Prototyping a creative solution to plastic waste

With the climate crisis becoming ever more dominant in our lives, Adam decided to take action on some of the plastic waste leaving our  workshop.

Along with others at Glasgow Wood, Adam has been gathering plastic strapping which used to secure the timber deliveries which come into us. Whilst the team are able to reuse the fabric strapping to secure outgoing orders, not all of the straps can be used again. Recently, a few team members have decided to do some prototyping to prevent this plastic from going to landfill.

“I know we already reuse and recycle a huge amount of materials. But how could we do more? How could we prevent even more valuable materials from heading to landfill?”

By using a very classic weaving pattern, Adam developed this prototype stool which is currently on display in our retail space. It seems to have been really well received by the team and all of you guys, but would you like to see it as a new addition to our stock product range?

The other type of strapping which we receive is more heavy duty. This strapping is reusable, but once they’ve been given a clean they have the ability to create a pretty unique piece of furniture.

We ran a competition to see if we could find a name for this woven seating, and it was Jane Blackhall who came up with the winning name, Roven.

“Roven is the past tense for reeve, which is a nautical term for passing a rope through a hole or ring. The word Roven also combines the ‘R’ from recycle and the word ‘Woven’. To weave is to make or construct by interlacing threads or strips of material or other elements into a whole. And that’s exactly what Adam has done, he has taken discharged materials and made them a whole again. It’s amazing work, and something he should be very proud of.”

Thinking about what you might do with this plastic strapping? A workshop? Repair something of your own?

Check out our listings on CAN Arts and come in to the retail space to see what other materials are in our FREE box, including reflective strips!