CONSERVATIVE GIFTS
In recognition of America Recycles Day Nov. 15, online retailer Eco-Artware.com (www.eco-artware.com) is urging American businesses to think green this holiday season.
"Every year at holiday times, Americans give and receive countless gifts that create new waste and impact the environment," Reena Kazmann, founder and director of Eco-Artware.com, says. "Why not give out company awards, presents and office party gifts that are unique, aesthetically pleasing and made from eco-friendly materials?"
The products carried by Eco-Artware.com are crafted by experienced and established artists from recycled and reused materials, as well as from natural and biodegradable materials.
For a more personalized approach, companies can collaborate with Eco-Artware.com’s artists any time of the year to create customized items that feature the company’s name or logo and can reflect its values.
Eco-Artware.com’s environmentally friendly gifts include indoor/outdoor transit chairs each made from 19 pounds of retired aluminum traffic signs; New York City taxi medallion clocks made out of 10,000 expired metal taxicab medallions donated by the New York City government; circuit board business card cases made from manufacturers’ rejects; record label coasters and bowls—one of the site’s best sellers—made from original, unplayable vinyl LPs supplied mostly by record stores; and glass centerpiece bowls made from broken windows destined for the landfill.
Eco-Artware’s complete catalog can be seen at www.eco-artware.com.
RIGID INTEREST
Mark Langan has a rigid interest in the fine arts.
Langan lives in Brunswick Hills, Ohio, and creates works of art in a variety of media, including wooden sculptures and carvings, colored pencil and ink drawings and oil paintings. But the medium he’s focusing on these days involves corrugated boxes or, more specifically, the crenulated medium that is sandwiched between the box’s linerboard.
Langan, who quit his job in the transportation industry more than two years ago to pursue his artwork full time, found his inspiration when he ripped apart a box, revealing the wavy layers within. "I liked the way the flutes looked," he says. Langan likes working with the fluted medium because of the dimension it offers. "The artwork changes depending on the angle you view it from because of the tiers," he says.
He started out by creating abstract designs, but since has moved into making commissioned pieces that include corporate logos for companies such as Van Dyk Baler Corp., Berg Mill and Freedom Metals Inc., as well as recent commissions from the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. and International Paper.
Langan is also planning to move beyond the corrugated medium into metals, reusing aluminum cans in future projects.
Langan’s corrugated pieces typically range in price from $350 to $1,000. Additional samples of his artwork, as well as contact information, are available on his Web site at www.langanart.com.
IN THE BAG
Wal-Mart has announced the launch of the second Wal-Mart Kids Recycling Challenge, a partnership with K-6 elementary schools in California and Utah that aims to help students become responsible environmental stewards and earn money for their schools at the same time.
Participating schools receive a collection bin and a supply of 60-gallon collection bags. For each collection bag the school fills with plastic bags and brings to a participating Wal-Mart store for recycling by Dec.19, 2005, Wal-Mart donates $5 to the school.
The three schools in each region to recycle the most plastic bags receive additional cash grants from Wal-Mart in the amounts of $1,500 for the first-place school, $1,000 for the second-place school and $500 for the third-place school. As an extra incentive, the first-place school also receives a school-wide assembly focusing on the environment, courtesy of Wal-Mart.
The Kids Recycling Challenge is open to elementary schools in select Northern California and Salt Lake City region counties. The program will expand to Southern California and other western states in January 2006.
Schools interested in joining the Wal-Mart Kids Recycling Challenge are invited to visit www.kidsrecyclingchallenge.com to learn more about the contest and to enroll.
Explore the November 2005 Issue
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