Most industrial designers, however, havenвЂ™t spent as much energy in upcycling because consumers still expect a certain level of machine perfection and uniformity in mass-produced products, Neubauer observes. On a commercial scale, French sneaker brand Veja makes running shoes from plastic bottles, and Eileen Fisher makes beautiful tapestries out of discarded garments. Similarly artist Nicole McLaughlin constructs shorts from old beanies or shoes from old Nike shoes and schoolbags. For instance, clothing designer Daniel Silverstein, who goes by the monicker вЂњ Zero Waste Daniel,вЂќ scavenges for materials in New YorkвЂ™s fashion district and makes one-of-a-kind pieces out of what he finds. Fashion designers are particularly adept at salvaging goods destined for the landfill, Neubauer notes. вЂњYou have to lower your expectations of what you might get when youвЂ™re doing certain processes, but that doesnвЂ™t mean thereвЂ™s not a hundred other things you can make with it.вЂќ Embracing вЂњimperfectвЂќ designДЇinding creative uses for discarded materials evokes the a long tradition of designers concerned with consumption. Cromar Flexiglass Encapsulating Primer - 5kg (Box of 4) ВЈ346.62 ex VAT ВЈ415.94 inc VAT Was: ВЈ0.00 inc VAT. Neubauer says the group learned that plexiglass tends to lose its glass-like quality when melted and reconstituted. ВЈ146.71 ex VAT ВЈ176.05 inc VAT Was: ВЈ0.00 inc VAT. Can it be cut up? Can it be formed? Can it be remolded? Can it be melted down and used in some kind of new way that we traditionally stay away from because itвЂ™s so hard to do? Can it be ground up? And the answer to the most of these questions was вЂyes, but.вЂ™ It was really interesting to see the possibilities.вЂќ

вЂњWe did a lot of experimentation with it. вЂњPlexiglass is the clearest, cheapest, most glass-like material out there,вЂќ he explains. What can one make with plexiglass? Almost anything, says Neubauer. Because of this, for many years scientists have been highlighting the need to reduce the use of acrylic sheets as much as possible.вЂќ Putting plexiglass to work in new ways вЂњIn addition to the fossil materials used to produce plexiglass, sunlight hitting the sheets releases carbon dioxide particles into the atmosphere. вЂњAcrylic sheets have a significant environmental impact,вЂќ Antonella Ilaria Totaro, a circular economy expert from the University of Turin, writes in the blog Renewable Matter. Finding viable uses for plexiglass after the pandemic is especially imperative because producing them already takes a significant amount of energy. Non-bio degradable by design, plexiglass or poly methyl methacrylate isnвЂ™t easy to recycle. In a course taught by Daniel Neubauer, professor of industrial design, theyвЂ™ve been coming up with ideas for the afterlife of acrylic partitions they found around the university. Industrial design students at the Iowa State University have spent the past semester grappling with this problem.

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