The finished award! I am supremely happy with the way they turned out. Bicycle gears were slightly damaged and donated by Sopo Bicycle Co-op here in Atlanta. The middle, clear disks were cut out from plastic take out containers. The verbage was stamped on the plastic by hand with paint. The marble base was cut out of marble slab reclaimed from a demolished building in Atlanta. The big “gear head” piece is attached to the base using a simple bolt, no adhesives necessary. I think it has a tough, industrial edge with an elegant streak.

Some of the staff of the Sustainability Division holding an award; (left to right) Leslie Caceda, Mary Talukder, Diana Trettin, Bill Vondersmith, Yours Truly, Suzanne Burnes, & Lauren Travis.

The Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue, presenting the Innovation Award to the staff from Unicoi State Park at the Natural Leaders Awards Ceremony this past Wednesday. For more images from the event and the list of winners, go to the Natural Leaders Awards website.

“In the United States alone there are presently more than three thousand million tires in landfills, illegal dumps and stockpiles, increasing by another thousand million every four years. The largest pile of tires in the world is in Westley, California, where thirty-four million scrap tires cover near 200 acres, sometimes forming seven-storey mountains.”

– The Green Imperative by Victor Papanek (1995)

Want more? Click here for a .PDF of Chapter 2 from The Green Imperative

btw, this has my favorite brand of iced tea since high school. this is the first time since then, about 4 years, that my mom has bought cans instead of boxes.

Mr. McQuire: Ben, I just want to say one word to you, just one word…

Ben: Yes, sir.

Mr. McQuire: Are you listening?

Ben: Yes, I am.

Mr. McQuire: Plastics.

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McQuire: There is a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Okay, plastics are here! Now what?

Recyclable containers I have been collecting. (No not all the items were consumed by me). If friends come over to hang out, the experiment rules apply to them as well.

My little pile of garbage adding up on my kitchen countertop. Some of these are questionables… wax lined coffee cups? Thin plastic food packaging? Old tissues…

What are you supposed to do with this stuff?

Last but not least, this is the remnants of a frozen meal I baked in the oven for dinner. The container is some kind of paper product and I think the inside is coated in something so the food does not stick. Can I wash it out (ew) and recycle it? Or is this just… garbage? It was delicious btw.

1: Break this idea of “containment”! If something is not visible, it does not exist. Is this true? Obviously not, we have all played hide and seek and sat there with our hands covering our eyes thinking no one could see us. Or at least I did. But if you take the trash out every Friday, it is like it just disappears out of your life. It does not disappear really.. it is just hidden in a different area polluting the earth. Just because we don’t see it.. it is out of our minds. Since things will eventually collect in my apartment, I won’t be able to ignore the garbage.

2: Get inspired. I am researching ways to make living a sustainable lifestyle easier. Specifically, in the home. So what better way than to do it myself? Since “home is where the heart is”, I think some people really need a change of heart when it comes to preserving the environment. Affect people where they are most comfortable and make them step out of their comfort zone! That’s where the magic happens.

3: Inspire others. you can do it too! Hopefully people read this blog and really think about what is going on.