Future Anthropology

unconsumption: More pallet projects Do you remember when I...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:35:13 +0100

More pallet projects

Do you remember when I asked — here on Tumblr and on the Unconsumption Facebook page — about your interest in seeing other items made from repurposed pallets? The replies were overwhelmingly positive.

So my Unconsumption colleagues and I continue to be on the lookout for pallet projects we haven’t yet covered, such as this garden installation featured on French architect Patrick Nadeau’s Web site. Interesting use of pallets, isn’t it?

(Spotted on Pinterest here, via friend and landscape designer Susan Cohan.)

Related: Smaller-scale gardening in pallets: see previous posts on turning single pallets into vertical gardens here and here.

unconsumption: Another self-contained product — in which the...

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:24:23 +0100

unconsumption:

Another self-contained product — in which the packaging *is* the product

Unconsumption reader Cody Boehmig saw our post about this box-turned-lamp, and was inspired to tell us about several of his projects, including his (prototype) “Utilitarian Wall Shelf” made from used cardboard:

It begins as a folded 11″ × 14″ rectangle. Prompted by the instructions on the packaging, the user unfolds it [the packaging, which is a piece of scored, used cardboard] into a flat shape, and then folds it up into a shelf with the help of an easy-to-use letter-matching system. The nails that hold the shelf to the wall also hold the folded shelf together. The final shelf space is 11″ × 7″ and is sturdy enough to comfortably support a full load of average-sized books.

[Thx, Cody!]

poptech: Olson Kundig Architects install a mushroom farm inside...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:00:13 +0100

poptech:

Olson Kundig Architects install a mushroom farm inside a Seattle storefront that repurposes the city’s discarded coffee grounds as compost and teaches locals about urban agriculture.

(via architizer)

architizer: “Saving Food from the Fridge,” a series of analog...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:16:51 +0100

architizer:

“Saving Food from the Fridge,” a series of analog food preservation appliances by Jihyun Ryou.

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:20:23 +0100

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain

The Pirate Bay adds ‘physibles’ 3D-printing...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:00:06 +0100

The Pirate Bay adds ‘physibles’ 3D-printing category

The Pirate Bay has announced what it is calling the “next step” for the sharing society — a category called ‘physibles’ where people can share schematics for 3D-printable objects.

micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill REALLY saving...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:00:06 +0100

micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

REALLY saving energy by heating the person instead of the whole house

In June of 2010 I moved to a place in Montana with only electric heat. By myself. In the past few winters I had conducted experiments in cutting the amount of energy I needed to stay warm, with a focus on heating myself instead of heating the whole house.

unconsumption: At last, a practical use for those plastic VHS...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:56:52 +0100

unconsumption:

At last, a practical use for those plastic VHS tape boxes

A repurposed VHS tape case does double duty here: First, as wall-mounted storage, and second, as display space.

Things other than photos, like small pieces of artwork or mementoes, could be displayed on the front of the case — use your imagination!

(When I came across this item, via divaaniblogit.fi, on Pinterest, it made me smile.)

How to downsize a transport network: the Chinese wheelbarrow

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:00:05 +0100

How to downsize a transport network: the Chinese wheelbarrow

‘Shrooms Can Clean Oil-Tainted Soil

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:02:05 +0100

‘Shrooms Can Clean Oil-Tainted Soil

Biodynamic Farming Webinar: Top Ten Elements of Biodynamics...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:01:05 +0100

Biodynamic Farming Webinar: Top Ten Elements of Biodynamics

Biodynamic farmers take a holistic approach, with the goal of making the farm a self-contained, life-sustaining ecosystem. They understand a successful farm is a living community of plants, soil, wild and domestic animals, climate, and water - where all these elements converge and thrive.

Photo

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:00:05 +0100

Global Village Construction Set: Towards a DIY civilization Open...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:00:05 +0100

Global Village Construction Set: Towards a DIY civilization

Open Source Ecology is a network of farmers, engineers, and supporters building the Global Village Construction Set — a modular, DIY, low-cost, open source, high-performance platform that allows for the easy fabrication of the 50 different industrial machines that it takes to build a small, sustainable civilization with modern comforts.

They’ve launched a Kickstarter here.

The founder, Marcin Jakubowski, PhD, has a TED talk here.

Their extensive wiki has been facilitating global collaboration on the toolset. They have been 100% crowd funded for the last 4 years.

The aim of the GVCS is to lower the barriers to entry into farming, building, and manufacturing. Its a life-size lego set that could create entire economies, whether in rural Missouri, where the project was founded, or in the developing world.

Yes, they are crazy, idealistic, foolish, and headstrong. But they may succeed, and that would be really interesting.

This Is What a Healthy Information Diet Looks Like

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:00:05 +0100

This Is What a Healthy Information Diet Looks Like

unconsumption: “The 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:56:34 +0100

unconsumption:

“The 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced annually in the USA account for 160 million pounds of trash … and could stretch more than a million miles placed end-to-end. That’s from here to the moon and back — twice. Most consumers toss, rather than recycle, used tubes.” (source: USAToday)

Those alarming figures — which don’t include the numbers of tubes from paper towels, wrapping paper, and other sources — are more than a year old; they might be higher now.

On that note: Here are two recently spotted new uses for paper tubes:

Use them as covers for fluorescent light bulbs. (via DIY Florescent Light Cover | Katherine Hui — thanks, Katee!)

Build a toy slide out of them. (via LooLeDo; spotted on Pinterest.)

For other paper tube repurposing ideas, scroll through this segment of the Unconsumption archive.

The Lost Art of Lashing “Stable and strong - you can...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:15:05 +0100

The Lost Art of Lashing

“Stable and strong - you can almost make anything with lashing.”

Illustrated manual at makeprojects.

Celebrating the Luddite Uprisings

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:01:06 +0100

Celebrating the Luddite Uprisings

mossinthefur: Manic Organic 50 pens suspened from the branches...

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:01:05 +0100

mossinthefur:

Manic Organic

50 pens suspened from the branches of a Weeping Willow tree create a drawing on 4 panels placed horizontally beneath the tree.
The drawing is accompanied by a looped video of its production. Artist: Tim Knowles

Why Preserve Books? The New Physical Archive of the Internet...

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:04:05 +0100

Why Preserve Books? The New Physical Archive of the Internet Archive

Floating, Desalinating “Solar Cucumbers” Could Be the Future of...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:00:05 +0100

Floating, Desalinating “Solar Cucumbers” Could Be the Future of Water Purification