Ben Tablada

“Reclaim”

The premise of reclaim is to spotlight the flaws within the fashion and plastics industry – both of which are some of the most polluting businesses globally. “Reclaim” – similar to my project proposal was to create wearable garments created entirely out of recycled materials and embroidering them to tell a story. The garment should be as wearable and as ‘beautiful’ as I can make it – breaking stereotypes that garments made from trash should look like it was made from trash (lol).

Research

1. The research phase was primarily spent on researching Native Chinese plants and designs
2. Transforming images to illustrator vectors
3. Vectors to artboards on the embroidery software
4. Learning via trial and error how to embroider plastics (if it was even viable)
5. Viable silhouettes from the recycled materials (is it sewable?)
6. How do the materials move with the body? 
7. Making Patterns/Cutting
8. Sewing it all together! 
9. Fittings~
10. Final Product/Edits!

Sample Images: 

Inspirations 

The fashion industry has slowly but surely been incorporating plastic as a textile, but to what degree are we sensationalizing single-use plastics and is it more harmful than using synthetic fabrics? These are the types of questions that I want my audience to ask. I wanted to keep the integrity of my materials as in-tact as possible – making sure to use original straps, clasps, zippers, and etc. 

Workshop Key Takeaways: 

To best get an idea of how to fuse plastics, my partner and I dove right in. We wanted the experiment to be, well, experimental! We wanted to make mistakes and learn from these mistakes. We used a variety of plastics and tried to fuse them to create ‘something’. 

Mistake #1 – THE IRON IS HOT. 

Each plastic material melted and fused in different temperatures. We tried to fuse plastics that had different weights and widths which can be both a good and bad characteristic – you just have to make sure that you are ironing each plastic mindfully. The iron was so hot that it melted some plastic while thicker material stayed intact and needed more heat. 

Mistake #2 – Corners & Edges 

We tried to create a pocket or wallet with 3 fused corners and one opening. In order to test the integrity of the fusion, we filled the pocket with water but later found that the corners leaked. Our mistake was that each corner had the most plastic material and needed more time under the iron. Next time, more heat should be applied to folds or corners in order to create a strong – waterproof seal. 

Mistake #3 – Time

Although we tried to keep the iron in a low setting/temperature, leaving the iron on for too long will cause it to heat up above the temperature on the gauge. To fix this problem, future projects should be heated in varying parts. The process can’t be rushed and should be done in small sections so that the iron can be turned off and cooled. The cooldown process should reduce the risk of burning the plastic material! 

Images: 

Project Proposal

“Reclaim”

My project idea is driven by the workshops that I attended with Marcela. After learning how to use the embroidery machine, I wanted to use my found and recycled materials and embroider on them. Ideally, I want to embroider on plastic, but after a failed attempt of sewing my plastic material which caused a sewing needle to shatter – this form of fabrication may change (aka hand-sewing/hand-embroidering). 

I want to create  (2) separate garments – a top and a bottom. The form whether it be a dress, pants, skirt or etc. is still up in the air. Regardless of the shape, I want these garments to have an embroidered feature which will be native Chinese or Shanghainese plants that will cover the garment. My idea is that plants are reclaiming the space that is once theirs. Instead of the world being overrun by plastic, it will now be plastics being overrun by plants. 

I also want the materials to speak for themselves, making the design fashionable but keeping a majority of its integrity (shape, tags, handles, closures, etc.). I also found some great resources online to show that embroidery on recycled materials like plastic is possible. 

Inspiration: 

Process/Experimentation: 

Guest Speaker: 

