Film 'er up!

Yesterday a theatre, today a cinema... How cool is this? The Cineroleum is a pop-up movie theatre in a derelict petrol station. Everything in it has been made from donated, found and reclaimed stuff.

And.... ACTION!

Junkitecture!

Jonathan Glancy's article in the Guardian will reveal to you just what junkitecture is, so read all about it here. The case study he uses is pictured above, and this is how he describes it:

“The Jellyfish theatre, which opens next week, is being built from the detritus of markets, timberyards and building sites; from redundant school furniture, hand-me-down front doors, recycled nails and pretty much anything that local residents and businesses have contributed.”

Like the Union Street Urban Orchard which we've covered before it's on... Union Street SE1.

The crate escape

Recycling stuff the world is done with: good. Upcycling stuff the world is done with: even better. When you can reuse instead of recycle, you're doing the earth a favour by saving energy that's otherwise swallowed up in transporting materials to and from recycling facilities (many of which are literally on the other side of the globe) and by saving the energy that's required to melt down a can or a bottle (we're talking high temps here, peeps).

So don't be too quick to recycle if you can at all upcycle instead. Containers are always a great place to start - a metal can becomes a planter, a crate becomes a shelf, and so on. But there's a worrying trend reported in the Wall Street Journal article "The Great Crate Crackdown". Companies that use plastic crates in great numbers (like Coca-Cola, Rite-Aid and Sara Lee) have noticed huge thefts of their plastic delivery containers. Thieves are apparently selling these to recycling plants to grab themselves some free money (the crate itself is worth $3 to $10 when new; a pound of recycled plastics can be sold to manufacturers for 15 cents pound). But at what needless cost to the environment? These hunter gatherers are taking objects whose use is not yet exhausted, so there's not much virtue in recycling of this kind.

Get up stand up

The New York Times recently ran a review of a new book about the spread of surfing across the world. The book is called Sweetness and Blood and it's by Michael Scott Moore. The review cites two examples of upcycling revealed by Moore in his book - apparently early Cornish surfers requisitioned coffin lids for their boards, while in Cuba surfers in the 1980s used plywood desktops. Gnarly indeed.

Pop!

The original 1006 Navy Chair was designed by Emeco for the US Navy. The shiny little icon first appeared in 1944, and today it’s made of 80% recycled aluminium. Designed to serve the military’s need for lightweight, corrosion-resistant chairs for destroyers and submarines, each has an estimated lifespan of 150 years.

Made from 111 recycled plastic Coke bottles, the 111 Navy Chair (1944/2009) is the new plastic version of the 1006. The 111 expands the Navy collection by offering colour, plus it’s suitable for outdoor and commercial use, and and costs about half the price of the aluminium original - which is still in production.

Late edition

What's that you say? You believe upcycled newspapers to be the covering of them there walls over yonder? Correct. Read all about it (ahem) at the online design mag Core 77.

Make my day

Two new books support the notion that making things and doing stuff with your hands is actually good for you. Can upcycling some old piece of rubbish keep you on an even keel and save you lots of money otherwise spent on therapy? To find out, read Made By Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World by Mark Frauenfelder or The Case for Working With Your Hands: or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good by Matthew Crawford. Or instead you could tackle some interesting and creative DIY project and find out for yourself.

For kicks

It's not just the host continent of the World Cup, it's also the cradle of upcycling. There's an article in the New York Times today about photographer Jessica Hilltout and her project to record the pursuit of the beautiful game not in glittering stadiums but on Africa's sandy beaches, dusty plains and cracked stretches of dried clay. Part of the project includes a series of shots of homemade balls she traded with her subjects, exchanging fine factory-made ones for their versions fashioned from socks, stockings, string and even condoms. Read the article here, or let the images speak for themselves by visiting Jessica's site here.

Leaving the city

Here are pics I took yesterday at the Urban Orchard on Union Street, where tyres have been upcycled into swings and planters, and have also been downcycled into ground cover. Glass jars are the basis of a seed library, and shipping palettes are put to good use in landscaping and seating. It's there until September so go have a look.

Trash talkin'

On this blog we've seen shipping containers and skips turned into coffee shops, swimming pools and gymnasiums. How much better can it get? You be the judge. Here's Oliver Bishop-Young's ping pong table made from a skip and it's right up my very own street (literally). In my old flat I could have viewed it from the kitchen window, which would have been preferable to watching every single one of my favoured teams get knocked out of the World Cup, or witnessing the UK's Wimbledon hope shuffle back home to Scotland.

