Burn baby burn

Have you heard about how enterprising old ladies are upcycling old books? Basically high fuel costs, the minimal value of most secondhand books these days, and the severity of this winter's weather have combined forces to entice pensioners into charity shops to buy old paperbacks and then burn them back home for warmth. Some people are outraged but I'm not so sure it's a bad thing.

Maybe you disagree, in which case you need to get yourself down to SE1 next week. Here's an event announced in today's City AM:

"BOOK SWAP AT POTTERS FIELDS PARK

Now here’s a worthy event if ever there was one. In honour of World Book Day on 4 March, Team London Bridge is holding a two-day lunchtime book swap, open to local residents, employees and anyone passing through the area, in Potters Fields Park next to City Hall. It is thought that 500 books will be exchanged over the course of the event and you’re sure to find some gems. Potters Fields Park, SE1. 12- 2pm on 3 and 4 Mar."

Two for tea towels

And here's another find from Clare at Pass the Pattern.

Now I've made cushion covers from cotton napkins and my mom has made me tea towels from tablecloths, but Suzie Stanford has taken this idea to the extreme. She upholsters whole chairs and sofas with flavourful old tea towels. You can see her work at Liberty in London or see her lovely website here.

The key to creation

When eating fish tacos with friends in Santa Monica on Superbowl Sunday, we were approached by a marketing girl from Tecate beers. Would we like branded keychains and other silly stuff? Silly stuff no, keychains yes. I never say no to a keychain. Not since I employed one to repair my bikini top (upon purchase said bikini had sported a nifty plastic ring that held it together in the front, but slamming the door on my swimsuit while it was drying on the roof of the car saw the plastic explode into a million pieces). Also, without some upcycled keyrings my suitcase would not open, and it most assuredly would not close (the zips both broke off in one of a lifelong series of events in which I sit and struggle upon the suitcase trying to will it to shut).

Has anyone else got a super excuse to upcycle a keyring?

Ready for take off

Without even trying, I seem to have acquired the cleverest friends.

Clare is one such person, who came over yesterday bearing Konditor & Cook cakes (bless her). We discussed her blog Pass the Pattern, which is poorly - for some reason it doesn't work on IE on PCs, and the Tumblr people are flummoxed as to why (I suggest jumping into Safari or Firefox and taking a peek).

Her other current activities have thankfully been less frustrating. She was recently commissioned to produce a craft project for Fairy Liquid. The folks at Fairy realise that your bottle of liquid will not last forever - at some point it will run out of dish-shining goo. Please don't let that be an excuse to throw it into your nearest landfill or ocean though please. Extend its life and let your kids make it into a rocket. Read Clare's how-to on i-Village here.

Snip stick send

My dad has a lot of old Life magazines, and I went through the ones from the 60s and 70s to find some old ads to frame and hang. Getting them home in my suitcase without damage might have posed a problem, had I not located my upcycling hat. The lids from two pizza boxes (Mellow Mushroom, mm), some tape and a heavy plastic bag became a sturdy portfolio... But not exactly a very aesthetic one. Rather than foist the sight of it upon you, here are the clips from the mags that I snagged.

Snow man

There's been a whole heap of snow in my life lately. No matter where I go it falls from the sky. It makes me cold and grumpy, but I know many people treat it like an icy divine gift from the gods. One of these people is the uncle of my brother-in-law. (Maybe he is my uncle-in-law or something, I don't know.) Anyway, this man grew up in Alaska. He now lives in Ohio and hopes daily for lots of snow. He bought some old skis at a garage sale and upcycled them into a mega sled that seats about 10 people, weighs 130 pounds and has the option to be pulled by a snowmobile. To see this bad ass vehicle in action, visit the blog of the uncle of my brother-in-law (are you following this?) and click on "Sledding with the Wilstermans". It cracks me up - which very rarely happens to me regarding the subject of snow.

(The picture above, by the way, is from their homemade ice rink. The recipe is simple: lay a tarpaulin; add water; chill.)

Splish. Splash.

My lack of blog posts has been due to being in the US visiting my parents and generally acting like a teenager: lying on my bed, watching TV, eating at Waffle House. Whilst there I also spent my fair share of time at the mall. In Atlanta we specialise in both kinds of malls: regular and strip malls. I read in ReadyMade magazine about a company called Macro Sea that is re-envisaging strip malls as living spaces. How do you upcycle a commercial space into somewhere a person might want to live? For starters, you can introduce swimming pools. Macro Sea is making 'em out of dumpsters. (If you speak British and not American, a dumpster is a gigantic skip.) Apparently the first dumpster pools touched down in Brooklyn. Next stop? A strip mall in ATL.

