CasaSugar

Do You Have a Stainless Steel Trash Can?

CasaSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:00:49 -0700

My plastic trash can is smelling not-so-fresh these days. Although I originally scoffed at the price of this VIPP Kitchen Bin ($319), the odor-reducing quality of steel is seeming more and more valuable to me - especially considering how many pricey Diptyque candles I've bought to mask the smell of my garbage can. Then again, a good hose-down would do the trick, too. Do you have a stainless steel trash can?

Have You Found Any Treasures in the Trash?

CasaSugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:00:18 -0700

Todd Oldham recently blogged about a new photography book called Rubbish by Jake Chessum, chronicling stunning images of trash all over the world. It got me to thinking about some fabulous street finds I've come across, and I wondered if any of you had been so lucky. I once passed a fantastic gray leather club chair while on the bus, because I was late to work, and I've been kicking myself ever since that I didn't stop to take it home.Source

Casa Verde: Waste Management, One Man's Trash

CasaSugar — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:00:22 -0700

Justin Gignac, a graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, picks up trash off of the streets of New York City. But, you won't find him in a sanitation department uniform. He actually fills bags with subway passes, Broadway tickets, coffee cups, phone book pages, and other NYC junk and carefully arranges them in plastic cubes, which are then signed, numbered, and dated in slick Helvetica typeface and sells them for 50 smackers — "making them perfect for anyone who wants their own piece of the NYC landscape," he says. Gignac has sold over 1,000 of his trash cubes, each unique, leak-free, and smell-free. The initiative to repurpose trash spawned from a conversation with a colleague who said package design wasn't important; "I figured the only way to prove them wrong would be to try to package something that absolutely nobody in their right mind would ever want to buy," he rebutted. A fresh way to look at recycling . . . or exporting: his cubes can now be found in 41 states and 91 countries.
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Casa Verde: KS Rives Transforms Trash Into Art

CasaSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:15:12 -0700

I'm all about making something out of nothing, and artist KS Rives takes that philosophy one step further by making something beautiful out of nothing anyone wants: trash.

Whether through the use of old maps of Paris, discarded rubber bands and public transit tickets, or even cigarette butts, KS Rives takes something that no one wants and transforms it into a highly desirable work of art.

To see some of her art, including her hand-painted wallpaper, just read more.

In her artist statement, she says,

For years my work has been about using refuse to reflect on the decisions that people make, and deciphering what that means about them as people. Studying waste from different parts of the world allows me to discover not only things about other cultures, but about my own by comparing and contrasting the two. Using the technique of collage, I am able to connect intimately with my work and study the individual pieces in detail. This therefore allows me to form a personal relationship of sorts with each culture, combining art making with my passion for sociological thinking.

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Casa Quickie: Trash Made Easy

CasaSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:00:51 -0700

Keep a small supply of trash bags at the bottom of your garbage can. That way, when you pull out your full bag, a fresh, new bag will be waiting for you. Just make sure you take out that full bag of trash, and refresh the bag supply when it gets low.
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Casa Quickie: Trash Can Cleaning

CasaSugar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:00:48 -0700

Of all of the messes to tackle in your home during Spring cleaning, the trash can is probably the stinkiest. OK, your compost is up there, too. Piles of leftovers rotting away for a few days in a warm plastic bag is not exactly my favorite scent. So, when it comes time to clean, you can't just spray it with some all-purpose cleaner and wipe the grime and stench away: You've got to exercise a little patience. The best way to clean your trash can is to soak it for 30 minutes before scrubbing off the gunk with a sponge. I prefer to use a solution of super-hot water and vinegar or Clorox Green Works Natural Dilutable Cleaner. If it's really messy, you might want to spray it down with a hose before you soak.

Casa Verde(?): Fabriano

CasaSugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:00:35 -0700

Italian designers Riccardo Nannini, Domenico Orefice, and Emanuele Pizzolorusso created Fabriano, a waste basket made entirely out of recycled paper. The muffin-cup-shaped basket consists of 50 pleated-paper disposable bags nesting inside one another. Each can be extracted and used as trash bags themselves when the bin is full, leaving the layer below ready to collect more paper/trash. My first thought was that this is an eco-friendly alternative to plastic trash bags. But on second thought, I realized that it's a waste paper basket meant for paper, which would eventually be tossed in a recycling bin. So, it seems that the basket wastes more paper than necessary. But in the long run, a recycled paper bag, which can be recycled again, is more eco-friendly than, say, a standard waste basket, which would likely end up in a landfill when it's no longer needed. What do you think? Is this product eco-friendly?
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Cool Idea: Expanding Office Bin

CasaSugar — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 08:30:00 -0700

Thanks to my trusty, pretty MacBook, I rarely need to use paper these days. Essentially, my office wastebasket never reaches maximum capacity. If I didn't work in a sprawling office, I'd find my trash bin a bit of a waste of space on most days. In that case, I'd be delighted to own the Bin ($65) by Front, which expands and contracts based on how much junk you put in it. It's hands down the smartest, prettiest wastebasket I've ever seen. That is, aside from the Trash icon on my MacBook's dock; now that's just magical.

Cool Idea: Sorting Garbage Can

CasaSugar — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:00:00 -0700

If you read my post on the Ovetto recycling bin, you'll know that while I dug the concept of a sorting recycling bin, I hoped for one that blended in better with our kitchens - less of a design statement. Well, I think the Constance Guisset Tri3 may be just the thing. Like Ovetto, this garbage can sorts with one compartment for waste, one for plastics, and another for glass, in addition to a trash bag dispenser. Each compartment opens outward from a central axis via one of three charming blue pedals at its base. Functionally, this design seems to fit the bill - although I might use the discard compartment for cans instead - and it's quite easy on the eyes as well. Resembling a stack of three drum shades, it is modern, but being completely white, it would sit quietly in most kitchens. To see more photos, read more.

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Cool Idea: Tubelor Trashcan

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:00:08 -0700

If my Crave Worthy posts aren't evidence enough, it's not hard to find beautiful home furnishings. But, good design with an unprecedented function that's also aesthetically pleasing isn't exactly at every street corner. The Ideaco Design Tubelor Trashcan ($41) does fall into this category, though. The modern, candy-colored cans conceal ugly trash bags in their inner waste basket by covering them with a pretty tube — like a hat on a bad hair day. It's no wonder the design won the iF Product Design Award (Germany) for 2008; they're not only handsome but functional. I know the sight of trash bags in a trash can isn't the most severe eyesore, but aren't you glad that that boo-boo has been healed?