Save yourself from sporting boredom and head to the Union Street Urban Orchard. It's - ahem - on Union Street (SE1, between Borough and Southwark Tube stations).

Salvage, sew, sit

Samantha Peare's to do list might look like this:

Source some vintage fabric

Embroider birds and bugs onto salvaged cloth

Sew assorted pieces together

Produce covetable cushions (priced £60)

These one-off beauties are made to order; visit Samantha's site to see how she ingeniously brings old bits and pieces back to life.

Coffee container

In the past we've seen shipping containers converted into swimming pools, and here they are upcycled into a cafe. Read all about it at Treehugger, where you'll find more shots of the green scene courtesy of B Alter.

Mary proposal

Without a doubt, Mary Portas has been reading this blog. Why else could she have promoted the concept of upcycling to the owners of 37 Old London Road in last night's episode of Mary Queen of Shops? You can catch the show on iPlayer this week, or if you're in Kingston browse the shop for yourself.

[Hi Mary!!]

Better latte than never

As I was drinking some coffee, I happened to read about the One Pot Pledge campaign. The initiative is led by Garden Organic, a charity that encourages people to grow their own food. The idea behind the One Pot Pledge is that gardening isn't difficult - you can take a disposable paper cup and get growing immediately. Here's a pic of Bojo with his coriander in a coffee cup to give you inspiration for your own one pot undertaking.

Palette o mine

Soon many of my favourite subjects will come together. Food... flowers... upcycling... Wales...

Nomadic Allotments is a project for the London Festival of Architecture being launched by the Welsh School of Architecture in Borough Market next month. Read all about it:

"The final allotment structures designed by the students will be constructed from reclaimed materials such as pallets and packaging provided onsite by Borough Market. The allotment structures will offer a variety of growing, eating and seating areas for market-goers, local visitors and residents alike."

The allotments will be officially launched on the 4th July, so grab a drink and a seat on one of the structures.

Bag bunting

Soon the World Cup will start. I wish the USA and England weren't in the same group; for a dual passport owner like myself things could get ugly. So I am supporting the Ivory Coast. All I need to show my colours is buy a bunch of stuff from Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer. With some orange bags and some green ones, I could make weatherproof bunting. Want some bag bunting of your own in order to show your own true colours? See a fabulous online tutorial by Hannah of Seeds and Stitches at Amelia's magazine, where she writes a column on creative reuse.

Crafty cakey gardening goodness

From Reestore comes yet another product in step with the zeitgeist...

Fat Bird is the complete fat cake creation kit. When you finish cooking and come up with a whole heap o fat, you're not supposed to pour it down the drain right? So pour that oily goop into the Fat Bird silicon mould, add some scraps, sprinkle on some birdseed and drop in a piece of string. Whack the recipe into the freezer and then when it's good and ready, hang it out for a feast for all our feathery birdy tweety friends.

At last, an invention that upcycles oil, hooray. Can we get a couple zillion of these sent to the Gulf of Mexico...?

Long and short of it

As many of you may know, I'm fairly obsessed with discovering new ideas for the creative reuse of surfboards. I was browsing Ebay for a VW Campervan, and found this four-wheeled wonder which contains part of an old longboard reborn as a table.

Essential oil

As I become more obsessed by the concept that metal containers can make great seating, I have no choice but to share my findings with you. Atelier Abigail Ahern offers the Drum Chair, made from hammered oil drums. They come in blue or red and cost £365, and it's not wrong to want one.

Reestore meanwhile has all kinds of objects suitable for resting your behind upon. Like a chair made from a shopping trolley, a settee crafted from a car bumper and a loveseat devised from a clawfoot tub. Their oil drum chair goes by the name of Ray, and when you lift up Ray's seat he returns the favour by offering you a hidden storage compartment.

Slippery business

Not long ago we read about the upcycling endeavours of Rafinesse & Tristesse, who make big olive tins into seating and toys. On my visit to Denmark last weekend, every corner held a giant olive tin or two doing double-duty as planters. We don't seem to have such aesthetic containers for our industrial fats in this country. It's just not fair!

Drink up!

The Hotel Ville d'Hiver in the Gironde region of France has many eco credentials, but it's coolest claim to fame might be that it is itself a grand exercise in upcycling.