Jump in: www.macro-sea.com

Second skin

Fashion may be fickle, but could quirky upcycling ideas be here to stay? Weleda are currently sponsoring The Green Shows Eco Fashion Week, the only event committed to environmentally friendly, ethically sound and fair trade fashion during New York Fashion Week. Over this four-day event, 10 eco-minded international designers are showcasing their fall/winter 2010 collections. Weleda teamed up with British design visionary Gary Harvey, who created a one-of-a-kind couture outfit made from recycled Weleda Skin Food packaging.

Upcycloholic

Bright, bold and cocky, this chair by Ryan Frank is made entirely from plastic shopping bags. Called ‘Inkuku’ (the zulu word for chicken), it's based on a traditional African technique of using everyday discarded plastics to make objects for the home. A South African now based in London, Ryan was inspired by a chicken ornament made in this style. This influence can be seen in the colour, shape and texture of both the seat and the quirky legs it stands on. Ryan's other inventions include clothes hangers from reclaimed newspapers and a whole range of furniture made from salvaged office desks.

Jean-ius

High street brand Fat Face is in on the upcycling act, and this can only be good news.

Here's the scoop from the Fat Face website:

"We believe our jeans should have more than one life, so this Spring we have launched the brand new Upcycle Denim Bag. Made entirely from recycled jeans, the Upcycle Bag is the ultimate accessory. Plus for every one sold, £5 will be donated to the Fat Face Foundation, which supports charities who protect the areas in which we most like to play. So, not only do you get a great bag, you'll also be doing your bit for charity! But be quick, there's only a limited supply so they won't hang around for long!"

Like it? They'll set ya back 20 quid.

Snow junkies

I've still got snow on the brain, and so I'm going to share some snowy thoughts.

Justin Woods is a man who loves snow, especially when he's sliding on it. He invented junkboarding, which allows you to ski when the snow is less than a quarter of an inch on the ground. You take a snowboard and slice it in half - which is the upcycling part of this story. According to junkboarding.com, "This creates rougher, wider, and shorter equipment which allows the skier to plane over grass and ground that has light snow." It's all about making something out of practically nothing, which surely is sending shivers of excitement down your spine?

High and dry

Here's an upcylcing experience so cool it pains me...

Generic Youth is a fashion label set up by a dad and his daughter. They started out making t-shirts using overstock fabrics that had been sitting unused and unloved in warehouses in LA. But that was not enough to satisfy their cravings to create a better world. They also sponsor Burger Wednesdays, where you can swing by their place and donate an old beach towel in exchange for a tasty burger (choose from ones made from bean or beast). The towel will be reborn as a sweatshirt and your belly will be full.

A win win win win situation, surely.

Ecstatic plastic

Too many coffees today, not enough blog posts this month. So sorry! I will try to make up with both at the same time...

Look what I came across at the coffee shop in my sister's neighbourhood today - wallets and pouches and pencil cases made from plastic shopping bags. How do they do it? I have no idea. But you can visit the Unlikely Creatures shop on Etsy and try to crack the code.

In the meantime, make mine a cappuccino. Thanks!

Refuse to call it refuse

My travel writer friend Amy was reading the Continental in-flight mag (as she is wont to do) and came across some upcycling on show in Bogotá. This is what Andrew Eitelbach wrote about it:

"Colombian-born artist Feliza Bursztyn used only found objects — primarily junked steel — to make her sculptures, turning an item's limitations into its most striking characteristic. Born in 1933, Bursztyn studied and trained as an artist in New York City. She helped pioneer the use of found objects to create art before her untimely death in Paris in 1982. Many of Bursztyn's sculptures are on display throughout February in the exhibit In Praise of Junk, part of a larger, longer exhibition highlighting Colombia's great native artists, at the National Museum of Colombia."

Little cabin in the woods

There's an episode of Grand Designs that is doing the rounds on Channel 4 about a woodsman in West Sussex who spent 10 years living in tents and caravans before deciding to build a house on a budget of £25,000. In the end, he reports to Kavin McCloud that he went over budget by a little bit, but thanks to claiming and reclaiming materials he still kept costs - and environmental impact - low. Among the materials used in the project is lots of wood (obviously), straw bales, tumeric to colour the plaster, solar panels salvaged from the Big Brother house and enormous batteries that came from a submarine. Rainwater and wind are other inexpensive resources that keep the woodsman happy in his little house. Browse for more inspiration online by reading more about the episode here.

