Today kicks off that one event that some prepare for all year long….Burning Man 2010.
Burning Man is an annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Sunday before and ends on the day of the American Labor Day holiday. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance.
As quoted by the Burning Man website, “Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind.”
We over her at Olive would love to hear about your favorite Burning Man experiences. Sound Off in the comments section below!
This post was sent in by one of our readers across the pond in the UK!
Recent design graduate Richard Brownlie-Marshallhas created a range of exiting new concepts to turn heads and turn cities greener. His final project, titled ‘Branch’, is a range of attachable objects that encourage engagement with nature at a local level, therefore increasing knowledge on a global scale.
The products look at the different ways that nature can interact with city life, bringing surprise and intrigue to the observer. The premise is to place the various products in unexpected locations around a city, encouraging discovery by the community and inspiring interaction with previously unloved spaces.
We appreciate the great design and thought behind the functional designs by great designers like Richard Brownlie-Marshall. The idea that great design, sustainability and functionality are a vital concept in the future of urban living.
To learn more about Richard Brownlie-Marshall and his work, click here.
Thank you very much to Richard Brownlie-Marshall for your contribution!
Kwangho Lee has created various pieces of furniture entirely out of hoses
How much refuse is going into your recycling bin that could be turned into something functional? If you stop and think about it, there are probably dozens of things that you are recycling that can be turned into everyday useful things. Un-used hoses, cardboard boxes, and even empty wine bottles can be utilized to create something unique and useful.
Huffington Post had a great article today about eco-furniture:
“As consumers grow more environmentally conscious, products that are less toxic and have less of an impact are in demand. From eliminating packaging and maximizing sustainability to using recyclable and waste materials for construction, designers are stepping up their game to provide new ideas for eco-furniture.”
We are always inspired over here at Olive by great design, especially when it involves sustainable and inovative techniques. We have seen buildings and homes built out of almost every material imaginable, so I am not sure exactly why this idea caught our attention.
Portland-based Pacific Green Innovations is set to build up to 10,000 homes in earthquake-ravaged Haiti — out of paper.
The business was created in October 2009 to help bring a German-made product, known as a SwissCell, to the United States. The SwissCell is a building panel made from 100 percent recycled paper and coated in a tough, recyclable resin that makes it both fire and waterproof.
We cannot wait to see what great structures they come up with next using this great technology. We think it is great they are offering their ideas to help those in need down in Haiti. To read more about the company and the efforts they are taking on in Haiti, click here.
Typical disposable diapers take 300-500 years to breakdown in landfills. EarthBaby compostable diapers take 14 weeks to turn into nutrient rich soil. Nothing more to say.
The 60 Bag biodegrades in 60 days. The bag is made of flax-viscose non-woven fabric and was developed and manufactured in Poland. The flax-Viscose fabric is produced with flax fiber industrial waste, which means it doesn’t exploit any natural resources and requires minimal energy during its production. In January this year 60Bag was honoured with the Green Dot Award.
I commend this type of material audit/exploration as well as the conscious investigation around the energy and resources to make such products. How long will it take for this type of product execution to make it’s way to our own land?
It looks as if one of Portlands most drab looking buildings is getting a make-over. A green one at that. The twenty-four year old Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt federal building in downtown Portland on SW third and Jefferson will undergo a 133 million dollar reonvation, making the building the largest single federal stimulous project in Oregon. For more information about how the Government is going green with this project, read this article.
Form follows form. Wonderful packaging solution utilizing course 100% recycled pulp (think egg cartons) and mold around the shape of your product – but add some design and engineering, stacking functionality and what you are left with is a unique, green-centric design solution.
The past year has seen a renewed interest from corporate America to embrace sustainability. We have watched over the past decade as this has moved from trend to mandatory initiative. This is largely thanks to consumers who are finally speaking up with their voices on social media portals and with their dollars as they support local and sustainable products. Indeed a decade ago I remember consulting with several larger companies who wouldn’t go down this path simply because people wouldn’t pay the premium price needed to make back the corporate investment into sustainable goods. Early initiatives in fact focused on consumer education to create “pull through demand”. . .that is a bigger consumer group demanding these products so that corporations would have no choice but to act, and ultimately have profitable ventures in this space.
However while there has been a lot of progress made, there is a lot more work to be done. It is up to consumers once again to keep setting the bar higher and higher. Corporations also need to move these initiatives out from behind marketing, and truly make them new core values to their corporate charters. Being sustainable means reimagining your entire way of doing business. How is product made, distributed, consumed. What is the carbon and water impact of an organization. How much collateral is made from printed materials instead of digital ? How is power consumption and travel handled? How efficient are buildings and plants? What kind of stewardship of these issues is being done at the corporate, community and employee level? Little changes can lead to big impact, but with the voice that consumers have today via social media. . .little changes also ring hollow and nothing less than a full corporate effort will be praised. I am excited that future generations are growing up with this as such a central issue to our lives, but we cannot wait for new generations to assume corporate power, the path must be laid now. Companies that truly embrace this value should stand to profit and earn marketshare, which at the end of the day is the best kind of marketing out there.
IceStone®products are the ideal choice for ‘green’ kitchen countertops. They’re also a great option for backsplashes, bathrooms, vanities, bathroom dividers, tabletops, interior walls, and commercial flooring applications. Beautiful shower surrounds and bathtubs could be made with IceStone® durable surface material. It can be shaped, water jet cut, inlaid, mounted vertically or horizontally. While there are 24 standard colors available, the color palette is infinite.
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