Have you wrapped gifts in cloth, perhaps in scarves or other fabric items that are reusable? (It’s like giving the recipient a second gift!)
For some beautiful cloth-wrapping ideas, watch this how-to video demonstrating several furoshiki wrapping variations.
For other furoshiki folding patterns, check out the diagram in the Unconsumption archive post here.
[The video (by RecycleNow) also may be viewed here. Thanks, Green Thing — another great find!]
File under: Things I love.
Via contained:
Via unconsumption:
A collaboration exploring the use of shipping containers as affordable, sustainable, energy-independent housing receives federal grant
It may not be a McMansion, but the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown’s Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship [RI-CIE], and two state-based architects have partnered in a first-time collaboration to design and potentially commercialize an off-the-grid, sustainable and energy-efficient home from [used] shipping containers. A class of RISD students this spring is researching and developing design plans for the sustainable home, and if the idea is judged viable, experts from RI-CIE will assist in finding the best avenues to take the homes to market.
“This collaboration between RISD and Brown has great potential to create jobs and provide affordable, sustainable housing … ,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Full story: Live in a Shipping Container, Say RISD, Brown | GoLocalProv.
The two participating architects, Brown grad Peter Gill Case and RISD alum Joe Haskett, whose company is collaborating on the project, were involved with a multi-story shipping container office project in Providence, described in this earlier Unconsumption post.
I am a proponent of using rehabbed shipping containers for residential and commercial purposes, and look forward to following the RISD-Brown project’s progress.
Related: Find other shipping container-oriented Unconsumption posts here.
The fact that the project received a federal grant (akin to a Good Housekeeping stamp of approval!) gives it much credibility. If a viable design results from this project, it could provide an attractive option in the housing mix of the future. Hope there’s one or more successful outcomes from this initiative.
Reblogging myself so this post shows up here, in addition to appearing on the Contained and Unconsumption sites. :)