Mama’s Got a reMade Bag
San Franciscans believe in cycles. We bicycle, recycle, and follow the moon’s cycle. After banning the plastic, we carry our reusable shopping bags like many brightly colored flags, proudly displaying our eco-consciousness.
At the end of June, Gavin Newsom signed Mandatory Composting Legislation, upping the ante on the City’s recycling rate—already the highest in the Nation, with a goal of zero waste by 2020.
So we’ve definitely got recycling down. What else is there? Next up, upcycling—a term you are sure to be hearing more and more of.
Upcycle: to take something disposable and transform it into something of greater use and value. A term coined in the 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by Michael Braungart and William McDonough.
Basically, making treasures out of trash. What could be more San Francisco than that? In a city built on a windy rock that led to gold, rebuilt twice from the devastation of earthquake, in the birthplace of web 2.0, folks know how to make something new from just about nothing.
Case in point: Shannon South, the creative, entrepreneurial force behind reMade USA, and the designer of luxurious leather handbags lovingly hand-crafted in Potrero Hill from discarded jackets and scrap leather.
reMade USA was born out of Shannon’s belief that designers have a responsibility to consider what impact their materials may have on the environment and how the people manufacturing their products might be affected.
“I see reMade USA as part of a back-to-basics, holistic approach [to life] that… sees beauty in the past, praises a lifestyle of ‘making do’ and has a deep appreciation for things that have been cultivated by hand…
My hope, through reMade USA, is to create awareness through beautiful products, while leaving the tiniest footprint possible.”
Each bag is completely one-of-a-kind, flaunting a colorful vintage scarf lining, and bearing its own unique serial number. Collections are released in limited quantities of 10-14 bags. If you’re fast enough to grab the one you love before a Brazilian fashionista does, you can carry it with assurance that no one in the City, or anywhere else, has the same bag. You can even give reMade your own jacket to upcycle!
Get on reMade’s mailing list for first dibs on the next collection, coming soon. Email shop@remadeusa.com or give them a ring at 646.731.9497 for more information.
–Sara
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Building Blocks
A paradise of light and landscape, the Bay Area has a long history as photographer’s muse, from the legendary Ansel Adams to the amateur armed with a digital point-and-shoot. Part of what makes it so unique is the vast diversity of subject matter. Around every corner and over every hill is a new stunning vista, colorful architectural collage or heart-breaking bit of humanity. With a camera in hand, it’s possible to see the cities and corners of the Bay with fresh eyes every moment, even in one’s own familiar stomping grounds.
March 12th, San Francisco nonprofit media arts center Bay Area Video Coalition, celebrated this photo-friendly quality of the Bay Area with an opening reception for
5 Blocks—a photography exhibit and contest for which artist were asked to submit photos from within five blocks of their home, school or workplace.
The clever concept manifested as an engaging and fascinating community arts event. Photographs were numbered without artists’ names and grouped by zip code, so unless you were a postal worker, looking at the works turned into a kind of “guess the neighborhood” game. Attendee participation was further encouraged with the promise of voting ballots, stubby pencils, and a bright green ballot box—the accoutrements of the People’s Choice award. Nothing like a popular vote to get people interested right? Throw in some instant gratification with an awards ceremony just moments after the last vote was cast, and the folks at BAVC (pronounced “bay-vac”) were guaranteed a full house until the event’s end at 8pm.
And the winners, in four categories, with a Grand Prize and Runner-up judged by San Francisco-based photographer and Jell-O artist Liz Hickok:
Grand Prize: photo #44 Untitled by Kurt Manley
Runner-up: photo #41 Garage Fall by Adrian Cotter
Staff Favorite: photo #38 555 California by Dania Maxwell
People’s Choice: photo #41 Garage Fall by Adrian Cotter
Kurt Manley & his winning photo
The real winners, however, are the underrepresented folks that BAVC serves by increasing diverse communities’ cultural and economic participation in media creation and innovation, and empowering creative expression. They offer a broad range of classes and industry training—including training for unemployed media makers—as well as media preservation services and much more.
Go visit them in Potrero Hill, and while you’re there, check out 5 Blocks for yourself, it’s up through April.
—Sara
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Culturcosm is your online authority on the climate of trend throughout the Bay Area. Your roving reporters are taking to the streets and chasing down the real story. Be it stormy or serene, torrid or just plain tragic, we will break it down before you hit it up. Stay tuned. There's a new trend breaking every minute.
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