Just over three years ago, the collaborative effort of the not-for-profit Voices for Global Change and a small group of women from a Ugandan IDP camp brought about Paper to Pearls, a micro-enterprise initiative that has transformed the lives of hundreds of women and their communities. The women beaders of Paper to Pearls handcraft beautiful, 100% green recycled paper bead jewelry. The income from the sale of these eco-chic necklaces, earrings, and bracelets has enabled the women to provide food and medicine for their families as well as schooling for their children.

It was our great delight when the Triennale Design Museum of Milan, Italy requested to display Paper to Pearls necklaces alongside the work of over 60 globally renowned jewelry artists as part of their Paper Jewellery exhibit.

Our beaders’ transformation of a very humble medium into a fashion statement epitomizes the thematic concepts of the show- the spirit of sustainability and the inherent value possible in everyday items.

The women of Uganda craft beautiful necklaces out of recycled paper as a creative and industrious response to the limitations of a post-conflict country. In our own environment, where access to desired resources is relatively easy and plentiful, our Ugandan beaders are a constant inspiration to incorporate ingenuity and resourcefulness into our daily lives. As the themes from the Milan exhibit and the stories of our women so perfectly capture, it is important to continually find resourceful, sustainable ways to turn an ordinary material into an extraordinary product.

www.papertopearls.org

Article by Hilary Hamlin

Here in the UK (and beyond) you may have heard about Antony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth art project called ‘One & Other‘. The project involves a different member of the public standing on the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days to make a living monument. Each individual may use their hour on the plinth as they wish.

Here in Nottinghamshire a local artist and actress, Hazel Ellerby-Sansom, has been chosen to stand on the plinth on Wednesday 12th August at 3pm. Hazel has decided that she wants to spend her time celebrating women of the East Midlands (UK) and the traditional craft of patchwork.

So, Hazel wants women of the East Midlands to create patchwork squares which will be sewn together to make a quilt. She will display the quilt on the plinth whilst reading out a message for each square. After its time on the fourth plinth the quilt will travel around art galleries in the East Midlands and will finally be auctioned off with the proceeds going to charity. Details of art galleries, dates of auction etc are still to be confirmed as this will be an ongoing project.

If you’re a woman living in the East Midlands of the UK (it really does need to be the East Midlands only please) then how about you send a green message from the Fourth Plinth? All you need to do is create a patchwork square sized 12″ x 12″ of any design with a short message attached. Tell London and the world about how important the environment is to you. Keep it short though (just a few words) as Hazel only has an hour to read them all out.

Please send your completed square (one per person please) to Hazel Ellerby-Sansom, 17a Fisher Lane, Bingham, Nottinghamshire, NG13 8BQ by 1st August to be displayed on the plinth. Hazel will accept squares after this date for the quilt’s longer term plans but they may not be included in the plinth display.

I’ll be making my patchwork square this weekend and I’m very excited to be involved!

The Fourth Plinth project began on 6th July and will end on 14th October 2009. You can watch the footage 24/7 online at www.oneandother.co.uk.

Do you know what’s going to happen tomorrow? How about in 10 years time? Or even 100 years? Do you know what kind of houses we’ll be living in, how we’ll travel to work or school, what kind of food we will eat, or what will the landscape will look like? The uncertainty of the future can be exciting for some and worrying for others, but what’s certain is that we all have a significant part to play in what lies ahead. So how do we encourage people engage people with their future now? This week at The first Norfolk + Norwich Sustainable Living Festival The Butterfly Effect installation invites visitors to find their own points of view on the future of the Norfolk Broads.

In collaboration with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research my sustainable design consultancy Elio Studio has created an enormous map of the Norfolk Broads as part of a project called CreativeData.

Each day of the festival we have been asking people to stick icon stickers on the ‘future map’ of the Norfolk Broads. We’re asking everyone to think about what the landscape will be used for in the future and what they can do to look after this ecologically sensitive environment that is vunerable to the potential effects of climate change. With each individual contribution the map changes and develops, becoming more that the sum of its parts over time.