Notes & Reflections

• Residual trash is the most common trash that we get 
  • Dirty paper – if clean then you can recycle them but you can’t recycle used trash
  • There’s small stuff like cigarette butts, even within plastic there is clean and unclean
• Wet trash is the smallest category – usually food waste 
• Recycling is a large category – clean plastics, computer parts (metals), etc.
• Toxic trash (small category) – electronic related, chemicals, lightbulbs, smaller scale, batteries, things like expired medicines, unsure things that may or may not be trash
• Starts at 5:30 am – to clean the trash cans for the morning rush at 7 am 
• Residual trash car/truck that comes and collects at 5:30 am to collect the trash from last night 
• Wet trash will come during noon to collect the wet trash – no trucks usually come at night
• The job will end at 10:30 pm – sleeps at 11 pm (work hours/work, in general, is also dependent on if a company comes/asks for waste)
• Trash is a lot cleaner now after all the changes – but there are still people who don’t follow the new rules and regulations 
• 2/10 people will not be following the new rules 
• Toxic trash is rarely collected but there’s usually not enough, it’s on a case/report basis 
• His relationship with the people is fairly well/good 
• For people that don’t follow the rules – usually there’s no specific type – but a few families that keep making the same mistake, it seems like more Shanghainese families that do that (other people from different provinces listen but not the Shanghainese LOL)
•  It’s all about the attitude/listening to critiques 
• How does he manage textile waste (clothing) and where does that go, what category is that in?/how is it recycled?
  • They count as recycling – people/companies buy textiles, depending on the type (it might be higher), price it by the fabric and the amount of fabric
• What are certain times, seasons, or holidays where the waste management business is booming?
  • Friday, Saturday, Sunday is bad, mainly collect from companies so holidays are actually bad, its a gradual thing, not an all at once thing

Art Installation II (Video) 

So our team once again went to the cafe and decided to create a digital installation via the form of a video that would then be displayed either in the lobby or in the cafe – (wherever a digital display was available & full of people). Our idea was to create a humorous video that would teach members of the NYU Shanghai community how to properly sort/manage waste.  Ideally, this video would impart some lessons and advice in a manner that is easier to digest for millennial/gen z populations.

The content of the video features an all-knowing citizen (Sofia Shockman) who would come into scenes as a “social justice warrior” and reminds people proper waste management practices in the most humorous of ways. The video was broken down into an intro, scene 1 (improper residual waste management), scene 2 (improper recycling management), and scene 3 (proper waste management), and a call to action. 

If there was no time constraint, the video would have been displayed in areas that generated tons of foot traffic or near waste receptacles. 

Video Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1aCjze3GMP-ZZQAo8CVH07kSne-KHTiQt

Research/Investigative Team (Cassie, Sofia, & Ben) 

Places to discard waste:

• Cafe

  • Recyclable waste

  • Residual waste

  • Household food waste

• Hallways

  • Recyclable waste

  • Residual waste

  • Household food waste

  • 

• Cafeteria

  • Recyclable waste

  • “Paper” (napkins)

  • Food waste

We spoke to an ayi who was collecting trash from the classroom, who said she takes all the waste to B2. We then went to B2 (parking garage) and walked around until we found the waste area, which was pretty neatly organized:

The trash in this room was separated by:

• Kitchen waste

• Other waste

• Harmful waste

• Recyclable waste

• Residual waste

We asked the man working there where the trash goes:

• Trash truck comes everyday 1-3pm, except for Sunday

Visualization

Collective Responsibility Shanghai’s Informal Waste Management Report

Pages 1 -25

KEY Concepts: 

• China’s waste management system has 2 parts 
  • Part 1: Formal Government-run that is composed primarily contracted companies that collect, sort, incinerate, compost and dispose of waste
  • Part 2: Private “Informal” collectors who collect, store, and sell waste 
• The current situation/model is not sustainable because of the lack of resources
  • The model is currently dependent on incinerators and improper or not necessarily healthy ways of disposal 
• Private collectors are useful assets because they specialize in recycling and reusing in a sense that they sell waste to various factories that divert trash from landfills (BUT they rarely work with the formal sector) 
• Incineration: I didn’t know incineration was such a major aspect of waste management in China. I always thought that it had a negative connotation and was adding more to the pollutants in the air. However, after reading that some cities are able to utilize incineration as a means of producing energy in the form of electricity – I have a newfound understanding of its potential. HOWEVER, I’m still quite hesitant in its use as burning certain types of waste does and will always produce airborne pollutants and factories are often built in places where they can be seen as obtrusive or an eyesore. 
• Informal Trash Collection: Self-reliant and efficient, the work that they do displaces the flow of waste to a singular facility and in turn, assisting in the minimization of waste through proper (sorting & selling). I see these informal trash collectors on a daily basis, riding in bikes with mounds of recyclable/sorted material through the streets of Shanghai. 
• Fears: The second, third, and fourth-tier cities will eventually be/potentially be considered in the same capacity as Shanghai or Beijing. It worries me that cities are still taking a reactive approach to reducing waste instead of proactively lessening their consumption to reduce waste production in the long-run.

