The First Facility Management Blog

How many times has your lobby or reception area been populated with guests searching for something a bit more enlightening to read than an outdated issue of People magazine? Graduate student Laura Cahill has presented a clever idea that could surely serve this purpose.

Based in London, Cahill has collected unwanted books and turned them into pieces of furniture with an unusual sense of beauty and purpose. She has also discovered a creative way to reuse an item typically rejected from recycling programs due to its glue content.

To fashion the vases (pictured at the top of this post), “Cahill cuts profiles from the books using a band saw, then wraps the spines around test tubes to form waterproof receptacles.” Her technique for other items is captured in this interview featured in the Blog, Dezeen:

My idea of using second hand books came around after doing research into common unwanted objects. One of the most common unwanted objects that can be found at either charity shops, car boot sales and sometimes on the streets are books. I discovered that the glue in old books make them extremely difficult to recycle. Aware of this I challenged myself to turn the second hand books that I had been collecting, into desirable objects such as furniture, lighting, and ornaments.

I took a hands-on approach and started experimenting with the possibilities in which books can be used in other ways; I developed a number of delicate yet practical designs. Using traditional methods of book binding I transformed them into valued objects. My designs transform local waste, not only by adding value but also by creating art forms which are aesthetically pleasing.

I first made a stool called ‘Heavy Read’ (pictured at left, directly above) by fixing a lot of old books together. Continuing with the book theme I developed a way of creating 3D forms by profiling the edge of the whole thickness of a book, so when opened, the shape follows around into a cylinder shape. I designed a range of ‘book vases,’ using test tubes as the central water container, and then stretched the concept to form the upright of this floor standing lamp. In the ‘Reading Light’ I have used traditional elegant curvaceous shapes on the base of the light creating a soft and ghostly effect, which is relatively durable.

 

 

The small town of Nipomo, CA in the southern end of San Luis Obispo County on California’s central coast has just announced that before any business or residential property may be sold in the city, it must be retrofitted with water saving plumbing fixtures.

This is a trend being seen throughout the country. Even water rich areas of the country are requiring that low and no water toilets, urinals, and faucets be installed before a property is sold. Others are offering tax rebates to encourage their installation.

Saving water is the goal of these programs. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an older, conventional toilet can waste up to 4,000 gallons of water per year. And a urinal may use more than 40,000 gallons of water annually.

But what should can be done with the old toilets and urinals that are being replaced?

Fortunately, toilet and urinal recycling programs have sprung up around the country, and the old fixtures are being used in a myriad of applications.

“What typically happens is the toilet or urinal’s porcelain is crushed,” says Klaus Reichardt, founder and managing partner of Waterless Co., LLC, manufacturers of no water urinal systems. “The pebbles can be added to asphalt for paving roads or used in drainage projects.”

This, according to Reichardt, not only eliminates the need to discard toilets into landfills, but reduces the need to mine for gravel, a cost savings that benefits the taxpayer and the environment. 

Other uses of crushed porcelain from recycled urinals and toilets include:

• Building foundations: Facilities have earned LEED certification points by using recycled toilets and urinals in this way.
• Nature trails: You will be walking on old toilets and urinals when exploring San Antonio’s Calaveras Park Nature Trail. More than a thousand recycled toilets and urinals were used to pave the park’s trails.
• Mulch: Botanical gardens have found that crushed toilets and urinals are a welcome addition to mulch.

Waterless Co. encourages building owners and facility managers to recycle their old toilets and urinals and to contact their local recycling center for more information.

In the ongoing quest to reduce, reuse, and recycle, one aspiring furniture designer is expressing her artistic talent in the form of furniture made from factory waste—and nothing else. No screws, bolts—just wood waste.

Amy Hunting, a London, UK-based designer and illustrator, has introduced The Patchwork Collection—lamps, chairs, and storage/book boxes made out of wood waste and off cuts produced in the Danish factories.

These descriptions and images come from the artist’s Web site:
The magazine box (picture, left) can be moved around and reconfigured for multiple uses and appearances.

These lamps (pictured below, right) were cut out of a large solid block of wood, made up of small off cuts. The pendant lamps were then cut out of the block until 12 lamps revealed themselves and all the wood had been cut out. The 12 lamps can be stacked inside each other for easy transport. They require no fitting and can be hung on any bare lamp bulb through the top.