Yes, I’m a ho for Plastics Make it Possible. Those dudes along with Ogilvy PR sent me down to the Solar Decathlon and the inspiration I got from these kids in the competition is the gift that keeps on giving.
Ok, so check out the light fixture used in the Purdue University home, which BTW, took second place. Not too shabby. I don’t know how much they did from scratch, but if they started with 4 pendants and built the lucite shade, then they would have built the frame and drilled holes in the lucite to attach the bolts. I’ll bet you can find something similar with a clear shade. The beauty of this is the sand. Yes, that’s just sand.
All you have to do to make one of these babies is tape the edges and find a clear, non yellowing adhesive. I’m guessing a spray adhesive would work brilliantly. But here’s the thing. Why stick with beige? You can do any color sand. Make it a red light, Roxanne. Or!! You don’t even have to stick with sand. What about recycled glass? Recycled multi-colored plastic bottles and such on the outside of the lucite? Or recycled crazy straws? That’s crazy fun! Use heavier glue for these. Are you getting the picture?
The LED backlit panels used by Appalachian’s Solar Homestead rocked my world. They weren’t the only ones to use these acrylic sheets to set mood lighting, but they were the only ones I got a picture of. Seems an easy enough project. Run your lights and cover them with translucent plastic sheets. Get creative with it by framing and hanging “light boxes” instead of covering the entire wall.
The back splash above was in the City College of New York Solar Roof Pod. (Woot! Woot!) To be honest, I didn’t catch what the materials are. I’m going to guess that it’s Corian or another acrylic solid surface material with glass inlays. Easier and less expensive than buying a sheet of Corian would be to make a resin backdrop and set in the accents instead of cutting into the piece. Remember that you can work on a horizontal surface and hang it once dry. If you’re going with resin, the possibilities are endless. I happen to love the clean look of this one, but remember my resin countertop? It could easily be a backsplash.
So, there ya go. Tomorrow I’ll show you some fun wood projects. But just one more word on plastic. I could not have made it through the rainy weekend without the following two items keeping my feet and pants dry. So, thank you again, plastics, for making it possible to stay comfortable on the nastiest of nasty days.