Its central building is a water plant that opened in 1884 and operated for a century until 1984, when it became the property of Arcachon town council in return for a symbolic fee of one franc.

Though it was ravaged by fire in 1990 and spent several years in a derelict state, it rose up from the ashes last year to be reborn as a luxurious, inventive and atmospheric hotel.

Its former life as a water facility is best viewed from the side of the pool - which was in fact sliced out of the original underground reservoir. Many of its features - including the funnel-shaped Victorian water pipes and smoothly curving ceilings - are in evidence. As you languish here in fluid serenity, these are reminders of its hardworking liquid past.

(Thanks to super shooter Vaughan for the photos, which he took while I was busy snooping around the grounds...)

Post script

PS - I Made This is a whole new wonderful world where coffee stirrers can be reimagined as necklaces. There are heaps of projects - most leaning toward the fashion end o' the eco invention spectrum - and a weekly newsletter, so get yourself involved. In the meantime, take a gander at the chandelier made from plastic water bottles shown here.

The mastermind behind PS-IMT is Erica Domesek, a writer in New York City. According to the website, her "creative motto 'I see it, I like it, I make it' reflects the belief that one can find inspiration anywhere and transform what one sees into something fabulous to wear, use or look at." To that, we say hooray.

Beach rubbish bingo

Check this out, and maybe check in...

Opened less than a year ago, The Scarlet is a gorgeous hotel not far from Newquay. In spite of its name, it's ultra green. This is reflected in the eco activities on offer - from tree climbing classes to sustainability courses to upcycling workshops. For the latter, read all about it here:

Recycled beach finds workshops with Sarah Drew: Sarah Drew is holding a series of jewellery workshops at The Scarlet. Guests are invited to spend a relaxing day making jewellery from salvaged materials collected from the beach below the hotel.

As well as creating some contemporary jewellery, you can also enjoy a two-course lunch, which is included in the price.

Dates: 8th May, 17th July, 18th September, 16th October and 13th November 2010

Location: The Lower Dining Room

Time:10am - 4pm

Price: £52

Booking is essential. Please contact reservations for more details on 01637 861800.

For more information go to www.sarahdrew.com

Not Ralph Lauren

Once upon a time polo required a string of ponies, a handful of grooms and a whole shed-load of cash. In fact, a castle-load of cash would be preferable. Today, polo requires a fixed-gear two-wheeled vehicle, some scraps, some skills and the ice-cold nerves of a bike courier. There's a playground near where I live where men and women battle it out frequently. I inherited a polo mallet from my grandfather who used it when he was at agricultural college and everyone had to do some kind of junior cavalry business to get their degree. The riders I observed in Elephant & Castle weren't playing with wooden World War I era equipment though. After a bit of reading, it seems today's mallets are made by upcycling ski poles or golf clubs. Find DIY instructions at Hard Court Bike Polo and get swinging.

Canny idea

Basically I've tidied up our balcony, but I still have some issues. Such as: where do I stick a bag of potting soil that I am not particularly fond of staring at? What I would really like is to get an empty container, store the soil inside of it and sit upon it. I'm thinking a gigantimous industrial yoghurt pot would do nicely, or something from a building site that possibly previously contained a vast amount of primer or what-have-you.

I did come across these natty stools over at Bouf.com. They're from the good people at Rafinesse & Tristesse, and I think they are really quite clever. Perhaps even more clever though are the kiddie sink and stove made from upcycled olive oil tins. Will they accommodate my potting soil as well, I wonder?

Casa suite casa

The Casa Surf Project is a hotel with 10 suites, each one designed by a different surf brand. It would be nice if my fairy godmother would play concierge for just a minute and check me in to Suite 207, the Etnies crib. Upcycling ideas include a playful patchwork mosaic of shoe material scraps that serves as an artistic headboard and hand-painted skate wheels decorating the bathroom mirror.

Also in the bathroom is a kidney-shaped bathroom sink that doubles as a tiny skate pool complete with a pair of mini decks for finger boarding... Yo Fairy Godmother - are you reading this??

gives me a charge

Curious to know what you're looking at? It's a sculpture made of discarded batteries by Michel de Broin, and it comes via the brilliant blog known as Designsquish.

Take a seat

Read all about it… My blogging buddy-o over at Pass the Pattern couldn’t get the cushion she wanted at her local Habitat store. So instead she bought Habitat’s shopping bag made from the same fabric, unpicked the handles and the seam at the opening, inserted a cushion pad and used a slip stitch to close it all up. It’s pictured here with two salvaged Ercol chairs spruced up with a new lick of paint.

