LIGHTING GONE 'GREEN'

Environmentally conscientious, eco-friendly, 'green' ~ all means to describe the latest craze, ecology. I suspect that within the next 5-10 years this will be a major topic of discussion. We already hear and see it with the ever increasing prices of gas and electricity, the increase in the traffic on roadways and the resulting smog, pollutants being washed up on our shores due to what is exiting from storm drains, and contaminated water sources. I could go on with a list a mile long but the point is already established.

We live in nation that has got to start 'pouring the coals to it' before we find ourselves 'caught between a rock and a hard place.' America has become greedy and extremely spoiled in so many ways. Everything has become instant but at many sacrifices. Sacrifices of our time, sacrifices of our health, sacrifices of our natural resources and this country's many rich beauties. This generation of people needs to start making personal sacrifices if we are to make any headway on what is eating away at this environment and if we want to ensure a healthy, clean, and abundant world environment for generations to come.

Where is this whole post leading? To my ecology project, of course. I have to admit that I have been pretty blind to this point on giving any consideration to the subject of ecology. But my Ecology class has actually been pretty interesting and informative. While the content has been broad at times to encompass issues outside of interior design, it is quite amazing how all of the components of this topic are really intertwined amongst the fibers of our society and its daily functions. This past Monday as part of my Ecology project, I was responsible for developing a lamp that, first and foremost, utilized 100% recycled materials with the exception of the electrical lamp kit from Home Depot that we were to purchase. I initially thought this would be both fun and a 'cakewalk' in comparison to doing research and a Powerpoint presentation which the other half of the class had to do. WRONG! OH SO WRONG! I spent so much time on the Internet researching recyclable materials. Plenty of stuff exists, all rather cool. But nothing in small quantities that I might be able to construct a lamp with. The class was finally given some latitude and told that if we could not find 100% recycled materials to approach the project with the next best thing. That could range from products less than 100% recycled, to renewable products, to reused or reclaimed products.

So here is the lamp I made...

My lamp project ended up being a structure of mixed used items. My inspiration came from these 2"x2"x 1/4" sample 100% recycled glass terrazzo tiles that I had. The colors were those of nature and in particular, reminded me of beach colors...amber, off-whites, tan, brown, blue, turquoise, green, etc. I had a concept in mind, and given that my sister and brother-in-law were in Kauai/Hawaii where I wanted to be, I opted to name my lamp, THE TROPIC. From there I thought of other components of the tropical environment, in particular, bamboo, a fast-growing, renewable resource. This became the component I used in my lamp shade. I envisioned a lamp that was somewhat sculptural, thus the off-setting cubes. I used non-toxic glue to hold the cubes together, and recyclable metal wire, to hold the lamp components together. Mind you the projects tended to be a little more on the crude side since we aren't your mass-producing factory line. But that was not the point of the exercise as I am sure you can sense at this point. I had to finish out my project with a scaled schematic drawing of my lamp along with a typed design concept statement and a short class presentation.

It was interesting to see some of the results. Many of my fellow students who were involved in lamp designs shared the same frustrations but managed to devise some clever concoctions. I have no idea at this point how I did but at least my project is over for the quarter. And I did gain something from the process. Now I just have to sit back and listen to Powerpoint presentations and take the final at the end of July. SWEET!