Sustainability

Cutting Through Clothing Waste: Cause-related Crafting
Finding myself with extra time on my hands as a result of COVID-mandated shutdowns, I renewed my passion in all things crafting, a hobby that was a large part of my childhood spent with my even-craftier twin sister. Like most moms, I started making wreaths to both pass the time with my young son and beautify our home, where we were spending more time than ever.
By The Girl is Craftyyy5 years ago in Earth
Full Circle Magic
It begins in small ways. We throw our food scraps lazily into the corner of the garden; carrot tops, watermelon rinds, steeped coffee grounds. Joined by seasons of leftover meals, the scraps take a nap for a year, preparing for their ultimate debut into garden society. When the time arrives, we pull the scraps from their resting spot and turn them into our beds. Now awake with the fresh aroma of microbes, they help our garden grow. This compost is one ingredient to my creative process.
By Olivia Rose Phipps5 years ago in Earth
Coping with Eco-Anxiety
I can't walk past an alley without side-eyeing the long concrete corridors for my next dive. I get a rush when I spy a free, neglected thing with dreamy potential. I'm also a sucker for thrift stores, estate sales and free boxes. Trash-to-treasure hunts scratch my creative itch. They are also a coping mechanism to temporarily alleviate my eco-anxiety.
By Going Nowhere5 years ago in Earth
Creating Art From Waste
I began collecting discarded materials in college when money was tight and the desire to create necessitated a certain kind of thriftiness and imagination. Over time, finding a use for and elevating the value of old conference banners, a used shower curtain or cardboard boxes became an important sub-narrative to the works I make. I’ve been interested in how commodity and material culture impacts and informs my sense of self, my perception of others, and how I assign value to objects. Always though, creating has been about personal healing and truth-seeking. Enter single-use plastics. I became aware of the devastating impacts of plastics a while back and it caused me to change things in my own life. With the pandemic, I began seeing plastics in a way so profound I found myself feeling overwhelmed. Gloves, pop bottles, and takeaway containers began to line my street and plastic bags clung to the branches of trees outside my house. I did not know what to do other than to start picking them up. This drove me to question what does it mean when something is disposable, what is the true cost of convenience, who is most impacted by this plague of plastic, and what can we do with the plastics we currently have in circulation. I did a lot of research and interrogated my own relationship to plastics. It’s not lost on me that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by plastics in how they are marketed to us, the proximity to where we live and they are produced, and the limitations to how they are properly collected and discarded in our neighborhoods. I began thinking about my ancestor’s pursuit for liberation and the sacrifices they made that were necessary to secure their future i.e. make it possible for me to exist. I also contemplated the rituals we partake in each year so that we remember their journeys. In this time of quarantine and isolation, we are forced to reimagine how we come together to celebrate holidays and traditions and we are also forced to grapple with the multitudes of urgent issues that plague us. I believe art can be a pathway forward for us.This March, I created an installation, At Our Table, which was a reimagining of a Passover table constructed from locally sourced, discarded single-use plastics. Incorporating over 1,000 plastic bags, I cut, sewed, and wove them together to create a 20-foot table setting for four social-distance observing guests. It also included a collection space for the community to bring their single-use plastics which I will be cutting and creating ecobricks out of. When I say, locally-sourced, I mean all the materials were gathered in Detroit, and while At Our Table centered a discussion that anyone anywhere could take part in, Detroit is the corner of the world that I call home. This is where I am raising my son and teaching him to be a good steward of the earth and a caring citizen. Detroit is where I'm putting my energy and intention into repairing the world. I created this work because I wanted to have a hard conversation about what sacrifices need to be made to secure a future for our children. I know how challenging it is to talk about the climate crisis and the hardship in understanding the impact of our individual actions. These conversations and personal examinations are emotional and overwhelming because of the urgency. This challenge has inspired me to examine the changes I need to make in my life and creative practice and to reconsider what I create and how it might cultivate space and prompt conversation and action. I believe art can inspire us, heal us, and alter how we move through and see the world. My dream and what brings me joy is knowing that this project and the next phase I'm working on is redirecting harmful plastics out of my neighborhood and creating opportunities to spark a dialogue on the true cost of convenience while also igniting commitments and action so that we can secure a future free of plastic waste.
