Floating Garden by Duende

It's not surprising that fish are one of the most popular pets. This floating garden cleans the fish tank as well;

'The fish tank is a microcosm that reflects human concerns: within the finite space of its architecture the main issue that conditions the well-being of its inhabitants is waste management. 'Floating Garden' by Benjamin Graindorge and Duende Studio brings an innovative solution to the daily maintenance constraints of freshwater aquariums with a filtering system that is 100% natural: a cushion of sand + plants that adapts to each and every model. Its recycling principle based on hydroponics does away with the chore of regular water changes and proposes a new domestic- scale typology, between the decorative glass vase and the water purifying plant.'

Boris Bally

A quick look at the website of Boris confirms two things; He's been around for a while and made many wonderful things.....and a quick look simply won't be long enough.

I love the experimental work such as this lamp made from a recycled hard hat and old plumbing. Kind of looks like a pumpkin on a stick at first glance. Beats Ikea.

BTW, so sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been travelling for my day job as a photographer. Promise not to go awol for quite so long again.

Renew Newcastle

A great initiative happening in Newcastle, Australia...called Renew Newcastle.
Also tipped to include an 'Upcycling' store by Nick Nelson inspired by the Cool Green Stuff book.
'Renew Newcastle has been established to find short and medium term uses for buildings in Newcastle's CBD that are currently vacant, disused, or awaiting redevelopment.
Renew Newcastle aims to find artists, cultural projects and community groups to use and maintain these buildings until they become commercially viable or are redeveloped.
Renew Newcastle was founded to help solve the problem of Newcastle's empty CBD. While the long term prospects for the redevelopment of Newcastle's CBD are good, in the meantime many sites are boarded up, falling apart, vandalised or decaying because they are is no short term for use them and no one taking responsibility for them.
Renew Newcastle has been set up to clean up these buildings and get the city active and used again.'
A lateral thinking repurposing exercise with many benefits.

Utopian Creations

I really like the word 'upcycle' which is the practise of this Australian jewelry designer, Utopian Creations.

Not just recycling into same same, or repurposing, but creating something of greater value, 'moving it up in the resource chain away from the rubbish tip'.

Silver and copper is extracted from X-ray film and mobile phones to create beautiful contemporary pieces.

It's true, we don't exactly NEED jewelry, but most of us love it and if it can be made in this way then there's no reason we can't all be shiny and happy.

Reddish Studio

Some more cool work from Reddish

'Louis 900 is a series of lamps made by the use of antique furniture legs from various periods and origins. A simple set of actions transforms each antique leg into a contemporary light.Although sharing the same minimalist structure, the different antique styles add their own story to the final design.'

And another fantastic Menorah; 'Menorah is made of old candlesticks from around the world. These rescued candlesticks, which once played an important part in different family ceremonies, are now reused and united to form a candelabrum. The different parts of the Menorah are now sharing their life stories.'

Stuart Haygarth

People often ask me, especially journos, who my favourite creator is from the Cool Green Stuff book. I could sit on the fence and say, 'there are so many wonderful designers I really can't choose'...but I will say I was tickled pink when told that Stuart Haygarth's 'Millennium Chandelier' would be on the cover of the UK version of the book (called Cool Hunting Green in non-US markets).

This is another creation from Stuart, called 'Spectacle', created in 2006. Stuart's website says; 'Spectacle is created from over 1000 pairs of prescription spectacles which are linked together to resemble a traditional tiered chandelier. By using prescriptive spectacles which were once an essential tool for seeing an interesting analogy is drawn between their old and new purposes. A mirror ball light effect is produced as the light is refracted through the several layers of lenses.'

Sculp(IT)

Pieter Peerlings & Silvia Mertens of Sculp(IT) in Antwerp, Belgium, have created this space from not very much space at all. Wedged between two city buildings and comprising only 60sqm of living space, they have managed to create somewhat of a statement about how much space not to use when developing accommodation.

There is even a bathtub on the roof! Remind me to drop in to Antwerp to see this one day.

Buster Simpson

You've gotta check out the fruits of this guy's thought patterns. This is one of Buster Simpson's creations as part of the Growing Vine Street project in Seattle.

He's been around a while and you can easily kill an hour or so admiring his past and present creations.

