Trash is our Treasure
September 10, 2009 Design, Environmental, Trends
Quick pop quiz- What’s going to be the hot fashion and décor trend next summer? Most likely, it’s going to be trash. Ok, I don’t mean awful (although some of us might thing so), but actually and literally, trash. My grandma calls it rubbish, and it’s going to be here in a big way.
Take YakPak for example. If you’re an urban dweller, odds are you really need a good backpack. Not only that, but for the sake of your image, it needs to be cool too. Problem is, most good bags cost around $100, and the ones that only look cool aren’t very good. So, where do you go? YakPak. Last month, they started selling backpacks made of recycled vinyl from used billboards. They’re only $35, guaranteed to last forever, and all one of a kind.
Still don’t believe me? Try Justin Gignac’s art studio, NYCG, short for New York City Garbage. That’s right- Lucite cubes of trash, plucked directly from the bin during America’s biggest events including New Years Eve in Times Square, the Republican National Convention, and the last game ever at old Yankee Stadium. They’re signed, numbered, and dated, and typeset in Helvetica. The cubes retail between $50 and $100- possibly the classiest junk you’ll ever buy.
Next month, it’s going to be hot to wear an old billboard, or have someone’s used coffee cup on your mantle. You know, now that you mention it, make old things new too with our Cradle-to-Cradle products. Products that, when they’re finished being used, can be returned to the Earth without harm, or be repurposed into another chair. Either way, it’s pretty good to see reuse getting some love.
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