Ocean's Bane

Is it me, or has the ocean of plastic we use in our daily lives increased exponentially over the last few years?

A regular shop at the supermarket and the scenario when I get home is always the same. Remove the plastic wrapping or container and throw it away. What could I do with it anyway? Even stranger and I am ashamed to say, some of the aforementioned items, before being put into the refrigerator, are then transferred into a box from the plastic box drawer—yes, we all have one!

Above are some examples of plastic wrapping from food stuffs I bought recently. It's hard to find anything in a supermarket without a plastic covering these days. Even a cucumber has a plastic wrapping—can someone tell me what that's all about?

Eventually, the empty packets, yes you guessed it, get thrown away in black plastic bags and buried in dumps for all eternity. Or their contents find their way out into the oceans, to float around like macabre algae, until they end up inside and killing marine life and birds.
Did you know most plastics will take anywhere from 450 to 1000 years to biodegrade? There are even some that won't biodegrade ever—so, what are we thinking?

Mild attempts to reduce the plastic bag flow are made by some supermarkets, with a money back incentive, to encourage you to reuse the bag on your next visit. Methinks this is merely lip service and a ploy to make you revisit their shop.

As remarkable as I think human achievements are and continue to be, when it comes to destroying the planet we seem to be experts in it and turn a blind eye to its ever increasing plight.

So, from now on, I've decided to change my shopping habits. I'm going to use the little shops and markets more often and go in search of food that isn't wrapped in plastic—who's with me?

You may also be interested to hear, as an artist, and in the light of environmental challenges, I'm currently writing a creative E-Course. Due to appear later in the year or early 2018. In it, the problem is addressed through hands on creativity, along with sources, resources and an informed environmental awareness.

It's an E-Course for adults wishing to take time for themselves creatively as well as meet others of a like mind. Regardless of artistic experience or creative level—so that includes you!

If you'd like to be kept up to date on my E-Course as it progresses, or have always wanted to take part in a creative class, with an environmental flavour, please, sign up for my newsletter to be kept up to date on my progress: here

The newsletter is a digital feast that will arrive in your inbox monthly, it also includes my most current illustrative work.

Thank you for reading!

© Alison Day 2018

Alison Day Design 

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Static Seaweed

Now here's a fabulous use for all that plastic floating around in the seas. Re-purpose it into one of these tar-coloured seaweed stools.

Design Squish

Sea Me Now

Take a look at a surprising collaboration for a fashion shoot - The majestic and imposing forms of the sea's largest fish, the shark whale alongside the mermaid-like mannequins. 

By including  the shark whale, photographers  Shawn Heinrichs and Kristian Schmidt aim to raise awareness about the environment and conservation.

Via: DesignTaxi

Coasting Along

Molson, a Canadian beer company, has come up with an ingenious idea for its beer coasters, which is also an ecologically friendly one too. In a special campaign, they have infused their beer coasters with seeds, so that when planted and watered they should grow into black spruce trees.

Love the idea, but I am curious if the infusion of beer into these coasters as they fulfil their original task of soaking up beer, before they are planted will have any effect on the evolution of black spruce trees in the long run?

Source: DesignTaxi

Creative with Wood

Both a versatile and durable material, wood lives on long after it's transformation. Sensitive to hot and cold, it expands and contracts as it settles itself into its new role. 


This mushrooming shape is strangely appealing. For more design work using wood, visit the finds on The Cool Hunter 

The Colour Green

Of the seven colours of the rainbow, the theme of this issue of the Connections, I have been allotted the fourth and middle colour of the rainbow to write about - the colour green.

The usual ideas present themselves, as I sit fingers poised above the computer keyboard, of recycling, reducing ones CO2 footprint and saving energy, but not this time. This time I shall approach the colour green on a tangent in a direction of what I would call, semi-green.

There is a changing awareness of how to tackle pollution when it comes to personal transport, by opting for the lesser polluter. As a reaction to the often-prohibitive costs of running a car, many inhabitants of the Netherlands are opting for a scooter. Previously the domain of the young and often seen as noisy and naff, the scooter is increasingly becoming a favourite, particularly with the more mature clientele of forty plus. 

Evaluating the pros and cons, it’s not rocket science to discover that a scooter is cheap to run, can get you across town in the blink of an eye, avoids traffic jams and can be parked anywhere, just like a bicycle. That said, the millionth scooter has long left the showroom floor in the Netherlands, for the open road and now like a plague of locusts, they are everywhere. Amsterdam is reported recently as having 1.6 million scooters in the city. 

So what now? Will the famously wide Dutch cycle paths have to be made wider still to accommodate the additional numbers of buzzing scooters and thereby, finally, relegating the car to a narrower one? I may well jest, but methinks the day of personal transportation is evolving towards a more economically viable options, albeit in its infancy.

So, what’s out there to choose from? Well, there are a myriad of different brands of scooter to choose from, with an equally broad range of prices for every pocket. But, moving right along and ignoring the riff raff, the most popular model to date, is that of the hip and trendy Italian, Vespa. Being totally unenamored by cars myself, recently I bought a Vespa as an alternative to my bicycle and yes, I love my Vespa! Decked out in a stylish black with chrome and beige saddle (often with my son riding pillion), I wiz through the streets of Groningen with the greatest of ease. Everyone looks at a Vespa too as it passes, as they are a design masterpiece and very stylish; as a result we are often waved and honked at.

So where did it all begin? The Piaggio Company was founded in 1884 by Rinaldo Piaggio (1864-1938) in Genoa. Vespa’s design has evolved from a single model first manufactured 23rd April 1946, from a design by aeronautical engineer Corradino D'Ascanio at the end of WWII, into a full line of scooters and a total of seven companies, owned by Piaggio. This has made Piaggio a forerunner in the scooter world, producing the first globally successful scooter ever. The unique design of the Vespa appeared during the early years of the post war rebuild and was seen as a symbol of the democratic spirit that supported certain aspects of design in Italy during that time. As a result the scooter’s signature style, of a painted pressed steel unibody totally encasing the engine, flat floorboard and prominent streamlined protective front has made them famous the world over.

Vespa even has a page on Facebook to become a fan of. If, however, you’re looking for the real low down on the variety of models and accessories available, Vespa meet-ups the world over, as well as the whole Vespa lifestyle, shopping and limited editions scenario, then I would point you in the direction of their website: Vespa, but be warned, that’s the thin edge of the wedge!

I hope this has warmed you to the charms of going semi-green and maybe even becoming the proud owner of a Vespa in the future too. Otherwise, next time you’re out and about and see a Vespa, why not give a wave? If it’s me I’ll be sure to wave back.

Sources:
Answers.com

Wikipedia

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

First published in the Connections magazine #29 Autumn 2010