Tag Archive for 'reduce'

Plastic’s Fantastic: Delivery Bike-Mods!

jackson published on July 1, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Hello All,

As we’ve previously posted, plastic is a great thing. When it’s used well, that is.

All around town you’ll see that bicycle delivery cats are modding up their bike with plastic accoutrements, so as to make them more functional and convenient. And the plastic components will last and last and last, and if they break, well, there’s certainly not going to be any shortage of available plastic in the near future.

Check it:

Here we see two bikes, each modded with plastic bag/seat covers and corrugated plastic box/rear tire mud guards.

A strip of plastic box attached to the rear basket rest keeps mud and water from leaving a big, brown stripe up your back. Smart.

Here you see the Push Extreme clip on rear mud guard, with a list price of £17.98 (approximately $35.77 US) And that’s before shipping and handling.

Here you see the Chunk of Plastic Taped to the Back of My Bike, with a list price of .30¢ which includes shipping and handling, plus labor.

Both products keep mud off of your back. One is 119 times more expensive than the other.
Savings!

Here’s a guy who rode past us, but we managed a quick snap. The photo doesn’t really show it, but he had used a slice of bucket as his rear mud guard. You could still faintly read the print of whatever the bucket had contained.

There are great examples of “plasti-engineering” all over town, and we resolve to document them and bring them to your attention. ‘Cause they’re rad and ingenious.

Necessity truly is the mother of invention.

Love to all,

Team SuperForest

Inspiring Artist: Jason Rogenes!

jackson published on April 16, 2008 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

How many times have you walked past a pile of polystyrene packaging left out on the sidewalk and thought: I could make something out of that?

Here’s someone who did.

Jason Rogenes finds polystyrene and creates the most wonderful, hopeful sculptures out of it.

Looky:

Oh man, he is so good!
Here’s an article about his work from a Pomona College show: Jason Rogenes @ Pomona
And some more of his work via Infected Eye Gallery.

He’s brilliant, check him out.

ReUse: Cardboard Tubes

jackson published on January 25, 2008 in build. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

(via Planetgreen)

“You don’t need elaborate seed-starting biodomes or habitat-destroying peat pellets to get your greens to sprout. Here are a few methods that are both easy and—if you’d pardon the pun—dirt cheap.

1. Mini yogurt cups: Perhaps you or someone you know has a yogurt addiction. Wash and save the single-serving-size cups, poke a hole in the bottom-center of each container, and fill with seed-starter mix or a sterile all-purpose potting soil.

After sowing the seeds, I like to cover each container with a piece of perforated plastic (cut from newspaper and magazine baggies, then punched all over with a needle), held down by a rubber band, to maintain the moisture and humidity that promotes seedling growth.

2. Egg cartons: Used egg cartons are perfect for raising seedlings, when you use them to prop up halved eggshells you’ve saved. Poke a small hole at the bottom of each eggshell and then fill them with soil and seeds. I’m also a fan of stuffing egg shells with Earth Plugs, which are made of composted bark fiber and are inoculated with natural rooting hormones, and then popping a few seeds in the hole of each plug.

If you’re using a plastic egg carton, shutting the lid results in your own homemade mini-greenhouse. Cardboard-carton “pots”, on the other hand, are splendid because they can be transplanted straight into the ground—the cardboard fibers will eventually decompose in the soil, allowing the roots to poke through.

3. Toilet roll: You Grow Girl has easy-to-follow instructions on making a wee seed-starter pot out of a toilet roll. A few strategic snips with a pair of scissors and some folding are all it takes. You still have plenty of time to start your hoarding.

4. Newspaper: A little origami magic turns a single sheet of newspaper into a seed-starter pot that you can later plant whole into your garden in late spring or early summer. No glue, no muss, and very little fuss, this is the perfect indoors activity to keep your hands busy as you’re dreaming of warmer weather.

Difficulty level: Easy”

Easy, fun, and good for your fellow man.

Thank you, Planetgreen!