Mission
Project Drawdown
The objective of this project was to create a climate change themed souvenir that could be produced and sold on a small scale at the Artist & Fleas market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Our class started with Project Drawdown, which is a nonprofit organization proposing science based solutions to cut carbon emissions and reduce the rate of climate change. They have 100 solutions ranked by how effective they are at reducing carbon emissions along with research to back up their claims. One of the solutions proposed was increased recycling. This led me down the rabbit hole of fabric recycling, as it is not accessible or as widespread as other recycling options. So I wanted to find a way to upcycle my own home fabric waste.
“Upcycle” - taking an item that would otherwise be trash and turning it into something new
Save the Animals
The goal of the charm was to depict a cute animal in climate distress to emphasize the threat of climate change. Due to the white color of the towels, and the iconic—infamous—imagery of polar bears on melting icebergs, I decided to make the subject of the product polar bears. Polar bears are frequently used as the example of climate change impacting life on earth. But climate change has already led to the extinction of numerous animal species, and is threatening the existence of even more. Also, climate change is already causing heatwaves and floods that have killed humans. We all think the climate crisis is impending, but it actually is already here.