By Olivia 5 years ago in Earth
Trash Treasure
F or me its not hard to look at something broke and like it the way it is or imagine i t as something else. I've always been drawn to the weird, quirky, old, broken, rusted. The things that no one else would even give a second glance at. You see clutter, I see a treasure hunt. You see rust, I see character. You see trash, I see treasure. I enjoy taking something that has been left alone for years, cleaning it up and making it useful again.
By NikkiWho5 years ago in Earth
"Recycle for Life" Project inspired by a visit to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens
When you go with your family to the zoo, what is the first animal you would like to see? Pandas, zebras, lions, hippos, ostriches, elephants, flamingos, or maybe alligators? The Cincinnati Zoo is one of my favorite places to visit during the summer. It has been named the greeniest zoo in the nation and they are coming up with more ideas for protecting our environment. "Recycle for Life" was inspired by the idea of the zoo caring so much for our environment and also thinking of new ways to save it. When I put together a painting/collage for this inspiration, I came up with using: fiskars scissors, a 16 X 20 canvas, wooden circle coasters, newspaper, glue gun, black chalk coasters, acrylic paints, wooden letters and shapes, mod podge, a brush, and tissue paper. This project takes a longer amount of time only because it is on a larger canvas. In this painting/collage, I put a lot of time and effort because I believed in what they were doing at the zoo. I felt I expressed my feelings about how I was impressed about the zoo and its involvement in caring for the environment.
By Carrie Bertschy5 years ago in Earth
Ocean: place where the first life sprouted
We keep on saying that earth is our home. But do we really mean what we say? Or by saying home, do we only refer to the lands we own and use? Earth is not only filled with lands, but also with vast water resources. Human beings, being one of the terrestrial species, think that there is no need to seriously take care of the water resources on earth. In order to have a healthy life on earth , we need to take care of the whole earth, including its water resources. Ocean, being the largest water resource, needs to be taken care of very urgently.
By Arundhathy Devi5 years ago in Earth
Plastic Ocean Pollution In An Amazing Display in Vancouver, Canada
A group of action figures created with waste plastics removed from beaches, water and shorelines are now on display at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were created by the multidisciplinary artist Caitlin Doherty. She designed and created the human-looking characters with plastic junk removed from Canadian waters.
By Michael Trigg5 years ago in Earth
What my science teacher didn't realize he taught me. Top Story - June 2021.
Just past the next intersection, I see the dull glow of the thrift store’s sign peeking through a tree. I pull into the parking lot and circle around until I find a spot. Cutting the engine, I grab a few wrinkled dollars from my glove compartment and head inside.
By Felix5 years ago in Earth
Saving the Bees
The humble bee, tiny in stature, packs a lot of power to elicit fearful emotional responses from us much larger humans, with a bend toward the bee's destruction. That sad end could be the finale of us all.
By Cynthia L Fortner5 years ago in Earth
7 Reasons why solar panels are so popular?
Solar energy has indeed gained some popularity in the last decade. Are you wondering why everyone is switching to solar in Sydney? We are here to give you 7 Reasons Why Solar Is Becoming More popular. Solar panel Sydney has changed the way people live and have sprouted great organizations such as AYKA Solar. They are booming day by day as solar panel technology is advancing. The more efficiency of solar panels makes them more affordable for homeowners. That reason alone is more than enough for most people to invest in them.
By AYKA Solar5 years ago in Earth
The Flow Country of Northern Scotland
The Flow Country is a vast area of blanket bog in the far north of mainland Scotland. The name, which has only been in common use since the 1980s, comes from the local term for the pattern of bogs and small lochs that stretch for many miles. The Flow Country, which is more than a million acres in size, is believed to be the largest expanse of blanket bog in western Europe.
By John Welford5 years ago in Earth