The idea of plastic as Utopian material is an attractive and not entirely impossible or foreign concept. In recent years, entrepreneurs and activists have found several creative ways to recycle, reuse, reproduce and reduce plastic on industrial and personal scales.
Seeking Plastopia was not entirely about overlooking the fact that plastic is not all that fantastic and its impacts have been seen and felt by most in many ways. The project chooses to look at ways that we are changing our behaviour and acknowledging the amazing properties and ways plastic have changed our lives.
An future where we eradicate plastics completely from our lives would probably take a long time before we see the change. So why not embrace the material and try to change what is harmful for us and use it towards out advantage?
Adidas 3D printed Ultra Boost from plastic waste
September 19, 2016
Adidas is bringing out a new collection of recycled ocean plastic sneakers that is both environmentally sustainable and aesthetically gorg. The collection features an Ultra Boost and a Pure Boost X in the colours of the ocean, with a 3D-printed midsole made from recycled polyamide and an upper made from used plastic sourced from the Maldives.
First 3D printing pen that uses recyled plastic: Renegade
July 05, 2016
We often use 3D printing for our projects and one day we finally got fed up with highly overpriced filaments. The plastic pellets used by manufacturers reach a maximum price of $0.6 per kg while the filaments they sell on to us can reach $200-250 per kg. After paying $100 for a 3D pen and being obliged to buy its filaments for $10 per 50 gram pack i.e. $200 per kg, we couldn't help but think this is crazy! At the same time we've all witnessed the mountains of used plastic bottles and bags that continue to critically pollute our environment... and that plastic is practically the same as that which is widely used for filament production! That's how Renegade was born. The perfect solid tool to eliminate overpriced filaments and to save the environment by directly recycling and reusing household plastic waste for 3D printing.
Growing food on plastic wastes
November 04, 2016
Fungi Mutarium is a prototype that grows edible fungal biomass, mainly the mycelium, as a novel food product. Fungi is cultivated on specifically designed agar shapes that the designers called "FU".The "FUs" are filled with plastics. The fungi is then inserted, it digests the plastic and overgrows the whole substrate. The shape of the "FU" is designed so that it holds the plastic and to offer the fungi a lot of surface to grow on.
Eco Age Campaigns: Promoting sustainable fashion
May 04, 2016
Eco-Age is a group currently encouraging Hollywood celebrities to participate in their green fashion campaign called the "Green Carpet Challenge". Various high-end brands have responded to their campaign and have started to produce sustainable fashion pieces including Gucci, Chopard, Stella McCartney and Narciso Rodriguez.
Plastic wind turbines changing lives in Hanoi slums
July 03, 2016
In the floating village along Hanoi's Red River electricity is at a prime. Many homes are too far from power stations to benefit, while those living closer can only afford to use a small amount of power. But these electrical generators that use red plastic bowls as blades are beginning to change that and the quality of life for those living here. Besides generating clean energy, they're slashing electricity costs by up to a third for low income families.
Colourful beach huts from recycled plastics
February 22, 2016
Architecture firm Spark wants to use plastic to build a series of elevated beach huts resembling giant pine cones in Singapore. The aim is to offer sheltered camping spaces for park visitors, but also to help raise awareness about the effects of ocean plastic, which is estimated to be killing over a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year.
Plastic bottle cutter: Universal handy ropes
February 22, 2016
The Plastic bottle cutter is a smart pocket-size tool with which you can very easily cut any plastic bottle – of juice, soda or other – into a fine plastic rope that can be used for just about as many purposes as you can think of. Whether it is for handy and DYI purposes, for creative uses and arts & crafts, for car towing (really!), or even to survive a zombie post-apocalyptical world, the plastic ropes that you can turn plastic bottles into can be extremely useful.
Recycled plastic cubes: Mull
March 01, 2016
Müll is a sustainable project we are starting to reduce plastic in our environment. We have developed a process where the beauty of recycling is preserved and incorporated into thoughtfully designed objects. These objects are extremely durable and will stand the rigors of daily use for years to come.
Plastic wastes into affordable housings in Mexico
January 21, 2016
A startup in Mexico, EcoDomum, is using plastic waste as a raw material for creating low-cost wall and roof panels, and a subsidized housing program underwrites some of the cost, with families only paying some 5,000 pesos (~$280 US) for a 430 ft2dwelling. The company collects all kinds of used plastic—from soda bottles to old toys—and separates it to find the types that melt without emitting harmful fumes. chopping the plastic into pieces before melting them into panels.
Home solution to transforming waste to useful items
October 28, 2015
Dutch designer David Hakkens developed a plan that will allow anyone to recycle plastics into useful items. The machines are developed using basic tools and materials. The instructional videos and blueprints are also shared on open source online. This way people around the world can build them.The set includes a plastic shredder, an extruder, an injection moulder and a rotation moulder, which can each be used to turn waste plastic into new products.
3D printing from plastic waste : Protocycler
March 12, 2015
Over the years, 3D printing has been a technology under the spotlight. However, in the process of printing, more wastes are in fact generated from the off-cuts . Three engineering physics students at the University of British Columbia in Canada have invented the ProtoCycler, a device that can grind up all kinds of waste plastic into a beautiful clean spool of plastic filament that can be used in a 3D printer. We're talking anything - plastic bottles, 3D-printing cut-offs, takeaway food containers. If your kids leave their LEGOs out one too many times for you to tread on with your bare feet... throw them in too. It works just like a juicer
Recycled fishnets skateboard : Bureo
April 13, 2014
Launched by three friends (Ben, David, Kevin), the project was founded through a deep connection with the ocean environment. Becoming aware of the various threats to our waterways, they made it our mission to do something about ocean plastics. They started dreaming big over a year ago, and left their safe careers behind in search of solutions. The answer was ‘Skateboards for Plastic-Free Oceans’.
Open source sea chair
February 15, 2013
Studio Swine demonstrates how waste plastic picked up by fishing trawlers can be transformed into chairs on board the boats. The process is simplified and we are able to build the chairs using a small factory onboard vessels. They have released a manual so others can build the chairs too.
PET bottles providing free lighting
August 18, 2012
What if something as simple as an old plastic bottle filled with water could mean the difference between light and darkness? Rudimentary as it may sound, the almost no-cost solution is uplifting the quality of life of thousands of impoverished families in the Philippines who have no access to electricity and use dangerous kerosene lamps indoors. These makeshift solar lamps basically act as skylights, and reflect and amplify the rays of the sun during daylight hours – effectively performing the work of indoor lightbulbs – but without using any electricity at all.