recycling plastic bags

today my latest order from peapod arrived with everything i need for this week's menu. i am thankful i didn't have to go to the grocery store, but the 31+ plastic bags that came with my order are a cause for concern. i dont need all of these bags and i dont want all of these bags. i will take them back to the store for recycling, but the fact is: they were completely unnecessary and it takes a lot of energy and resources to both make the bags, return the bags and recycle the bags: cant i have a choice as to whether i provide reusable shopping bags or accept this toxic waste?
there should be a ban on plastic bags!

strange comfort from Brian Jungen

today an amazing exhibit of intensely crazy work from Brian Jungen opens at the national museum of the american indian. jungen combines iconic american stuff (nike shoes, plastic chairs) into traditional native american imagery: looks so fantastic, i cant wait to see it!

dont re-cycle, up-cycle!

from the contemporist comes this flower-shaped chair constructed of pet bottles on a stainless frame: pretty, but functional? bottles can be swapped out when they become compressed, says artist pawel grunert, who designed it for the 'eco trans pop' exhibition in milan. not that i am all matchy-matchy, but the chair coordinates well with sarah turner's awesome light fixtures.

running with scissors

sarah turner has created some of the most beautiful light fixtures i have ever seen from recycled plastic bottles. talk about up-cycled: these thoroughly modern luminiers are perfect for every ceiling and get you thinking about what else can be re-purposed. send your ideas to sarah: she has the future vision.

echinacea emporium

fabricated, finished and photographed!

three new pieces added to my echinacea collection. this is part of my native species™ line, available through my herban elements™ shop. this line was developed via a request of the adkins arboretum on the eastern shore of maryland.

kotik

talk about upcycled!

israeli artist yoav kotik takes trash to truly treasures. you MUST check out more of his amazing designs on his website.

new work on herbanelements.etsy.com

just listed in my herban elements etsy shop four cool new necklaces i made and photographed this weekend. the piece shown above is a sterling silver burr my mom found in the utah desert outside of las vegas that i lost wax cast. it turned out like a tiny disco ball!