“When you truly ‘listen’ to the material you will find so many possibilities!” says Aya Tager of her green designs.
Lots of designers, including designers living and working in the Middle East, like to play with trash. Lebanese fashion designer Ziad Ghanem likes to play with trashed clothes, and lots of Israeli designers are rethinking ways to use our junk. Israeli designer Aya Tager is no exception. A graphic designer trained in Johannesburg, Holland, and Israel, Tager (aka Aya Kaya) says that her inspiration for her sustainable design products “comes from several directions, often it’s from really looking and ‘playing’ with the material (used, discarded, factory rejects, etc.).”
Creative in both her designs and her material sources, Tager collects post-consumer garbage (such as cardboard, ceramics, and wood) from the street, or visits factories to collect excess waste.
In light of the recent packaging recycling law passed in Israel, Tager hopes to be able to do more work with local factories in order to help minimize their waste.
Her recent factory adventures have led her to a metal, plastic, and cardboard container manufacturer, where she upcycled discarded containers into laundry bins on wheels and toy containers for kids. At another factory that produces wooden ladders, she reused discarded pieces of pine wood and transformed them into trivets.
Of her design process, Tager says that “whenever I can I’ll design and produce a sustainable product with as little manipulations and additives as possible, but without compromising function and aesthetics.”
(Above, an image of a personal shopping folding trolley, and to the left is a cardboard mirror frame that was handmade from discarded cardboard.)
:: Aya-Kaya Sustainable Design
Read more about sustainable design::
Lebanese Designer Ziad Ghanem Creates Recycled Couture
Top 5 Arab Sustainable Designers
Ten Sustainable Israeli Designers Who Reduce, Reuse & Recycle
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