Thought for the day. Year. Century.

Kate Krebs of the Climate Group is credited with the following profundity:

“Waste is a design flaw.”

Why do we humans insist on continuing to make and build things from non-biodegradable substances that can’t be downcycled, upcycled or recycled when their lifespan comes to an end?

Board room

This weekend we went to Gulf Stream in Braunton to pick up a new longboard. The owners outfitted the shop to evoke a gentlemen’s club. Surfers tend to be creative both on waves and off, and those guys are no exception. When Braunton flooded a few years ago, the flooring of the shop had to be lifted up and replaced. But rather than getting thrown out, the old flooring became new wood panelling on the walls. Not only were useful materials salvaged but the members’ club vibe was enhanced. Once the floorboards went vertical, they were treated with about five coats of walnut stain. Onto this beading was added and stained too. I wish I had taken a picture but instead here’s a shot of the board – same ingenious craftsmanship, entirely different application!

Just craft it

Craft London is sending out an invitation - come and satisfy your crafty urges!

Craft London is a celebration of London’s creative excellence, and their fun programme of Craft It Yourself workshops offers the chance for anyone to take part in craft. For upcycling crafters there's a workshop of revamping an Ikea lampshade and another on turning vintage fabric into pincushions.

28 Jan 6pm Craft It Yourself – ‘Stitch n Bitch’ Appliqué with Emily Jo Gibbs – Your chance to show off! Pieces made in this workshop will be exhibited in the Craft London exhibition window display in March. Learn the skills with Emily and then collect your appliqué creation at the end of March. Cost £5 (including materials and complimentary wine).

4 Feb 6pm Craft It Yourself – ‘Looking Through Letters’, Make a Stencil with David Ottley* Get another view of letters through the craft of designing and cutting stencils in acetate, paper and brass.

23 Feb 6pm Craft It Yourself – ‘Pimp Your IKEA’ Re-vamp a Lamp with Michelle Mason* Put your own stamp on your home by re-inventing a plain Ikea lamp shade.

10 Mar 6pm Craft It Yourself – ‘Pins n Needles’ Make a Pin Cushion with Emily Jo Gibbs* Tidy up, and brighten up, your work table with a new pin cushion! Choose from vintage recycled fabrics or sumptuous felt.

15 Mar 6pm Craft It Yourself – ‘Hat Party’ Make a Fascinator with Katherine Elizabeth* Katherine will share her hat-making secrets - fashion your own fascinator!

* Cost £10 Booking required 020 7251 0276 (including materials and complimentary wine)

Craft Central, 33-35 St John’s Square EC1M 4DS, 020 7251 0276

So sew

Recently I wrote up a trend report for a client, and apparently digital prints are going to be super cool for spring. I have an excellent digital print top from Urban Outfitters that I bought at a charity shop. Everything about it is perfect except... for the way it fits.

Hope is not lost however, since I just came across this press release from the charity TRAID:

Sew bad? Come along to TRAID’s free sewing workshops, and learn to sew good!

Sew Good workshops are run by charity and eco fashion hero TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) to help people take control of their wardrobe and extend the life of their clothes by teaching basic mending, adjusting and remaking skills.

Workshops are open to everyone, regardless of their skill level and take place every month in store at TRAID Shepherds Bush. For night owls, TRAID also runs an evening workshop called the Sew Good Lock In at its flagship store in Camden.

Bring a garment and the TRAID Sew Good team will help you to remake it into a gorgeous and unique piece you’ll love again. Participants learn their way around a sewing machine, and are initiated into some of the remaking secrets of TRAID’s recycled fashion label TRAIDremade which uses old clothes and textiles that would other be thrown away to create beautiful ethical fashion.

Booking is essential. To reserve a place contact Lyla Patel ‐ lyla@traid.org.uk / 020 8733 2591

Monthly Saturday Workshops at TRAID Shepherds Bush, 154 Uxbridge Road, W12 8AA, 11am – 3pm on January 30 // February 27 // March 27 // April 24 // May 29 // June 26 // July 31 // August 21 // September 25 // October 30 // November 27

Quarterly Thursday Workshops at TRAID Camden, 154 Camden High Street, NW1 0NE, 6pm – 9pm on January 14 // April 8 // July 8 // October 7

Wheeler dealers

I just watched the feature film The Lords of Dogtown and the documentary Dogtown and the Z-Boys. They both cover the 1970s skateboarding scene in Los Angeles, depicting how a bunch of school-age kids basically invented the modern sport. Like a lot of underground movements, upcycling what society had abandoned played a role in their early efforts.

