Top Trash
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ, German only) published an article on space junk. The shocking image is an eye opener.
Humankind continues to repeat the mistake of strewing waste into common spaces (no pun intended) without a thought to the consequences, leaving costs we don’t want to pay today for the future generations. The FAS article spurred curiosity, leading us to find even more spectacular video and potential solutions to the problem.
The ESA Space Debris Accumulation video depicts the tragic build up of space debris from 1957 through 2000. According to ESA’s resident space debris expert, Walter Flury, the 10,000 pieces of space litter catalogued at the end of 2003 break into the following categories:
- 41% — miscellaneous fragments
- 22% — old spacecraft
- 13% — mission related objects
- 7% — operational spacecraft
- 7% — rocket bodies
Doing the math, that is 93% pure junk and only 7% useful satellites circling the earth. More disturbing, 50,000 uncatalogued objects larger than 1 cm (the largest size which modern shielding can likely deflect) are estimated to be spinning through space at hypervelocities.
So what can be done? Guidelines do exist, published by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). The guidelines limit creation of debris in normal operations, and promote “disposal” either by deorbiting junk back towards earth, where it usually burns up in the atmosphere, or by putting space junk into “graveyard” orbits above the commercially important low-Earth and geostationary orbit zones. But more needs to be done. Via Tree Hugger
On earth fortunately, there are huge supporters of the trash-to-treasure approach to design. Using repurposed, discarded, and recycled materials is not only eco-friendly and gives new life to seemingly useless material, but provides an interesting critique on modern consumer-based culture and individual value systems. In that spirit, here are five favorite chairs made from trash, reused materials, and other such refuse.
1. A LA LATA LOUNGER : by Carlos Alberto Montana Hoyos Carlos Alberto Montana Hoyos’ sleekly styled lounge chair is a feat of both recycling and hand-crafted construction. Meticulously assembled using 1739 recycled aluminum can tabs, Hoyos’ unique lounge chair incorporates traditional handicraft techniques with cutting-edge contemporary design.
2. RD4 CHAIR by Richard G. Liddle/Cohda Designs
Combining green design sensibility and the freehand aesthetic of an architect’s sketch (RD stands for ‘roughly drawn’), Richard G. Liddle’s magnificent RD4 Chair is made from 100% wasted plastic, which yields a very comfortable seat in a super-cool form.
3. INKUKU PLASTIC BAG CHAIR by Ryan Frank
While most of us green-minded consumers have hopefully switched to reusable shopping bags by now, plastic shopping bags continue to be a huge source of waste. But Ryan Frank’s Inkuku chair (which means “chicken” in Zulu), turns these pesky bags into design material using a traditional African craft technique. The result is a very brightly colored (and especially green) seat.
4. HUMAN NEST CHAIR by Emily Pilloton
One of the eye-catching green pieces from HauteGREEN 2006, Emily Pilloton’s Human Nest chair takes bird-based construction to a comfy and oh-so-eco-friendly level- the bowl shaped chair is hand woven and tied using a bamboo frame and dozens of yards of scrap fabric.
5. UHURU SCRAP STOOLEN
One of our BKLYN Design favorites, this darling little stool by Uhuru is constructed from off-cut scrap wood pieces, all held in place using a recycled bike wheel. We love its tongue-in-cheek resemblance to a tree-stump, and love that the wood is recycled even more. Via Inhabitat
Now double check out in advance everything you buy, it will help you eventually picking up the confy place you are going to seat on …..
[...] mike wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptOn earth fortunately, there are huge supporters of the trash-to-treasure approach to design. Using repurposed, discarded, and recycled materials is not only eco-friendly and gives new life to seemingly useless material, but provides an … [...]