As basic necessities go, it's hard to deny that toilet paper is one of those items that we all need to use on a regular basis. Unless you're prepared to use leaves (which would be rather unpleasant, especially when they're crunchy)...or a bidet (which uses copious amounts of water)...or a reusable towel (which is a so not a direction that I personally want to take), the next best thing that a greenie can do to make a more earth friendly choice is to purchase rolls made with 100% recycled paper content. Some may attempt to step up their conservation efforts even more by rationing out their precious squares or drastically reducing their water intake, but at the end of the day, trees are still going to get killed until we come up with a better solution.
Until that time comes, Paris born artist Junior Fritz Jacquet has come up with an interesting way to prevent toilet paper cardboard cores from wallowing away in the darkest depths of landfills everywhere.
I must say, I am enamoured with his resourcefulness -- this form of eco-art rocks!!
Creating faces that are reminiscent of shrunken apple heads, Jacquet's many works entail strategically creasing cardboard canvases in order to produce amusing and cranky looking facial expressions.
Enhanced with rich layers of color and varnish, he clearly captures human traits with great success and personality to boot!
His exclusive artistic medium is paper, whether of the corrugated, fine art or toilet varieties and though he dabbles in other sculptural themes, his cardboard core series is by far the standout.
I can imagine any parent being inspired enough by Jacquet's efforts to gather their kiddies around the kitchen table on a long lazy summer day (or any family day for that matter) and working their magic on a few lucky cardboard cores -- I'm certainly planning to do it with my 3 little ones this weekend!
Posted by Cameron Miller - July 30, 2009 04:03 AM
Bob - Totally digging this article. I love it so much, it is now my avatar! We actually have 7th Generation toilet paper at home which is recycled. Now to see if I can copy Jacquet's artwork.
Posted by Greening Journey - August 07, 2009 08:44 PM
This is a really neat idea! Thanks for that work of art.
Posted by Anita Quincy - July 30, 2009 05:21 AM
This is my response to Gabrielle regarding reusing items for crafts:
I've had my kids use old milk carton boxes and used chopsticks. Then I let them cut holes in the carton or for younger kids let them sharpie marker the holes they want and you can cut them. Use a piece of old ribbon or twine and hang in a tree for a little bird. Add bird seed or make your own! :)
For a bit of gardening you can use old egg shell cartons and have the kids fill them with good dirt. Let them plant seeds and watch their plants grow. When they are big enough they can be transferred to the ground.
Use an old cd and make photo frames. Take a thin ribbon and tie it through the middle of the cd. Cut a round photograph, cool wrapping paper design, neat picture in a magazine, personal artwork, use your imagination and glue it to the cd.
Make a piggy bank out of used cottage cheese or yogurt containers. Cut slits into the top. Paint them, use construction paper shapes, glitter, sequence pieces, jewels or anything you can find lying around.
Use old cereal boxes to make masks and use elastic or ribbon to tie them on. The masks can be decorated using markers, paint etc.
Posted by The Mommy Tree - July 30, 2009 06:16 AM
I thought I would add my recent blog post to this article. http://www.greenwala.com/my_blog/1465-Oragami
Posted by Meena Kapur - July 30, 2009 07:24 PM
I have tons of old crayons lying around the house and this is what the kids and I do with them. http://www.greenwala.com/my_blog/218-Crayons-Crayons-everywhere
Posted by Gabrielle Smarr - August 05, 2009 09:55 PM
This is amazing! I love it so much!.. I can't wait to try it out..thanks so much for the help!
Posted by laura campanelli - August 09, 2009 12:35 PM
fantastic.. we will play today
Posted by Jane Pierce aka zJayne - August 10, 2009 05:01 PM
Clever works of collectible art! Yes, FABulous!