In the documentary version, the Z-Boys remember making their first skateboards by cutting up old roller skates and salvaging the front panels off of dresser drawers to serve as decks.

Photojournalist Craig Stecyk documented the phenomenon, writing in 1976: “Skaters by their very nature are urban guerillas: they make everyday use of the useless artifacts of the technological burden, and employ the handiwork of the government/corporate structure in a thousand ways that the original architects could never dream of.”

The elementary schools in and around Dogtown were built to manage the challenges posed by the valleys found in the area. Concrete drainage ditches existed in all the playgrounds, and the early skaters uses these as concrete waves, applying surfing moves to riding them on four urethane wheels.

Then a record drought hit California in the 70s, so people were forced to drain their swimming pools. The Z-boys would sneak into people's backyards and skate empty pools, an activity that essentially invented bowl skating, and paved the way for vertical and aerial manoeuvres that are central to skating today.

See? Shells

Having spent the past week on a beach, I've been thinking a lot about packaging. The high tide line was strewn with orange, yellow, blue and green plastic debris, which although colourful is still ugly and heartbreaking.

A tiger clam shell however could never be described as ugly, and as all-natural packaging it biodegrades with relative ease. Still it holds opportunities for upcycling, as villages in the Philippines have discovered. Tiger clams are a part of their everyday diet, and previously the shells had been regarded as waste. But now they've been selling tiger clam shells to a spa company that's devised a way to use the shells in massage. Lava Shell massage is similar to hot stone massage, except the shells contain algae and dried sea kelp that, when blended with salt water, generate their own controlled heat for an hour-long massage. You can read more about it here.

In a seashell: some seaworthy trivia

Molluscs, the creatures that produce seashells, are among the oldest existing life forms on earth. The tiger clam survived the extinction event that wiped out nearly all other species on the planet and resulted in the Ice Age.

Seashells are composed of calcium carbonate, the same material found in our bones and teeth.

Tiger clams are a natural reducer of greenhouse gases; they process CO2 out of the ocean water, which in turn allows the ocean to absorb more CO2 from the air.

All clams, including the tiger clam, are capable of producing pearls.

Seashells are among the oldest forms of currency on the planet. Many of the first coins minted were emblazoned with seashells to show that they were currency. In fact, in some parts of the world they’re still legal tender.

Candy wrapper

red candy peanuts from the cacuhette man
Originally uploaded by vaughan london

In Taghazoute the nut seller walks up and down the beach with baskets of his wares, a portable set of scales and a sturdy holiday catalogue. Once you buy your 20 dirhams' worth of sugary nuts, he wraps them up in a page of the catalogue, a low-cost and fairly biodegradable packaging solution.

Precious mettle

It takes plenty of vision to take something old and make it new again, so I'm guessing jeweller Natalie Leon's eyesight is 20/20. Natalie's range brings together a love of all things vintage with a certain flair for design. Each of her handcrafted pieces of jewellery is made from beads and components sourced from all over the globe, many of which are over 50 years old. Browse her website - as treasures go most things are quite affordable.

Clearance sail

What happens to the sails of yachts when they get tired and want to retire from sport? Some of them go to the online shop florestine to launch new careers as duffle bags. Each one is handmade from sails that have adventured far and wide across the oceans before being cleaned and fashioned into bags suitable for sailors and land-lubbers alike. Choose from two sizes, priced £64.95 and £74.95, ahoy!

Laughing matters

My sister came across an Australian company called Rebound Books which turns pre-loved novels and works of non-fiction into diaries, notebooks and photo albums. The covers are from old hardbacks, and inside blank pages are 100% recycled paper. I've got my hands on one of their 2010 diaries, which was purchased from my old friends at Gleebooks in Sydney. Made from The Little Golden Book of Jokes & Riddles originally published in 1983, it contains such gems as this:

What's the best way to catch a fish?

Have someone throw it to you.

Knit wit

Toot toot happy new year! To celebrate we've got ourselves a guest blogger today.

Lisa Margreet is a craftastic upcycling expert from The East London Craft Guerilla who can tell you how to transform a t-shirt into an iPod cover or how to harvest yarn from a floppy old jumper. It's not a whole bunch harder than dropping your old clothes in a recycling bin, so read on to learn how it's done. (By the way, the pic above is not a portrait of Lisa herself, but a pattern available to buy in her Etsy shop.)

Raisin: Why upcycle?

