Besides recycling, there are many things to be done with the items we discard. I grew up with a very resourceful and imaginative mother, who thought of crafts for us such as making holiday “reindeer” out of the palm fronds that were trimmed from the trees in our Southern California beach town. Since she was a teacher, Mom would bring home all kinds of cool things to do and make, and then she’d take what we had done to her classroom as examples. So, I have warm fuzzies for any product that makes good use of recycled or reused materials. Uncommon Goods, a website for, well, uncommon goods, has a whole section for recycled items.
These super-cute tumblers are a good example. They’re made from old wine and soda bottles by cutting off the top part (though I don’t know how) and adding the hip dot design. Also cute is the typewriter necklace, which I’ve been coveting for a while. (For the guys, the typewriter cufflinks are awesome.) What really caught my eye, though, was this lovely scarf made from recycled wool sweaters. You would never know it was a recycled product, and I could actually see myself wearing it.
These products are living proof that “earth friendly” doesn’t have to mean “tie-dyed beyond all recognition”. I don’t love all of the recycled products on the site, in fact some are downright weird. Like, are earrings made from old scrabble letters really necessary? But there are definitely some winners here, so it’s worth looking around.
Good design can incorporate good values, and vice versa. By making recycled products beautiful and useful, companies can dispel the currently-held myths about what recycled looks like.
{ 0 comments… add one now }