It has been an amazing week so far, with participants of every age, from 1 to 80 years old. Everyone has found it challenging to imagine their future, but they have loved interacting with the map, sticking their stickers down and giving us their opinions. The kids workshops have been particularly rewarding, with local children thinking about what their lives will be like in Norfolk in 2050. ‘The Butterfly Effect’ has attracted lots of interest from local newspapers, BBC East and the good people of Norfolk. We’ve had about 4000 people a day walking across our ‘future map’ and there is still one day left to participate, so if you find yourselves near by do come and join us to add your contribution to the future.

The Butterfly Effect is the culmination of CreativeData, an innovative collaborative project between social and climate scientists from the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia (www.cru.uea.ac.uk/projects/creativedata/index.htm) and sustainable design consultancy Elio Studio (www.eliostudio.com).

The Butterfly Effect at The Forum in Norwich 22-28 May.

Written by Leonora Oppenheim

Changing for the sake of the planet may require falling off of it. It may require a break from that grounded feeling. People may wonder what happened to you or if all is ok.  All is fine with me now, even though at some points I thought I had ruined my life.

I haven’t written in awhile because I have been busy changing.  It has been a drawn-out process; one where I messed my life up in order to put it back together. What accelerated my change was an artwork and I write today to present it as an exercise.

In December 2007, I was asked to participate in an art exhibit called “Heating up,” a show about global warming at the Evanston Art Center north of Chicago. I was given an entire room to work with and created an installation of a once flooded room and filled it with my journals, journals from my future. The Installation was called “Found” and the discovered journals were tattered and once waterlogged, make most of the pages illegible.  I worked on these journals for 8 months, writing about how my life would be and how the world was to be. I considered global warming (and climate change) but didn’t sugar-coat things, nor did I go down the gloom and doom road.  I plunged into this fantasy with my New England work ethic and absorbed the future challenges of life with bravado. I inserted myself into a distant world and discovered a place that I actually could be.  Yes, it was a world where the polar bears were sadly no longer, yet a world filled with ingenuity and resiliency. So, the most urgent question became why wait?  Why was I keeping the life I could live as some future occurrence?  Had I learned to cherish the present and live in the moment too successfully? Why not speed up that process and begin to create that life now?

In this imaginary future I was not the person I expected to be, but did discover that this new person was quite content. I found a direction that led me closer to a natural disposition when I projected myself realistically into the future.  I gained a secure footing to break free and truly look beyond the things cast upon me; to ignore what isn’t working and replace it with an image of what will. The mind is a powerful tool.

I write to encourage you to loosen your footing for a brief moment in life.  Go ahead and stick your head in the clouds, dream on and imagine a different world.  So many people are letting go, so you are not alone.  We are accepting what isn’t and putting days of global silliness behind us. We all have great stories to tell as we redefine convenience, conscientious and comfort.

I look forward to writing more. : )

WARNING: This photo of regenerated cellulose can alter your mind.

A funny thing happened on my way to make the “greenest” tee on the planet. It is said that artists are like scientists, and in my case, it is fairly true. I am a process artist and love to learn how things are made, I like to start a project without a plan, study along the way and allow it to unfold “naturally.” I have an interest in methods and materials. I don’t ever claim to be an expert, as I run through the assorted worlds of chemistry, agriculture, and manufacturing.

When studying bamboo, and simultaneously worshipping it, finding facts was arduous. I desperately wanted to understand this “new” clothing fiber. Perhaps I put too much expectation on bamboo. I wanted bamboo to solve the world’s environmental problems. I wanted it to be the new genius invention that shows how smart we humans can be. And, because it a legal “cousin” to hemp, and grows in many regions, I viewed it as a new solution (for the USA at least.) I was committed to helping usher in bamboo fabric.

One day, I received a microscopic photo of bamboo fabric from a lab test that I initiated. Bamboo fabric is a regenerated cellulose, from the same process used to create rayon or viscose. The plant is broken down into a paste in order to push it through a spinneret to make thread. What I learned that day is that once a natural cellulose fiber is put through the regeneration process the very origin of the cellulose source is lost. To the chemist’s eye it is cellulose, which is abundant on the earth and found in trees, plants like hemp, cotton, jute and some grasses like bamboo. Where the regenerated cellulose came from cannot be known. Under the microscope, all regenerated cellulose has the same chemical and physical characteristics. At this point, it would only be logical to determine that any natural characteristics associated with a particular cellulose resource would also be lost. What I learned that day is that regenerated cellulose fabric can easily be made from bamboo, birch, beech, oak or pine! What?!

