Little Green Day Activity

On 26 August 2012 an event called the Little Green Day was hosted by Deer Park Café in Vredehoek, Cape Town. The event featured a solar-powered stage for musicians, great music, organic and vegetarian food, some product stalls, and workshops. One of the workshops were facilitated by me, Janet Botes, and were open to anyone who wanted to join. A couple of kids joined and we created some toys, unfinished artworks and gadgets by using discarded food packaging, plastic bags and other 'waste'. Instead of using paint, we coloured our creations with coffee (the cheapest I could find, but next time I'll try using fair trade coffee).

Mask made from a pizza box lid, and a rolled piece of newspaper as 'stick'.

Why not gather some tools and random bits, invite some friends, open a bottle of wine, and together make things with what you have in front of you. It's fun to just play around and experiment - you don't need to have an end product or idea in mind, just attach and wind different pieces of plastic, polysterene and plastic bags together and see what you are able to create! Or if you like kids, or have kids, do the same (without a bottle of wine, of course!), you'll be delightfully surprised at the funky ideas that children come up with.

Instead of using glue or tape, find and develop other techniques to attach things. Here's some ideas or suggestions:

• wrap torn/cut pieces of plastic, chips packets, crackerbread foil or newspaper around an item
• thread with discarded/old rope, twine or pieces of twirled paper/foil/plastic
• fold and cut cardboard or paper, making tags that fit into slits

Have fun!

Threads of plastic

These pieces of plastic were picked up in a stretch of beach of only about 7 meters in Bloubergstrand! Plastic debris and bags cause sea animals and birds to suffocate, and they also don't biodegrade, just break up into smaller bits of plastic which gets eaten by fish, birds, dolphins and whales. Have a look at this great ad that illustrates my point:

A great way to use plastic is to use it as rope or thread. Simply tear or cut it into strips, twirl or roll them into useable strands, and knot them together.



In this way, I've started using plastic in crochet pieces:



I learnt how to crochet when I joined in some sessions of The Woodstock Art Reef Project. WARP is crocheting a symbolic installation of sculptural coral reef structures to extend the awareness of environmental issues and related aspects of science, math and art within the  community of participants and in public forums.




Go to artreefproject.ning.com to find out more about the next gatherings and sessions


Yet another way to use strips of plastic grocery bags in a functional manner

Calling all fashion designers and textile fanatics!

Are you a fashion designer, installation artist or have the ability to sow?
CONTACT Nastasha Daniels to get involved with the next HumanEarth exhibition!

Please also contact if you have any old clothing, fabric, off-cuts, or anything else related that can be used and repurposed.

For more information on the HumanEarth exhibitions, have a look at www.humanearth.ecojunki.co.za


Julia Ramsey


The embrace by Boxi

This website is worth a look: seedandsew.com.

Shipwreck furniture

Old wood makes furniture that just oozes character, don't you agree? So it makes sense to use wood from shipwrecks to make furniture to add comfort and also enhance the visual atmosphere of your home.





Have a look at the Shipwreck Furniture website here: www.shipwreckfurniture.com

If you're an artist, I hope that this gives you some ideas for using old/discarded wood in your artworks - it offers some interesting surfaces to work on, and the shapes are of course also ideal for sculptural or assemblage work!