Lisa: People are really familiar with the concept of recycling e.g. taking your finished wine bottle and junk mail and chucking them in the recycling bin, then waiting for it to be collected once a week and feeling pleased that you're doing your bit for the environment. That's great, but upcycling is a more creative way of solving the issue of our consumer detritus. When you upcycle an item you take something that would usually be disposed of either by putting it in the bin, by recycling it or sending by to the charity shop and you think about ways that you can reuse it for a different purpose. By giving it a new lease of life you are preventing it from ending up as someone else's unwanted item, as a problem in landfill, or from sitting lonely in the charity shop.

The East London Craft Guerrilla have been doing a lot of work with upcycled t-shirt yarn ever since we came across the technique and we keep on finding more things that you can make with it! T-shirts are interesting in themselves in that a lot of chemicals are required to grow the cotton for one t-shirt and there are often questionable practices in their manufacturing processes. They have become so prolific and cheap that they are now viewed as a disposable item by many people. You should think carefully about the provenance of your t-shirt when you buy a new one as so many of the cheap t-shirts end up in charity shops, worn once and then discarded. The charity shops then have problems selling them as there are just so many of them and I have heard of bags of t-shirts ending up in landfill as even the charity shops can't sell them. Of course, this is great for the crafty minded as we can save these t-shirts and give them a new purpose in life! Along with the many t-shirt adaptations you can do, you can also turn your t-shirt into yarn and then knit and crochet new items from them.

Raisin: What kind of project is t-shirt yarn best suited to?

Lisa: Knitted and crochet items that need a chunky yarn with a bit of stretch to it work best with t-shirt yarn. A lot of people are familiar with bath-mats made with rags from t-shirts, however we've made bookmarks, camera and iPod cases, clutch and tote bags, bracelets, necklaces and fascinators - I recently came up with a pattern for a really authentic looking 1960s pill box hat - move over Jackie O! I'm currently working on a waste-paper basket pattern made from crocheted upcycled t-shirt yarn with a fused plastic-bag lining.

Raisin: Can you give us a brief overview of the method?

Lisa: To make t-shirt yarn all you need is a pair of scissors and an old t-shirt! Place your t-shirt on a flat surface and cut off the bottom hem then start cutting all around the t-shirt at about 1cm width. It's easiest to cut it if you put it over an ironing board as it helps with turning it, but it's perfectly possible to do it on a flat surface as well. Keep cutting at 1cm width around until you have one long string of t-shirt yarn and you have reached the shoulders. Save the shoulders and the top of the t-shirt yarn for other crafty uses. To finish off the t-shirt yarn take small sections and give them a small tug lengthways so that the ends start to curl inwards, then wind the yarn into a ball and you're ready to start knitting or crocheting with it!

Raisin: How can we can learn more?

From February 2010 I will be running bi-monthly workshops at the East London Craft Guerrilla craft night on learning how to crochet using t-shirt yarn. There will be three initial three workshops starting with Learn to Crochet: How to Make T-shirt Yarn, learning basic chain stitch and then making a simple chain bookmark. The second workshop will cover single and double crochet stitches and then making a simple crocheted bangle. The final workshop will cover crocheting in the round and making a small fascinator or pill box hat. For more details on the workshops visit www.craftguerrilla.com or www.lisamargreet.com or email me.

Raisin: What can you tell us about reclaiming yarn from old jumpers?

Lisa: For the knitter and crocheter on a budget a really good technique to learn is how to harvest yarn from old sweaters. As a rule of thumb, hand-knitted, chunky sweaters are easiest to unravel but unfortunately these are hard to come by. Try sourcing them from jumble sales rather than charity shops. Any jumper without a lot of seams can be unraveled and the yarn then wound into balls for knitting and crocheting with. If you come across any jumpers made from natural fibres e.g. pure wool, then you can felt them in your washing machine and then use the resulting material for cut and sew projects. A word of warning though, a lot of modern materials are treated with chemicals to prevent them from shrinking when you wash them. Great if you want to preserve your favourite cardi but not so good for the would-be felter! If you're interested in learning the techniques for yarn harvesting and felting from old jumpers and want a few patterns to get you started then I've written a small booklet that you can buy from my folksy shop or my etsy shop.

Bookmark this

My Zero Waste is a marvellous website that deserves your attention for the simple fact that it covers exciting how-to topics such as these:

• Reuse greeting cards
• 15 ways to use up pesto sauce
• Recycle your bicycle for Africa
• Reuse plastic bottles for slug collars

And those are just on the homepage. If your new years resolution involves reducing the footprint you leave on the planet, then how about celebrating day three of 2010 by bookmarking the site?