Sustainability. MIT Press 2015. The Concepts of Sustainability

Pages 38-56

KEY Concepts: 

• Sustainable Business
  • Business Council for Sustainable Dev. And the World Industry Council 
    • Created the World Business Council for Sustainable Dev. 
    • Coined the “triple bottom line” approach which is a report that companies use to measure their environmental impact 
• Sustainability and Equity
  • The concept of equity in sustainability furthers the idea of instability and tensions between wealthier and developing countries – often marginalized and the root of the disagreements between what is fair and equitable for their particular needs
• Sustainable Communities 
  • Building sustainable communities foster a type of social responsibility and social capital that is composed of people in an interconnected fashion – often creating various opportunities to connect, discuss, and make changes within their social strata 
• Sustainable Cities 
  • Linked to urbanization and public policy – a sustainable city is a concept that correlates with how cities manage their waste and their efforts to minimize their impact on sustainability via their local/govs. 
• Sustainable Consumption
  • Highlights the discourses on human consumption and the number of finite resources we possess (who gets to consume & what is the impact of this consumption) – how we can better provide and sustain the future generation’s well being 
• Sustainability in the Nonprofit Sector
  • The nonprofit sector can be viewed as a “bridge” between the local sector (residents, publicly elected officials, and business), they also facilitate physical efforts through events like (food banks, physical fitness initiatives, inner-city gardens, etc.) 
  • They also develop energy programs and other means of organization that is often looked over by large governing bodies (governments and etc.) and are often funded or provide funding for initiatives that promote an overall greater sustainability 
• The tragedy of the Commons 
  • Similar concept to the finite resource problem, its prevalence can be most seen when individuals make decisions against the common good of all users – utilizing all of the available resources in a collective fashion 

Installation Reflection 

“Agatha” – Mother Nature

The concept of “Agatha” or mother nature was a collective effort to try and visualize what our ecosystem would look like using discarded waste products. The group created or tried to create a “cloud-like” persona using trash (a recycled bag filled with Styrofoam and wrapped in bubble wrap) for the cloud portion and created string/rope using plastic bags) and hung various debris to symbolize a rain of trash. The bottom section of the installation represents the finite land and water resources we have by using a select group of blue and green waste products. This contained a plethora of items from old green Tsingtao bottles, food containers such as blue soy milk packets, and other various discarded materials. The installation was then placed in a strategic area, displayed near the second-floor café trashcans to show students and faculty what can be made from their own waste products and to remind them of their daily consumption.

What I learned: Ideally, the installation was to be hung somewhere around the café as it represented a cloud, this feat proved to be more difficult than expected. Due to time constraints, the installation was placed on a chair near the waste receptacles in the café, but I personally did not think it had the same effect as if it were properly installed/hung somewhere on the ceiling. As a future reference, the installation did not last. Meaning that because some pieces of trash were heavier than others and since we did not use traditional methods of putting together the piece, after a few days in the café – the appearance of the installation began to deteriorate. Pieces began to disappear or appear to “fall-off”, making the installation look unsightly and did not convey the original message/idea.

IMG_2277

Vice Video 

• China stopped accepting certain plastic and paper waste and created a new rigorous sorting system of what the country is willing to take in
• The drastic policy changes are intended to reduce the country’s carbon footprint 
• NEW TERM!!  Trash Trade – Types: Single Stream Recycling facility 
• NEW KEY CONCEPT!! Companies in the “Dirty Business” collects, sorts, and sells recyclable waste to companies who then turn them into other products (Before the China ban – $75 per (x) weight/amount
• China banned the import of 24 different types of paper and plastic-like reusable water rebottles 
  • They also changed the requirement of recyclables but they still accept “higher grade clean stuff”
• By April shipments were down by 36% – 27 states 
• Are other countries able to take the influx? (Vietnam, India, Philippines, etc.) The answer is NO. 
  • These smaller countries don’t have the capacity and systems in place to successfully/correctly recycle and manage waste
• I think its the US’s fault for relying on other countries to do the ‘dirty work” for them. Instead of profiting off the trash trade, more US companies/the government should take initiative and create systems that can sustainably recycle excess waste. Now, the effects of selling trash to other countries are more relevant than ever and are having a drastic impact on the environment.

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