Plarn

Can City

؜Can City is a collection of aluminium objects made from waste on the streets of São Paulo. A mobile foundry was created from salvaged materials to melt aluminum cans using waste vegetable oil collected from local cafes as a fuel. Waste collectors known as Catadores mine the streets for materials to create objects with vernacular aesthetic, providing a portrait of the streets.

Second Nature

Chris Gilmour Cardboard Artworks

Gilmour makes both functional and sculptural works from only recycled corrugated cardboard and glue.

Cardboard tube furniture

؜Beverage Carton Pavillion

؜Architects and engineers from ETH Zurich university have used waste material to create a vaulted pavilion for New York City's Ideas City festival (+ slideshow).

Soda bottle plastic is extremely strong! Some makers have designed a rig to cut used bottle into plastic cording, which can then be used in a variety of applications.

Soda Bottle Cording

؜Plastic bottles woven into baskets or bins

؜Woven boxes

Plastic Bottles structures

Plastic bottles upcycled into garden materials: planters and roofs.

Plastic Bottles structures

؜Load-bearing soda bottle truss systems.

Plastic Bottles structures

Eco bricks are plastic bottles densely packed with clean, dry, non-recyclable plastic waste, transforming it into a building material. They are a way to reuse plastic that would otherwise end up in landfills or the environment, and can be used to build various structures like furniture, garden beds, and even homes.

Eco Bricks

؜Joining Bottles

؜Joining Bottles is an experimental wood-joining technique using shrunk plastic bottles.

By heat, a simple plastic bottle is transformed into a wood bonding material offering a meaningful and accessible way to build functional structures.

Upcycled CDs

Upcycled wind chimes

؜Upcycled Cassette Tape

؜Simmons is an Atlanta based self-taught artist who looks to discarded and found objects for inspiration. Her gorgeous cassette and VHS tape portraits fuse meaning with medium.

By reviving mundane household castaways into sui generis sculptural pieces that are both beautiful and functional, Jay aims to raise awareness about the waste that our disposable culture produces. “I want to make people a little more appreciative of what they have, instead of always looking for something new”, Jay explained.

Savage Furniture

Mark Howell is an artist that transforms broken umbrellas into chic lamps.