Consumable Waste

The Canadian Millwork industry contributes a fair amount of waste through material cut-offs that are deemed unusable due to obscure shapes, sizes and thicknesses. Though there are programs and options to recycle this material, most shops simply discard their waste into bins destined for city landfills as a cheaper alternative.

The Quebec Wall Tile Installation is an Interior Design concept to help yield a portion of this wasted material and provide an alternative wall application for the consumer. By incorporating wood shavings with random cut-offs, the QWTI attempts to make use of all discarded material components. No two tiles are the same.

Shaving attachment is either done with a water based glue or friction fit while the tile application itself to a wall surface is conducted with reusable velcro strips.

The Buoy chair was originally conceived and designed for a homeless workforce reintroduction woodworking program. As there is an immediate shortage in skilled laborers, the purpose of the design and supplementary teaching program is to empower individuals by introducing them to the basic fundamentals of woodworking. The “Buoy” series creates an educational tool that inspires and instills confidence within the individual. The completion of a chair is something that not only the end user would be proud of but the maker as well.

Being true to creative ideologies of Palette Industries, the “Buoy“, was not only designed to be a beautiful object but also embody the essence of the creator’s narrative past. As each finished chair tells the story of its maker’s struggle and triumph, every joint, every cut, every finished surface is a symbol of growth and their persistence to get back on their feet. The current design teaches the following skill-sets learned skill-set: safety, cut sheets, lap joints, butt joints, mitring, splining, finishing and others. Palette is in the midst of talks with community based social programs to try to get programs launched nationally and internationally.

The prototypes for the “Buoy” series where fabricated out of certified, formaldehyde free, moisture resistant, engineered MDF panel product for its decreased missions comparable to natural wood. This was chosen for it is readily available within the market place and is cost effective. Palette Industries envisions the “Buoy” series to be manufactured out of alternative panel products, for example: bio-composite materials made out of recycled newsprint and sunflower hulls or even reclaimed timber.

The Tall Buoy was designed as an extension of the Buoy chair project. Here established artists using the Tall Buoy as a blank canvas, would collaborate with the individual builder to create a true one of a kind art piece. Ultimately the goal is to have the pieces exhibited to not only create awareness of the workforce reintroduction program but to have the pieces auctioned with proceeds going back to the individual and supporting organizations.

The Buoy bench is an explorative continuation of the series. Using recovered wood, this piece is an exuberant example of design utilizing principles of sustainability.

Dimensions: Tall “Buoy” 50″ (H) x 16″ (W) x 22″ (D)

Small “Buoy“- 32″ (H) x 16″ (W) x 22″ (D)

Long “Buoy” Bench- 32″ (H) x 48″ (W) x 22″ (D)

The Meathead mirror allows one to check themselves daily to ensure they have not indeed become what they have eaten. Playing with the traditional imagery of the west, the mirror asks us to look deeper within to consider the mental, behavioral, and physical implications of what we eat.

The mirror’s manufacturing process considers the environment, as it reclaims 50-year old mirror glass that is waterjet cut into a new and useable form; a wall hung mirror.

Design by: Greg Ball for the Hoodoo Series with Shoko Cesar

File submission:

All submitted designs and proposals must be original works and exempt of any copyrights and any kind of obligation. For more information, contact us at consumablewaste@theideagroup.ca.

If registered, click here to login and manage your posts.

If not registered, please follow the quick steps below:

1. First, register yourself by clicking here.
   Once you register, an e-mail with your password will be sent to you.
2. Go back to the site, and click to login on the right hand menu.
3. Now you can start posting your work. Your initial post will go through website admin before it’s uploaded to the site.
4. Once your work is posted, site visitors will be able to comment on your work. An email will be sent to you each time a comment is posted.

What to submit?
As an individual or group, you may submit a maximum of three designs. Please note, if you are submitting more than one product, submit each product seperately in a different post.
For each work please supply the following:

1. “The Perfect Product” checklist—you must check at least one box in each section (Social, Environmental and Economic). Use this list as a reference, as this part will not be submitted to the blog. Once you have dowloaded the file and checked off the appropriate boxes, send it by email to consumablewaste@theideagroup.ca. It will be used as part of the exhibit.
2. A brief explanation of how your product relates to each of the checked boxes. This part will have to be included in your post with your images.
3. Up to three files (images or a composition of more images) of your project. Please use only .gif or .jpg files at 72 dpi with a maximum 100 kb for each file [image size max 600 (width) x 700 (height) pixels]. The original high-resolution image(s) will be requested later on.

Registration / Submission deadline: February 29, 2008

Finished entry deadline: May 01, 2008