In other pavement news: What do you do with five...

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Your daily source of inspiration for creative reuse and mindful consumption.

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We welcome your tips, suggestions, and feedback. Contact: unconsumption@gmail.com

[Background on, & press coverage of, Unconsumption can be found here and here.]

Consumption is a word used to describe acts of acquisition – generally, the acquisition of things, in exchange for money.

Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition.

Unconsumption is an invisible badge.

Unconsumption means the accomplishment of properly recycling your old cellphone, rather than the guilt of letting it sit in a drawer.

Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a service like Freecycle (or Craigslist, Goodwill, or Salvation Army) to find a new home for the functioning DVD player you just replaced, rather than throwing it in the garbage.

Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a pair of sneakers until they are truly worn out – as opposed to the nagging feeling of defeat when they simply go out of style.

Unconsumption means feeling good about the simple act of turning off the lights when you leave the room.

Unconsumption is not about the rejection of things, or the demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules.

Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of thinking about consumption itself from a new perspective.

Unconsumption is free.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Founder & Editor: Rob Walker, journalist, Savannah, GA

Editorial & Community Manager: Molly Block, marketing and business development geek, Houston, TX

Brian W. Jones, designer & writer, Göteborg, Sweden

Kashvi Kumar, Environmental Studies and Economics major at New York University

Deirdre Nelson, ever threading artist, Glasgow, Scotland

Shanna Trenholm, writer. catalyst. force of nature. San Diego, CA

* * *

Alumnus & Unconsumption logo creator: Clifton Burt, graphic designer, Portland, OR

Further information about Unconsumption can be found here.

5:16 pm - Tue, Mar 13, 2012: 55 notes

In other pavement news:

What do you do with five tons of old toilets? Make pavement.

In Bellingham, Washington, porcelain from 400 ground-up toilets was incorporated into sidewalk pavement, dubbed “poticrete.” Instead of ending up in a landfill, the crushed toilet pieces were used in place of approximately one dump-truck load of gravel, a.k.a. concrete aggregate.

The road construction project, which earned Greenroads certification — akin to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for buildings — also used some 80 tons of recycled concrete, helping to boost the road asphalt’s recycled content to 30%. The project also features the city of Bellingham’s first LED street lights.

More: Bellingham roadway with recycled toilets is world’s first official ‘Greenroad’ — University of Washington - washington.edu

See also: earlier Unconsumption post here on salvaged toilets made into ceramic tile.