an hour or less. It couldn’t be easier.
Materials we used:
- 1 Recycled Washing Machine Drum (we got ours at a used appliance store for $10)
- Angle grinder (optional)
- Cup wire brush, Cut-off wheel, and Flap-wheel sanding disc (for grinder, also optional)
- Safety Glasses
- Angle-stock and Flat-stock steel (optional)
- High heat black paint (optional)
Instructions and more: $10 DIY One Hour Upcycled Firepit | House & Fig
Fast is a verb that means to ‘abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink, especially as a religious observance.’ But I am quite sure the message of this dream wasn’t about food. Especially since my father is on plane that doesn’t require traditional sustenance. So here’s what came to me—a ‘market fast’ is the act starving unconscious consumption.
Keep reading here: Modern Fasting: From Tech to Consumption, the Age-Old Act of Cleansing Remains Relevant | Health on GOOD
The recently launched Amsterdam brand Ikku takes recycled denim and canvas and turns them into eco-friendly cases and sleeves for your laptops, iPads, and iPhones.
(via Recycled Denim & Canvas Tech Cases by Ikku - Design Milk)
The Young Architects Program at MoMA invites emerging studios to propose a temporary installation that can host the summer events of the PS1 Contemporary Art Centre.
CODA’s winning proposal, entitled Party Wall, is for a linear structure that will incorporate events spaces, seating areas, stages and projections areas, as well as pools of water that will function as “cooling stations”….
The interlocking cladding panels will be made from wooden offcuts donated by a skateboard manufacturer and some of them will be removable and used to build tables and benches.
“CODA’s proposal was selected because of its clever identification and use of locally available resources - the waste products of skateboard-making - to make an impactful and poetic architectural statement within MoMA PS1’s courtyard,” said MoMA curator Pedro Gadanho.
The Glad Cafe: Glasgow.
City streets the world over are overflowing with coffee shops, cafes and bistros that cater to people’s unquenchable thirst for caffeine and cake. Yet, finding a green cafe is often a little harder, so we wanted to give you a taste of a new place Inhabitat visited in Glasgow, Scotland which is a great example of a sustainable cafe space.
The Glad Cafe opened in August and it’s brimming with up-cycled green designs. The completed space is a welcoming creative hub that aims to bring together the diverse cultural communities in the Southside of Glasgow through music, art, theatre and coffee!
Photograph by Patrick Jamieson
RCA graduate Gaspard Tiné-Berès and super craftsman Tristan Kopp… are on a mission to clear landfill sites of small appliances by transforming old glass parts and cork into new, very beautifully designed toasters and kettles.
More here: It’s Nice That : So clever – check out Gaspard Tiné-Berès beautiful, recycled kitchen appliances!
The NYT reports:
Primitive staples-and-glue residue will be the subject of a lecture on Wednesday at the New York Ceramics Fair, “Simply Riveting: A Look at Broken and Mended Ceramics,” by Angelika Kuettner, a curator at Colonial Williamsburg.
The brief article — here: Repaired China, the Potter John Bennett, Schoolgirl Rugs - NYTimes.com — brings up some interesting thoughts around mended goods and value. It also mentions:
Since the 1980s the Ames Gallery in Berkeley, Calif., has offered a category of objects called “mends and make-dos.” The owner, Bonnie Grossman, is writing a book about them.
We’ll keep an eye out for that — great subject!
Several times in the past, we’ve noted guns/bullets/gun parts/weapons being repurposed. But this is a particularly interesting example:
Newark Mayor Cory Booker promoted his jewelry line, “The Caliber Collection,” Thursday night on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show. The bracelets are made from metal “from 250 guns and bullet casings seized by the Newark Police Department” as part of the city’s gun buy-back program, according to the line’s website.
(via Cory Booker Is Melting Guns And Turning Them Into Bracelets)
Thx: Marc!
Tech's Over-Sharing Economy - WSJ.com
We’ve certainly dealt with the “sharing economy” and collaborative consumption and similar ideas here in the past. But interesting to read this recent assessment in the Wall Street Journal:
What Internet companies and investors are dubbing the share economy: niche marketplaces for things that get cheaper when people use them together. Lately Internet startups have, in all earnestness, set up businesses to “share” pet care, wedding gowns, child rearing and more.
Got some lousy holiday presents? Re-gift them at Yerdle.com, which describes itself as “a magical place where people share things with friends.”
Like leftovers? MamaBake.com lets you cook and trade dishes with other moms. Need a new dress? Try 99dresses Inc., an online marketplace where people sell their old dresses for “buttons,” or virtual currency that allows them to buy more dresses from other users. It could be ridiculous—or the next big thing.
