Spotted in India: Recycled Upholstery

While I didn't encounter a lot of evidence of recycling India I did spot these beach loungers in Goa that had been reupholstered with old advertising banners. I'm not sure if this was a very common practice as they were the only chairs that I saw like that out of the hundreds I passed by on the beach.

Spotted in India: Paper not Plastic

Based solely on my observations there India does not seem to have a strong infrastructure for dealing with trash or recycling, but it was nice to see at least that an effort is being made to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags (as evidenced by this sign spotted in Mumbai). Several stores offered inexpensive cloth bags as alternatives and one place even had these nifty bags made from recycled newspaper with a hand stenciled logo on them. Each one was unique and surprisingly sturdy.

Linkage: From Social Trading Cards to Social Stock Exchanges

I'm heading to Austin for a week, so hopefully this'll tide you over while I'm away...


The social reality trading card alternative to Pokemon.

Investing in a Social Stock Exchange.

Taxicab curator. Thanks Carlos!

Fallen Princesses (image shown) via

A classic anti-billboard screed from 1960. via

Eco-friendly alternative to motivational office posters (image shown). Thanks Marc!

Duchamp Reloaded (image shown) via

Clever Condoms

The ocean of plastic is on the East Coast as well.

Mini-Golf meets Art in Brooklyn. Thanks Mica!

Bacardi using misogyny to sell alcohol...to women?! via

And for those of you following the story from last week...
busted Barrel Monster artist gets a commision...from the company he stole from. Thanks Carlos!

Linkage: Cloth bags are bad and corporations are local?

Go figure, the plastic industry says that cloth bags are bad! via

Speculative architecture fiction.(image shown) via

Making newpaper boxes into planters. (image shown) Thanks Carlos!

Free e-book on sustainable printing. via

The growth of the greener lunchroom.

Documenting product placement (and displacement). (image shown) Thanks Mica!

The new greenwashing: corporations go "local". Thanks Mica!

1,500 bottles = 1 second

Watershed is an installation for the upcoming Figment Art Festival on Governors Island in NYC made out of 1,500 plastic water bottles, representing one second of consumption in the US...

Watershed Assembly at MSLK 5/24/09 from MSLK on Vimeo.

A literal ocean of plastic bags...

Another great animated short from the folks at Free Range Studios to promote the anti-plastic bag campaign of Save The Bay...

Recyled Plastic Laptop Sleeve

Just had to show off my lovely new custom laptop sleeve made from fused plastic bags by Bekah Worley. Not only is her work both beautiful and environmentally friendly, but it's really affordable too! Check out her blog Recycling Is Rad and see more of her stuff for sale on her Etsy page.

Cancer Bottles

In a bit of very sad irony the "Breast Cancer Awareness Bottle" (shown left) currently being sold in the U.S. is made of #7 polycarbonate plastic that contains Bisphenol-A (BPA) which the National Toxicology Program has found to be cancer causing in large doses. While the US Food and Drug Administration has said that the link between BPA and cancer "cannot be proven", the material has already been banned in Canada. Indeed the company that manufactures the bottles has responded to questions about the material by saying that a non-BPA version will be available in 6-8 months, since they would like to sell them in Canada!

If you have bottles marked with a 7 it is suggested that you do not refill/reuse the bottles since that allows the material to more easily transfer toxins to the liquid within. There is a good overview of BPA on Wikipedia HERE.

Thanks to my cousin, a breast cancer survivor, who did the research on this and passed the information along!

Brita Filter Recycling Campaign

Beth Terry has started a grassroots campaign on her Fake Plastic Fish blog to encourage Brita, the popular water filter manufacturer (owned by Clorox), to take back and recycle their used filters. Get the details and find out how to get involved HERE.

Thanks Jessica!

News Roundup

Some more recent articles worth reading in the Christian Science Monitor:

New Alternative Fuel: Chocolate!

Is Bioplastic a Viable Alternative to "Paper or Plastic"?

Person-To-Person Lending: Internet Based Microloans Helping Internationally.

News Roundup

Sorry for the long quiet from me, I've got a bunch to post and hope to be updating more frequently in the coming weeks. First off some news clippings I've been collecting...

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Ethiopians tradmarking coffee to ensure Fair Trade.

Eating "green" at environmentally friendly restaurants.

Study finds White House manipulated climate science.

Africa begins banning plastic bags.

Target to stop selling some PVC

Target stores recently announced that they will reduce the amount of PVC they sell, specifically in their own line products (including toys, baby products, shower curtains and packaging). Read the press release from the Center for Health Environment and Justice HERE. It includes this explanation of why PVC is worth avoiding:

Among the health effects of phthalates, found in many PVC products, are premature birth delivery, early puberty in girls, impaired sperm quality and sperm damage in men, genital defects and reduced testosterone production in boys.

“Study after study have found that chemicals in vinyl can cause health problems in children and adults," said Dr. Peter Orris, Professor and Chief of Service at the University of Illinois Medical Center Chicago. "While using PVC products, people may be exposed toxic additives like phthalates and lead and when incinerated, PVC is a major contributor to dioxin.”

The hazards of PVC are not limited to its use by consumers: it creates toxic pollution during its manufacture, harming workers and community members near PVC plants such as in Mossville, Louisiana. When thrown away, toxic additives like lead and phthalates can leach into the ground and nearby drinking water sources. When burned in incinerators, PVC produces dioxins and furans, chemicals that can cause cancer and are considered to be among the most toxic environmental contaminants known to man. PVC packaging can not be effectively recycled, and can contaminate an entire batch of 100,000 recyclable bottles.

News Roundup

Getting caught up here from a very busy spell, I have lots to post, plus it's Blog Action Day so definitely want to get some environmental links out there. Here's a smattering to start you off...

From the Christian Science Monitor:
Amazon Farmers work with Corporations to Save the Forest
New Yorkers Using Biodiesel for Heating

From Ode Magazine:
Sesame Street working for Middle East Peace
Organic Agriculture CAN Feed The World
How Hospitals Make You Sick

From Mother Jones:
The Problem with Plastics (including a handy chart for your fridge)