Happy new year!

Here's hoping that 2010 brings us lots of chances to view things differently. This pic comes from Felicity of Garden Beet - it's an unusual planter called the Wooly Vagabond. It hangs, it travels, it lives, it breathes... Truly the It Bag to have.

Play's the thing

My mom's friend Mary pointed out an upcycling story in our very own local paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This comes from a feature on 12 things to do over the holiday season with kids:

Though there are certainly exceptions in these hard times, most kids receive a stunning number of store-bought presents in coming days. A visit to the exhibit “The Power to Play: From Trash to Treasure,” at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum through Jan. 10, might give them the gift of understanding just how good they've got it.

It’s a show of 75 recycled toys made by children in war-torn and impoverished areas in Asia, Africa and the Americas. For instance, there’s a soccer ball made of plastic grocery bags wrapped with twine from Kenya and trucks from plastic bottles or wood scraps from Dominica. 678- 222-3700, www.thebreman.org

The exhibition was organised by ChildFund, and has already appeared this year at the Children's Museum in Boston, the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, the National Press Club in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

To the rescue

What do you get when you combine a firehose, truck tarpaulin and safety belt? If you are the nifty German company Feuerwear, you get a messenger bag, shopping bag, handbag, laptop bag...

Hot hot hot, right?

Fruit toss

My last post was about unusual aesthetic uses for fruit and veggies. Today I've discovered some fun furnishings upcycled from fruit crates and timber off-cuts. About a year ago I interviewed two lovely people called Sarah Kay and Andrea Stemmer, who together are the furniture design firm Kay + Stemmer. You can commission the pair to make bespoke furniture for you, or you can buy their pieces at places like Heal's and SCP. Or... you can take yourself over to Contemporary Applied Arts like I did last week and admire then buy their Tutti Frutti waste paper bin and magazine holders. These will soon be available on the Kay + Stemmer website as well.

Tater truths

Don't eat potatoes that have started to go a bit green, because the change in colour indicates that the skin now contains poison that's similar to arsenic. I read that on the interweb somewhere, which I'm sure you'll agree is a very reputable source of information.

When your tubers turn radioactive in colour and poisonous in composition, they are no longer fit for human consumption. So why not turn them into a Christmas scene, as the greengrocers in East Wittering has done?

(Although Mr Green Santa Potatohead cannot talk, I can read his facial expression and it's clear that he also wants us all to consider his friend the chili pepper - pictured to his left - as a candidate to be upcycled into a nose for your next snowman.)

Tie one on

Remember Esther Coombs, the designer/maker who takes vintage crockery and overlays upon it her own line drawings? Here's another example of a designer taking existing materials and giving them her own eco-styled stamp. Tamasyn Gambell prints onto vintage scarves to make something new and lovely from something old and unloved. I'm quite keen on her hardback notebooks - covered in vintage printed scarves, these are bound by a family bookbinders in Essex and use recycled paper stock from a 100-year-old British paper mill.

But hey don't take my word for it - Tamasyn's work will be available this weekend:

East London Design Show, Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street

Friday 4th December (12pm – 8pm )

Saturday 5th December (10am – 6pm)

Sunday 6th December (10am – 6pm)

Admission: £4, concessions: £2, accompanied children under 16 free

Bright futures

Forget upcycling for the minute folks - can you believe there are still people out there who don't recycle basic things like glass, newspaper and aluminium? My brother lives in Miami, and lawmakers and taxpayers there apparently don't think recycling is a priority. If you leave cans, bottles and papers at the kerb they'll stay put till a tropical breeze comes and blows them away. If you want to recycle them, your only choice is to load them into your car and drive them to a recycling centre in Dade County. Not clever!

Maybe examples like this stem from the fact that recycling is kind of abstract (unlike upcycling I suppose, where the rewards are more immediate). Naysayers should take a look at Resilica's new website, where they will learn that "Resilica is a truly bespoke worktop and surface material which is hand made in the UK from 100% recycled glass waste. Mixed with a specially developed solvent-free resin system then cast into solid panels, the surface is ground away and polished to reveal fragments of embedded glass which reflect light."

If you click on over and view their case studies, no doubt you - like me - will come down with a bad case of kitchen envy. And maybe you'll be encouraged to collect a few more glass bottles to recycle for the cause.

Dual purpose

A phonebox and library in one!

Read about it on the Guardian's website...