Aquaduct Bike

Unicef says 1.1 billion people around the world lack access to safe water sources.

Enter the Aquaduct water purification bike. 'a pedal-powered concept vehicle that transports, filters, and stores water. It is designed to address water sanitation and transportation in the developing world.'

I get really excited when someone comes up with the technological advances that are so beautiful in their simplicity. A combination of innovation and common sense seems to be required to address these major issues...not one or the other in isolation.

My only question is how thirsty does one get peddling the bike? Hopefully not so thirsty that all the water is drunk on the journey!

Green Dot Awards

The 2008 winners have been announced for the Green Dot Awards. This is the first Green Dots to take place and entries are already open for the 2009 awards (with an earlybird discount in place)

The awards ceremony from the 2008 awards (for which I was a jury member) is on Earthday, April 22nd from 6-8pm in LA (see Green Dot website for details). There are some awesome winners and, well a pretty good standard all around even for those who didn't quite get up this year.

I applaud.

Cool Green Stuff website

Just a reminder to keep submitting for the new Cool Green Stuff website www.coolgreenstuff.net We'll launch in the next couple of weeks, hopefully.

The registration fee proved to be unpopular, and since we are here 'for the people', we've dropped it in favour of getting a good range of awesome stuff on the site.

Email me at hello@coolgreenstuff.net or david@eaststreet.com.au if you need any details.

Liana Kabel

I met the lovely Liana at the 2007 Queensland ARC Art, Design & Craft Biennial. She has quite possibly my favourite 'slogan' of all time, 'If it looks like a lolly, I like it'. And all her creations do indeed look like lollies, and don't we love them.

Well known for her jewelry creations from knitting needles, among other things. Her latest blog post shows her latest 'score' of knitting needles..Liana says, 'I think I sometimes forget how much time this side of things can take. '

Nanimarquina

I find such lateral thinking green statements quite delightful.

This is the 'global warming rug' by nanimarquina. From Spain, these guys have been around for a couple of decades.

Such a powerful statement from minimal design, and hard to ignore in the centre of any room.

More Cool Green Stuff

The next book in the series, called More Cool Green Stuff is coming along nicely. Keep sending in submissions...looks like being published mid-year. Email us hello@coolgreenstuff.net for info on submitting.

To those who made it into Cool Green Stuff I hope it's been a help to you all for a bit of promo.

Notschlock

Josh Korwin and Alyssa Zukas say “As Jews, or members of any faith for that matter, we should not have to subscribe to a particular aesthetic,” Korwin says. “I think that notschlock allows us to maintain a connection to our cultural heritage without losing our unique identity. We can be Jews and artists without necessarily being ‘Jewish artists.’”

Cutting edge menorahs for Hanukkah and we love the repurposed twist. Their range has expanded considerably since I last laid eyes on their work…evidently the inventive “Man-orah” has struck a chord. They’ve also created a black steel version, the "Ma-noir-ah." It's sleek, edgy, and a bit more mysterious than its brighter brother.

rodrigo alonso

Now for something hot from Chile (so sorry, more bad puns to come). New work from Rodrigo getting it right with the ingenuity/style balance yet again. Rodrigo presents the N+EW Light, stands for 'No More Electronic Waste'.

Rodrigo says, "This creation is a beautiful object due to its extreme honesty and perfect randomness. Almost an example where error transforms itself in the final search and perfection. N+EW light is is produced by rotomolding, where low density plastic is mixed with the plastic of the crushed electronic waste shaping an irreverent diffuser molded in an also recycled iron matrix. Its base is produced with smelted aluminum of beer and drink tins amongst others. Together they form this 32 x 32 x 32 cm piece. Mixture of technology and industrial processes, the chance of the shaken plastic pieces in a 300 degrees celcius furnace and a hand made completion, give an almost artisan character and importance to an object created with what we all throw without remedy to the trash can."

Love it.

margaux lange

I know, I know...this blog has been a long time coming. I've finally had a chance to sit down over the Australian summer and get things going.

First up I wanted to post on one of my favourite repurposing revelations, by all accounts taking the world by storm. Yes folks, it's Margaux Lange and her wonderful jewelry creations. I wonder if she was the kid in the playground who hacked up dolls for fun? On the contrary her work seems strangely beautiful and always, well, just plain interesting.