Tuesday, March 23, 2010

21st century dilemma ....

After taking some shots of my local debris I started to think...
Is this upgrading of our tech lives worth all the e-waste that we are creating...
Week in....week out??
The accumulation of plastic that is put out for rubbish collection is truly amazing, and it is a phenomenon that is repeated in each + every suburb across the country. Each pile acting like a tiny marker of what is happening in our busy tech lives...
We look for upgrades in technology in order to keep us informed, plugged in and communicable in our every day lives and we want it all to happen at the speed of light...
We crave speed..
Our new drug of choice!


This became very noticeable on my recent trip to Brisbane.
When we fly we want to move, and I don't mean large distances...
When my plane landed at each destination I heard the very recognisable sounds of seat belts clicking, mobile phone being turned on and the overhead lockers being flung open in a desperate attempt to be plugged back into the real world and moving!
We had not even arrived at the terminal and already people were ready to fling open the doors and run through the gates!

The funny thing is I find a lot of this tech waste really beautiful, strange as that may sound...All the coloured wires and components and diagrams on the circuit boards are really intricate and sophisticated....


This looks like a little city all mapped out....



One company that shares my love of tech gear and the potential beauty of sustainability design is Brisbane company Haasch who build lights out of circuit boards that are headed for landfill... Haasch are a company that were formed by designers Jan and Alison Schutt and they have won numerous accolades for their designs...
This image above was taken at an exhibition at Artisan (Craft Queensland) a few years ago - and it looks like an amazing installation!


Jan and Alison believe that the main objective of their design philosophy is to raise community awareness of our thought processes when it comes to waste and our love of products. We seem to live in a disposable society where everything is easily forgotten and upgraded...


And when you see a beautiful recycled lamp such as this one by Haasch, you have to ask...
Why?
There are a few of these Haasch lamps at Collect if you would like to take a gander, otherwise I suggest a rummage and some super glue...
Just a thought...

2 comments:

Corinne (aka Rinny of Arabia) said...

I recently heard of a company that will come and recycle all this 'tech' waste, which sounded like a really good idea.

It's funny on our recent flight home, we were the last people off the plane. Juggling two littlies, we decided to let everyone push off first. Strangely enough, we were the first at the luggage collection. I thought people mustn't have had luggage but slowly they dribbled up. I don't know what happened... maybe it was a case of the tortoise and the hare??

michele aka the tiny said...

Yeah its a funny phenomena that the more you rush and fuss the more frazzled you are and the longer it takes to do anything and go anywhere!!! Good on ya for resisting the urge to jump from the plane in order to get your luggage quicker! xx