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sustainability in design = changing mindsets + deeds

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Upcycling idea: Making a book-cover out of a MSFW (Melbourne Spring Fashion Week) show bag

Something I did recently to make myself feel better after losing my sketchbook full of 2010 design ideas and drawings. A nicely covered, relatively weatherproof and 'hard-covered' new sketchbook which I dearly hope will never get lost!

What I had on hand:
Scissors
Sewing thread
Needles
Pins
A slightly damaged MSFW 2o10 showbag printed with cute Gorman designed graphics
Masking tape (on hindsight double-sided tape would have worked better)
Ruler






If you find yourself wondering what the hell to do with those yucky freebie polypropylene 'enviro' bags that keep getting pushed in your face, consider using the material to protect and cover a treasured book. The material is quite water-and-tear-resistant...plus you can embroider it or print onto it to create something more aesthetically pleasing. Considering how non-biodegradable the material is, it seems wiser to put the stuff to further use instead of sending it to landfill once the bag's seams come apart (which does happen quite quickly doesn't it?)

On another note, this is such a symbolic object of abuse and green-washing, isn't it? All the big brands are just jumping on the bandwagon and producing them by the millions to use as marketing collateral. Have you ever wondered how much more resources are wasted producing these bags as compared to paper bags? Not to mention the carbon footprint, greenhouse gases produced, toxic chemicals used...

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