maybe design: sitbag suitcase chair

Maybe Design in Vienna and Istanbul is a mulidisciplinary art practice for product design architecture graphic design and design engineering. Bogac Simsir, Bora Akcay, Ener Eren & Erdem Akan, partners of Maybe Design, say that "Given and infinite time and budget, everyone can be theoretically creative, real creativity is to acheive the goals in limited time and within the limited budgets." Couldn't agree more.

neumatica: recycled inner tube bags

Argentinian company Neumatica Net makes the most fabulous looking bags out of recycled rubber inner tubes. Not only are they creating a lovely looking product, the tubes take more than 500 years to decompose. Neumatica bags are made using tubes from tires of any kind of vehicle, 100,000 tons of this material is disposed every year, in Argentina alone.

All rubber inner tubes begin plain and have no texture when new, but after being used, the heat of the tires transfers the design to them, so you will find multiple textures in Neumatica products.

sander lucas ontwerpen: remade design

Sander Lucas Ontwerpen, a graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven has a nice body of work focusing on recycling and upcycling objects turning them into more functional homewares.

jenny hurth: billboard repurposing

Jenny Hurth designes & hand sews these unique notebooks and beach bags in the San Francisco Bay Area from discarded vinyl signs and banners. The vinyl was originally printed for local trade shows, conventions, municipal or private advertising--she prevents them from going to the landfill. The practical recycled offerings are available online.

climbing rope sofa: oscar andersson

I love climbing, so this couch speaks to my inner ascender, by recycling used climbing rope for the woven cushion. This fantastic concept was designed by Oscar Andersson for the Beckmans College of Design and exhibited at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2010.

Andersson's two person chair entitled 'I made a Sofa But Its not for climbing mountains', was created partially out of a love of climbing and a distaste for wasting the used ropes and partially of nostalgia for talents that his grandparents showed (knitting and metalwork). He created the small sofa for lazy days in the sun but wanted a product that was self built, sustainable and easy to produce. Each chair takes on a unique look with multiple colors of braided ropes for the recline, the smart arm angles allow maximum comfort. He's a Green Genius!

gulnur ozdaglar: recycled & upcycled jewelry

Gülnur Özdağlar studied architecture at the Middle East Technical University and has been active as an architect since 1986. In 2008 she began an investigation into upcycling by producing cups, jewellery and home decoration accessories by recycling PET bottles. She collects, heats, cuts, melts, drill holes into & reshapes PET bottles turning them into enviable wearable art.

resign atelier: product reinvention

The Resign Atelier from Faenza Italy, aims to create functional objects from discarded materials. The projects undertaken by the founders, Andrea Magnani & Giovanni Delvecchio, explore reuse from a symbolic and referential perspective to create increased value for unloved objects. The duo intend to educate/consult people and companies offering inspired designs for reuse. Thanks to Andrea for sharing these fabulous products.
Resign Atelier

emocja studio: lampshade

Emocja Studio Poland upcycled the everyday paint chip sample using plastic rivets for this colorful lampshade.
via Designboom.

what is waste?: documentary series

What is Waste is a documentary series that features people redefining waste: salvagers, engineers, designers & architects all using waste in creative new ways to reduce impact of consumption.

This series features spirited individuals that survive or create using waste. Their stories will educate and motivate attitudinal and behavioral change. Waste? explores what motivates people to reuse and causes reflection about our relationship with our own waste, recycling habits, consumption patterns, and to take relevant action.

recycled movie reels: movie time clocks

Movie Time Clocks

feuerwear: recycled fire hose bags

Feuerwear from Germany has a beautiful color range for their collection of upcycled firehose bags. From bright vibrant red, soft faded orange to clean white, the used fire hoses give each bag wonderful character. Feuerwear manufactures messengers, handbags, organizers, filofax's, shoppers and fanny packs. With indestructible durability, these bags would make an awesome gift for the holidays!

Thanks Veshengro

elvis & kresse: recycled firehose bags

Elvis & Kresse from Amsterdam, utilize waste fire hoses turning them into chic red handbags, toiletry bags wallets and belts.

rehab vintage furniture

Rehab Vintage has a nice offering of vintage and repurposed furnishings.

junktion: recycled housewares

Junktion is a fabulous company from Tel Aviv spicing up old junk to transform it into wonderful new treasure. The fresh gas tank baskets and bike horn candlesticks are such an inventive way of upcycling used times. See more on their site. via AT

brian dettmer: cassette tape skull

Atlanta based artist Brian Dettmer creates intricate sculptural skeletons using altered, heated cassette tapes. Dettmer began creating the pieces in 2005 as he was thinking about the demise of analog media in the increasingly digital world. As well as the animal skulls, he has a series of 12 human skulls made from tapes--each with a different theme like heavy metal or hard rock. The most complex sculpture thus far is a complete human skeleton that he constructed made from over 180 cassettes.

via Design Boom

sculptures from beach trash

A group of eco-minded artists from the UK-based NGO Camps International, have spent the summer cleaning up beaches on the Kenyan coastline and collected some 200 bags of ocean debris, including over 7000 discarded flip-flops. They used some of the debris to create two life-size sculptures, a whale shark-the world’s largest fish and a whale. The sculptures are meant to encourage individuals to think about the aquatic ecosystem before using the ocean as a dump site.

via Treehugger

this into that: jim rosenau: berkeley california

This Into That
Jim Rosenau was raised in a house with 5,000 books. He has been making and selling thematic bookshelves from vintage books since 2002. The idea occurred to him years earlier after reading an essay, "Books As Furniture," by Nicholson Baker. Given his background as the son and grandson of publishers, he assumed the reaction, should he make such a thing, would be furious. The work, once underway, proved him wrong. So wrong in fact books as shelves is now a popular DIY project.

haute gothic: recycled inner tube fashion

Zuss Design from the Netherlands offers an impressive array of recycled rubber gothic clothing. I especially appreciate the creative construction of the handbags.