jewelry made of milk jugs
I created this project as a brainstorming process of how to be more sustainable. I was thinking alot about how jewelry companies would waste alot of materials by extracting valuable rocks, minerals, and other things from the Earth that would ultimately make the Earth less healthy, because of the processes of making the products. One of the ways I think we can combat the wastefulness of materials is recycling, and creating beautiful products out of more eco-friendly materials. These jewelry peices were an exploration of the thinking process of design, research, and the craft of making.
Role: Designer, Researcher
Tools: Milk Jugs, Exacto Blades
research
One of the main reasons why there are environmental problems such as climate change is because of businesses and industries*. Businesses grow by earning profit--meaning, they will do whatever it takes to get the material costs down and their profits up. Usually businesses succumb to using cheap labor and frugal, easy-to-use materials such as petroleum. Consequently, by burning fossil fuels and creating more waste, this will pollute the Earth and add to the perils of climate change. To mitigate this, businesses can create existing goods out of sustainable, recycled material. This will promote a zero-waste economy. Commercial industries such as fashion contributes mostly to externalities, so targeting less-vital goods (like fashion) can deeply lessen the future problems of climate change.
* Denyse, Gavin. "How Can We Get There?" The Role of Government and Businesses in Creating a Sustainable World given a Market Economy.
Process
First, I looked up jewelry inspiration. I saw connections between the natural shapes and colors of our environment to the cloudy recycled milk jug material. I sketched out different forms, designs, and placements on the hands for aesthetics. I also thought about ways the milk jug could transform in an interactive way.
Prototyping
Then, I played with the milk plastic-- I folded it, cut into it, tabbed it. I also saw that the thicker plastic on the bottom of the milk jug was ideal for the armature of the jewelry piece because it would hold the form. To make the jewelry comfortable, I rounded all the edges to where it would touch the skin and I created adjustable clasps. The process of making the jewelry was alot of weaving into the plastic, and folding.
