A bridge like this of recycled plastic could also work in the Middle East A bridge from recycled plastic, and strong enough to support a car or truck’s weight? This may seem hard to believe; but after covering art from recycled socks, chairs from recycled newspapers, and even a large Christmas tree from recycled plastic […]
These plastic window shutters by Kulla Industrial Design can still be used to sit on. Finding new uses for old wooden window shutters has been a standard upcycling move among sustainable designers for years (check out the wooden shutter chairs made by Tel Aviv’s Junktion Studio). Wooden shutters have been turned into tables, doors, and […]
Orange peels are already the perfect shape for a mug or small bowl, so Israeli designer Ori Sonnenschein helped them transform. Oranges are in season during the winter months, and so they may have graced many people’s tables recently. But oranges don’t have to disappear from your diet or your table once spring arrives. Israeli […]
Bamboo is universally praised as a sustainable material, but when used in its rawest form is it comfortable? Beauty has been said to increase sustainability, but what about ease of use? We’ve seen a few sustainable bench designs out there already, from Yoav Avinoam’s sawdust bench to Green Lullaby’s cardboard work bench – but never […]
Get one up on Rumpelstiltskin by turning plastic shopping sacks into uber-artsy bookmarks. I really hate giving cash gifts. Gift cards aren’t much higher on the “Hey, I burned lots of calories thinking of you” scale. Even when the card’s end use fits the user, it’s still not very satisfying for me (wow, so it is always about […]
The packaging from Gugu Design’s games is not merely protective, but actually another game. Two games for the price of one package! We’ve seen sustainable designers upcycle the packaging from other products to make something new (such as the Ecoist clutch purses made from candy and potato chip bag wrappers), and we’ve even seen them […]
Hila Rawet Karni’s jewelry items look so luxurious, you’d never guess they’re made of paper. As an accessory that often falls victim to changing fads and trends and which is usually made of precious stones and metals, jewelry is potentially one of the more energy intensive (and polluting) of accessories. But it doesn’t have to […]
Thanks to a recent feature in Sadiyaty Magazine, residents of the UAE may soon be interested in recycled cardboard furniture. The latest issue of Sadiyaty Magazine, an Arabic publication on design trends and fashion, featured design team Sanserif Creatius’s cardboard Valentina throne chair – and no wonder. The Spanish designers at Sanserif Creatius are enamored […]
Before grabbing another polluting plastic bag, learn how to easily make a cloth bag out of items you already have lying around. Sustainable Israeli designer Aya Tager will be giving upcycling workshops in Tel Aviv in a couple weeks, but for those who can’t make it she is giving an online workshop right here on […]
Paper pulp furniture is stronger than it looks. Bamboo has been praised for several years as the most sustainable material for furniture (due to its quickly renewable nature), with cardboard coming a close second due to its recycled and recyclable form. At first thought cardboard may not sound very strong, but when you think about […]
Sustainable designer Aya Tager will teach upcycling workshops this month so that the lighting miracle of Hannukah can continue beyond the holiday’s 8 days. The Jewish holiday of Hannukah celebrates the miracle of a single day’s supply of oil lasting for eight days of lighting, and is beloved by environmentalists who appreciate the energy efficiency […]
Often-ridiculed craft with ancient Middle Eastern roots serves as gentle conduit to change. It’s pretty much agreed that the origins of knitting are placed somewhere in the Middle East. The craft spread to Europe via Mediterranean trade routes, then on to the Americas with European colonization. Some of the earliest examples of knitting have been found in […]
Made by artisans who receive fair wages while upcycling metal products, this bike chain menorah is sustainable for people and the environment. In our recent survey of sustainably designed Hannukah menorahs, we featured menorahs (and other light fixtures) made locally in Israel. Not all Jews have the luxury of being in an area where Judaica […]
Shoppers at Zerim-Liftan’s specialty store will never know what layout design to expect, as it is modular and ever-changing. The modular design concept – which is sustainable as it saves the resources that would otherwise be used to create multiple objects from scratch – has been applied to all kinds of designs. It has been […]
Can’t find your old Hannukah menorah? Israeli designers come up with clever alternatives. With the Jewish Hannukah holiday only a few weeks away, many Jews in the Middle East and elsewhere are anxiously waiting to eat sufganiot (jelly doughnuts) and searching their closets and cupboards for their Hannukah menorahs. In case they can’t be found, […]