Tag: Design

I was connecting through the Atlanta airport last week and noticed the Recycle Runway special exhibit as I moved between terminals. Atlanta is the country’s busiest airport, with over 43 million passenger boardings in 2010, so I imagine a lot of you have seen the exhibit as well.
Recycle Runway is the work of artist and environmental educator Nancy Judd. It features clothing—dresses, coats, shoes, and hats—made from discarded materials, such as yellow police crime scene tape, pieces of aluminum cans, and plastic grocery and dry cleaner bags. A piece commissioned by Delta Airlines entitled “The Environmental Steward-ess” was made completely of discarded items from a plane, including worn leather seat covers, Delta magazines and safety cards, old plane tickets, airplane blankets, and even pretzel wrappers.
I love fashion and I freely admit that two guilty pleasures of mine are watching shows like Project Runway and reading fashion magazines when I am on plane trips, so this exhibit caught my eye as I passed. The “Jellyfish Dress” in particular started me thinking. The dress’s skirt is meant to resemble the tentacles of a jellyfish and, if you didn’t know to look closely, you might never realize it was made of plastic bags.

My first thought was “no one would actually wear those on the red carpet!” I had visions of an environmentally-intentioned starlet in the midst of a Björk-swan-dress disaster or one of those wacky Project Runway challenges where they have to make a dress out of lettuce or pet supplies. Could creating fashion out of discarded materials truly be a viable, widespread option for reducing waste to landfill and getting the most use from the materials we use? Will these types of recycled material dresses ever be publicly embraced and a common sight at proms, weddings, and movie premieres across the country? I just couldn’t imagine it.
Then I realized: though we definitely need more waste recovery solutions, the point of Recycle Runway isn’t to be realistic and wearable. The point is not to divert materials from landfill to supply clothes to a recycled-fashion store at every mall across the country. The point is to be outrageous and grab attention. The Jellyfish Dress might not appear on the red carpet at the Oscar Awards later this month, but it definitely raises awareness about plastic marine debris. And that goes a long way towards educating people to think twice about the materials they buy and discard.

I love well-designed space, which for me marries form and function and is simple, elegant, and pleasing to the eye. I have been following the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company for several years and specifically like owner Jay Shafer’s series of small homes built on utility trailers. They are beautifully crafted and every inch well used. My favorite—the Fencl—is the largest at 130 square feet of living space plus a sleeping loft with a bit of storage and room for a queen size mattress.
Tumbleweed is based in California; they hold open houses from time to time but until recently none close to Charlottesville, VA. So, when I read about an open house featuring the Fencl within semi-reasonable driving distance (20 hours round-trip in two days), I literally jumped into my car and went. My destination: a small town in the foothills of the Adirondacks, Woodgate, New York, where Bill Rockhill of Bear Creek Carpentry was exhibiting the Fencl he built with the intent to sell to a Tumbleweed Tiny home lover.
I attempted to rope others into this trip but was successful in convincing only one: my dog (and really all I had to do was open the car door and say, “let’s go”). We arrived in Woodgate around 1:30 pm, just a half hour after the after the start of the open house, and there were already 20 or so people milling about. I have been imagining what it would be like to live in an 8×19 space—going as far as taping off the dimensions on my living room floor—but nothing compares to the actual experience.
The inside of the Fencl was open and airy and very cozy. The heat was provided by a small Dickinson propane heater (it looks like a small gas fireplace and typically used on boats and RVs). After touring the home, I had only one concern: could my cat and dog exist in the space peacefully?
The cost to build the Fencl yourself is just $23,000, or less if you take advantage of used or recycled materials. I really like the idea of purchasing materials as I can afford them and then building my home along this timeline. Another great feature: you can configure your home to tie into local utilities or adapt it to living off the grid. A home on wheels also appeals to the nomad in me. In my nomadic dream, I envision little plots of land across the US with drive up porches.
More information:
Tumbleweed website
Blog post about the Fencl Open House with photo tour