I ran into my husband’s wood shop and waved to him to stop cutting wood. I pointed to the bags of sawdust that tend to stack up at the door. “Honey, cellulose is cellulose! My tees could easily be made from your waste!” The thread in my tees could have easily been made from his sawdust. (What a great green idea for our future!)

Suddenly, in my eyes, my beloved bamboo fabric went from extraordinary to ordinary. Too sad for words. I had some personal decisions to make concerning my tee shirt company and my aim to be as green as possible. Yes, bamboo remains a great renewable cellulose resource and I still support it for some uses. The green question for me is, if I am to use regenerated cellulose, why use cellulose grown on the other side of the planet? I have cellulose sources all around me. Could I manage to take my decision to switch fabric publicly without confusion? I knew in my heart that with this new information the answer was not only apparent, but my integrity was tied to it. Needless to say, I immediately looked back into a local cellulose source, USA organic cotton (a soft fiber that doesn’t need to be regenerated.) I am happy to report that there is progress being made in styles, colors and the whole production from field to tee. I am now settling into a new place with my pursuit of a green tee.

This experience really gave me a jolt. I had been trying to get my art, my thoughts, on my tees and finally I was so moved that the “artist block” disappeared and words poured out. I have much to say and now can see my USA organic cotton tee as a blank canvas in need of some expression. I am just starting to make some strong points!

After the success of last year’s Green and Organic event in September 2007 The View from the Top will be doing it all again this year.

Eco queen and Nottingham lovely lady Penney Poyzer will be MC-ing at the opening night on 4th september (6pm – 9pm). That’s not all – there will be an exciting eco fashion show and stalls from local green and Fairtrade companies too.

From 3rd to 13th September the View from the Top gallery will also be exhibiting works from green artists, designers and makers. If you’d like to showcase your work, the deadline is 30th August so hurry!

Visit the Green and Organic ’08 event blog to find out more.

Hope to see you there on the opening night!

Nearly all of us have an object at home whose sentimental value far outweighs its worth in cold hard cash. And despite what some may say, savouring your precious object doesn’t make you a ‘Gollum’, and I think it is a really valuable characteristic; one that will help us all to make the most of what we have, and keep it that way for the future.

Most of us are already questioning how our lifestyle impacts on the planet; in particular our consumption of resources such as fossil fuels, food, clothing and household goods. I propose that one of the best ways to reduce our rate of consumption (particularly of personal and household goods) is to invest in objects of quality that last, that we can keep, and that we can share with others.

Having worked in the craft sector for 4 years now, opening Pure Design, an eco-design gallery earlier this year, I regularly visit craft fairs to scout for new eco-design talent. This week I met Amy, a maker who has set up an alternative luxury knitwear brand called ‘Keep & Share’. Her mission is to create a sustainable ‘slow fashion’ label, which seeks to reverse the effects of throwaway fashion by creating ‘best friend’ pieces that will transcend short-lived trends and age gracefully. I thought this was right on the money.

And the great news is, there are many more makers and designers who have a very similar outlook to Amy. Susiemaroon, a Scottish eco-designer takes leather otherwise destined for landfill and creates chic floor hides and cushions. An Alleweireldt from Oxx uses old floppy disks, vinyl records and lollipops she has hoarded over the years to create cutting edge jewellery. What many describe as a labour of love (41% of UK earned less than £10,000 in 2002) drives these artists to create unique and beautiful pieces of design that we can buy and admire every day. Craft also satiates our desire to collect, with individual pieces acting as souvenirs or memories of a person, place or time.

AND as craft is small scale production, designers are able to keep tabs on exactly what goes into their ‘product’. They can source greener, sustainable materials, often using locally sourced, found or reclaimed materials. They can control production techniques, using non-toxic dyes and chemicals. And with so many artists working from home – they can keep their own carbon footprint right down. Weaver, Angela Morley talks about her passion for nature and natural materials in BBC’s Made in England

With these positive eco aspects to craft, and not forgetting the fact that craft can suit all budgets, shouldn’t we all need to take a little more time to measure the true worth of products before we pay out? And with all the economists telling us we need to watch our spending, I think craft for keeps could be a very sound investment…

Elaine set up Pure Design, a social enterprise and online eco-design gallery in October 2007. Its mission is to promote sustainable design and designers in the UK. Pure Design does this largely by providing a platform from which designers can show and sell their work, and encourages exchange of eco-design knowledge between established and emerging eco-design talent. To find out more visit our Pure Design website. www.puredesigncompany.co.uk

For all green art enthusiasts, this is the event for you!