You could do the same thing with any shopper bag. I seem to accumulate these free at an alarming rate, but I will despair no longer now that I can see them in a new light – as (almost) readymade cushions.

Embellished bag bingo

Lie Down I Think I Love You - The Life Of A Handbag from James Partridge on Vimeo.

Lie Down I Think I Love You is, first, a fantastic name for a brand and, second, a cool handbag company in London. They buy vintage scarves from Ebay, auctions and other secret sources and incorporate these into their bag designs. At the press preview last week they unveiled new designs that feature vintage mirror compacts too. Here's a fab video on what they're about and how they do what they do.

All hail heli

One man's trash is another's treasure... And one tatami mat factory's reject is Mixko's choice material. Put it this way:

"Most Japanese homes have a traditional tatami room, called the washitsu. Tatami are rectangular mats, slotted together to cover the washitsu floor. Tatami are protected with a fabric border called heli. The heli border is often very special, incorporating traditional Japanese colour, pattern and family crests."

Special stuff should not be in the rubbish bin, which is why it's so nice to see it upcycled into new uses. If you're inspired by this tale, chances are wear your heart on your sleeve - and might be tempted to wear your heli on your waist.

Wishy washy

"I’m not saying you need a wash but when was the last time you saw a bar of soap?"

How can anyone resist a good intro like that? Don't resist, just visit my friend Clare's blog called Pass the Pattern to learn how one savvy soap seller - Nostalgia Organics - includes instructions with every bar on how to upcycle her natty fabric packaging into something wonderful...

That's what I call good clean fun.

Hang it all

When is a belt not a belt? When it's a surfboard wall strap!

Holding up a trouser is a noble cause. Holding up a board I think even more so.

(Thanks to Eugene for sharing this genius idea.)

Tale of New York

Yesterday LA, today it's New York. Thanks to my designing, blogging, teaching friend Jo of Soupa creative network who brought this to my attention.

The GUN reclamation project is the venture of ken & dana design, who've decided to take an instrument that inherently represents violence and reframe it as a symbol of non-violence. With materials sourced from gun manufacturers, they transform gun parts into jewellery; with each sale, proceeds are donated to a buyback program to get more guns off the street. Through the program, the DA’s office and the NYPD partner with local churches to offer $200 bank cards for any firearm turned in at one of their one-day events. Since 2008, 5,700 guns have been taken off New York’s streets.

As an example of upcyling, I really like it because not only does it reuse durable materials that would be extremely energy-intensive to recycle but it also prevents these components from being used in violent endeavours. Decommissioning + reappropriating = happy new world. It's definitely time to think outside of the Glocks.

LA story

My mom heard something cool on NPR recently, which is not surprising because NPR is filled with cool things and my parents listen to NPR pretty much from the moment their eyes open in the morning.

The story was about Recycle LACMA, a grand exercise in upcycling that you shouldn't miss. Pay a visit to see a 1960s Korean wedding coat transformed into a canteen cover or a textile from Uzbekistan made over into a travel pillow. They've made butterfly nets, beekeeper's hats, earmuffs and more. Any old ways, here's what the project has to say for itself:

"On January 14th, 2009 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced that it was deaccessioning more than 100 items from its costumes and textiles collection. Once carefully collected, catalogued, and cared for, these items have now been cast back out in to the world. What will happen to them? Like any other useless item, they will need to be recycled or disposed of.

Recycle LACMA is a project of Los Angeles-based artist Robert Fontenot. At three separate auctions he purchased over 50 items deaccessioned by LACMA and is now trying to find new uses for these otherwise unwanted items."

Fruit cocktail

Beautiful bespoke furniture by award-winning designers Kay + Stemmer might set you back a few bob. But beautiful home accessories by Kay + Stemmer upcycled from silkscreened plywood fruit boxes will not. The pair initially came up with the concept last year when they crafted some lovely stools, called Tutti Frutti, out of upcycled fruit boxes for the Food with Thought Event at Borough Market during London Design Festival.

We've blogged about this work before, but till now there was no way to buy it. So roll up roll up! For a limited time you can visit their website if you want a way to support the upcycling cause. Your efforts will be richly rewarded too. The Flash animations are funny, and the two designs are each limited to an edition of 100. Each piece comes signed and numbered, and will cost you no more than £106.