Of all the ideas for dealing with the Great...

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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.

10:33 am - Thu, Aug 30, 2012: 46 notes

Of all the ideas for dealing with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, this one may be closest to home — turn it into furniture. Until sea drones can be built to hoover it all up, this is as good a solution as any.
The U.K.-based artists at Studio Swine eventually want to capture bits of plastic where they float in the ocean, recycling them on-site into furniture or bringing them to shore for recycling and further use. Until then, they’ve come up with a system to use plastic that has washed up on shore.

More: Sea Chair Project Collects Ocean Plastic Garbage to Make Stylish Sitting Stools | Popular Science
Although this seems familiar, it does not appear we’ve posted about it here before. (If I’ve missed it in our archives, forgive me!) We have posted many items relating to the Pacific Garbage Patch. And we’ve mentioned Studio Swine here, and its SwineBlog here.

High-Res

Of all the ideas for dealing with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, this one may be closest to home — turn it into furniture. Until sea drones can be built to hoover it all up, this is as good a solution as any.

The U.K.-based artists at Studio Swine eventually want to capture bits of plastic where they float in the ocean, recycling them on-site into furniture or bringing them to shore for recycling and further use. Until then, they’ve come up with a system to use plastic that has washed up on shore.

More: Sea Chair Project Collects Ocean Plastic Garbage to Make Stylish Sitting Stools | Popular Science

Although this seems familiar, it does not appear we’ve posted about it here before. (If I’ve missed it in our archives, forgive me!) We have posted many items relating to the Pacific Garbage Patch. And we’ve mentioned Studio Swine here, and its SwineBlog here.