A charity art auction, ‘Art Aid: Embrace‘ will be taking place on Saturday 21st June to raise money to support poor communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America adapt to climate change.

The work of around 50 artists from the East Midlands will be displayed in the View from the Top gallery in Nottingham from Wednesday 18th June until the reception and auction on Saturday 21st June.

The many artworks available are:
Painting and Drawing
Mixed Media
Original Printmaking
Ceramics and Sculpture
Photography
Signed Print

So there’s something for all art lovers out there!

If you’d like an evening of culture, treat yourself to a beautiful piece of art and help raise money for those affected by climate change then pop along to the website www.art-aid.org to find out more.

I wanted to wear a real beet red tee! I dreamt of real saffron yellow fabric on my skin! Yes I did! Carrots, coffee, cranberries, and conch…
I imagined not only the beauty of it, but also the heightened sense of being grounded. It didn’t work. Vinegar, salt, soda ash…. it did not work. The color washed out quickly and often turned to puce. I have a list of places to buy natural dyes and something called mordent; chemicals to make the color stay. Can I do this in my studio? Once I learned the quantity of materials needed to dye one tee (lbs. of bugs or bark), the cost (omg), and the nature of the chemicals, I got a bit leery. The amount of scientific work made my mind swirl.

I am an art school honor student, well versed in the color theory of Itten and Albers. Color is the greatest playground. In chemistry class I learned about the compositions of pigments (minerals) but never thought about dyes. I looked further and opted to use “traditional” (1950′s) reactive dyes.

In all my studying I never came across a bit of information that startled me to silence. Most dyes in the textile industry are synthetic. 100% of these dyes originate from petrochemicals. Yuck! Why did I ever have to read that! Take it back! A rainbow on an oil slick is now stuck in my head!

My colorful world went grey (and it was winter in Chicago and this didn’t help.) How, when I rest on my green sofa, can I stop thinking that I am laying on oil! How can we wean ourselves off oil if our very world is brightened up by it? What can I do? I wallowed for some time. Mum was the word on what I had found.

So I now wonder, if you take an organic garment, and add any type of chemical to it, does that organic fabric stay organic? Is it better to say “grown organically” so that consumer understands that it has been altered? Is true green color-free? And, what about babies? A baby’s skin is under developed, so new and fresh, thin and open, shouldn’t all baby clothes be dye-free? Wouldn’t that be the wisest choice for infants and the earth?

In the green journey there are wind surges of information that inspire new direction — “Crew, I changed my mind, tact the sails we are now heading north!”

I take change seriously, but as far as color dyes are concerned I will take small gradual steps. No “speed of lightening” action here; my tee shirt collection will stay colorful. I will, however, move to a more knowledgeable palette with time. I had heard, and believed, that being “Green” doesn’t need to require much sacrifice. I now believe that it does. It is my vision of “Green” that is a process requiring time. I am up to the task because I aim to find beauty on the journey to create the ideal “Green” tee.

Currently, I am hand-dyeing tees in my studio and examining all the details to better understand and control each color’s impact. I am admiring all the color I have in reach. My tees tell a story; a new medium for “Green” exploration, not business as usual, as some may think.

The other week I was at a conference in Glasgow and took the opportunity to go and visit Entrading, a new green/eco/ethical/fairtrade/organic/generally very nice shop.  I had read about it the week before, so I had to go!

What a fabulous place, it’s not massive but packs in a lot of great products – and a cafe.  Unfortunately I didn’t have time to try the food, which was a shame as the food at my conference wasn’t very good.  I was very good, and restricted myself to buying a Seasalt top and a candle, but was very tempted by the Gossypium undies and the Lavera perfume (I never knew they did perfume).  I’m pretty sure that my boyfriend will love their organic Glas-gu t-shirt as well.

I could have bought loads more stuff: stationery, bags, presents for all my pregnant friends, a washing machine, paint, all sorts.  I’ll definitely be making lots of return visits whenever I’m in Glasgow, and hope to try some of the yummy-looking food next time.