Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups quick oats
3/4 cup Demerara or brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups soy milk
3 apples, peeled and diced into small pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease muffin tin(s) and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Add the oil, soy milk and applesauce, mix well. Stir in the diced apples.

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin. Allow to cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 14-16 muffins.

…

YUM

In preparation for the Fresh Talent Challenge in March 2012, the Eco Design Initiative set out to investigate the real life situation of the children of Sakumlandela Primary School in Khayelitsha. In collaboration with the Earth Child Project, we designed an “investigative toolkit” for the kids to be our eyes, ears, voices, storytellers… The exercises included interactive, creative “assignments” which played out over a series of weeks, during kids’ time  with the Earth Child Project.

(Earth Child Project: who we love working with by the way because they’re making school the way we wish for! To compliment kids aged 6 – 13 academic learning, Earth Child Project teaches yoga, food gardening, worm farming, hiking clubs,  living classrooms,  holiday programs, to connect the children and their communities to nature, healthy living and each other. )

Keep in mind part of the team participating in the social design intervention in March are based in Sweden. Some have not yet been to South Africa. The rest are obviously in love with our country! But the truth is for many of our South African participants (team included), township life is unknown and probably grossly misunderstood.

We’re a curious bunch of “social designers”. We wondered what the children have to say and how they view their world. If we’re to conceptualize and suggestion designs to improve the quality of the kids’ lives we cannot make only assumptions. And so began what we can only really call The Beginning of a continued partnership with Sakumlandela’s earth children…

We’ll be sharing a lot of this information and what the kids have documented as part of the Sustainable Design Showcase – our exhibition of sustainable design innovation launching at Cape Town City Hall on 7 March 2012 (Mark the date, dear friends!) – and through other communication channels in the build-up to the event.

For now, I’d like to share a sneak peak…

Circle of earth Children that played  “Eco Design Detectives”:

Lisa & Nokuphiwo (Noxi, we call her) introducing the story-telling theater. The easy to clip-together theater came with a set of backgrounds depicting various interpretations of “home” – as in “Home is where the heart is”, our theme for 11″12.

The kids really got into this… Wait till you hear their stories and see them present.

Precious.

Here’s the cover to the booklet. Diary of my Day and the other assignment instructions included.

Looking good, Sisi!

During the Diary of my Day exercise, the kids documented what happened every hour for one whole day, starting 6am until 9pm:

I have a feeling that the Photo assignment was the all round favourite… Armed with disposable cameras, the kids were given a few prompts for their photographs, like “This is my best friend” and “This is where I do my homework”. For the rest, creative freedom… Cannot wait to see the pictures!

Click Click Click:

…

We’re thrilled at how enthusiastically the kids and our friends at Earth Child Project engaged and participated in this exercise. Good grounds for more, I say! We’re really, really grateful to be working closely with you. This is part of our that delivers such great joy to us. Thanks for playing with us!

Thank you to Orli Setton, our Eco Design Initiative intern responsible for designing the Eco Design Detective Toolkit:

Thank you to Gary Hirson for documenting the Investigation. All the pictures (save the last of Orli, taken at my kitchen table in Malmö) in the post are Gary’s work.

It’s one of those simple little things about living in urban Malmö that makes me happy.  I don’t mind taking out the trash, I love it. Every time. Because it’s easy to organize (as always,  could be better), convenient and it’s “taken care of”. It takes little effort from our side (as always, we could be better). Once we starting getting our waste organized and we could account for what we discard, we definitely got a lot better at streamlining (as always, could be better).

So, here goes:

This is what 2.5 weeks of living, working playing results to in our home. That’s the trash. Squeezed into the bit of space under our kitchen skin. We recycle glass, metal, paper, plastics and organic waste.

We eat mostly vegetarian and so I was delighted when the apartment recycling units started to accommodate organic waste too.

In Malmö an average 30 000 ton food waste is used to create bio-gas. Energy, which is even used to fuel the city buses!

Right outside my front door (2 steps), there’s this shute. The waste that cannot be recycled is popped down here. On a good week, we’re at about 2 liters.

Down in the basement, through a passage, there’s the Bin. It opens with the beep of an access card and the spluttering automatic switch-on of the lights.  The place  where the building’s tenants recycle (mostly packaging).

Always interesting stuff in the Bin. Today it’s someone’s discarded sheet music.

Deposit of the season: the caps of tea-light candles, which warm Swedish homes during the dark winters:

One week + 2 vegetarians = average 3liters waste per week. We use a bag made of corn (BioBag). It was a bit of a hunt to find, but got them at the local handy store. Costs 1sek /about R1 per unit – stores charge more for their grocery bags.

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Home is where the heart is.

At the heart of the home are people.

People are at the heart of design.

Designers are people with hearts.

xxx

Enticed by this DIY approach to personal fashion:

All in One Workbench

Strap Styles

Belts to Be

Magpie’s feast of bright buckles

All the bits and bobs and bolts you may need…

Satisfaction guaranteed.

(In the garden at Louisiana, Museum of Modern Art…)

Magnificent instillation by Arne Quinze is a part of the LIVING Frontiers Exhibition at Louisiana in Humlebæk, Denmark.

A child-like exploration of the Concept of Home

A playful bridge between art & architecture

Home is where the Heart Is

xxx

Imagine my delight.

Simple Shoes for a happy planet…

Responsible choice

“

Eco certified leather & suede

All of the leather and suede come from certified tanneries that are BLC or ISO14001 certified. They receive these certificates from a third party for practicing and committing to continuing their environmental high-five-worthy efforts.

Hemp

We use hemp because it’s one of the strongest, most durable and breathable fibres available. We also use unbleached hemp. In fact, as soon as the unbleached hemp comes out of the ground, we cut it and weave it into a pair of sneakers. No bleach, no dyes.

Certified Organic Cotton

We use certified organic cotton so we know that the people who grow and pick our cotton are not exposed to substances generally used to kill rodents and insects. In turn,  we like that these chemicals aren’t depositing themselves into the water table or onto your feet.

Recycle Car Tyres

We can make the outer soles for 6 pairs of men’s size 9 shoe from a single car tyre. By using recycled car tyres we’re able to extend the life of a material  that is otherwise considered trash and could harm the environment if not exposed of properly.

“

Simple Shoes for a happy planet.

And a happy me

We’re starting with the basics in response to the fact that in most cases, sustainability is not included in learning curriculums and is often thought of as that objective that will be attended to once the important stuff like housing and unemployment is taken care of. We think that an integrated approach is the way to go and that’s why DESIGN EDUCATION, particularly with an emphasis on sustainability should be prioritized!

So, while we’re on our Road Show, our Sustainable Design Ambassadorswill be handing over educational toolkits to designers and educators across the country. In this way, the learning and access to credible resources will continue long after we’ve “highjacked” the classrooms!

The SUSTAINABLE DESIGN TOOLKITS are being designed as attractive, interactive “text books”. We’re producing these to distribute electronically – not only the most environmentally friendly way to go about it, but also means that we get to extend its footprint – designers can pass on the information to ensure as many as possible are influenced.

We’re facing on small challenge, which we hope you can help us out with: The designers and crafters that we’ll be meeting in the informal collectives, often do not have access to computers or the Internet. If we consider our whole audience, this sector could be seen as the most vital group to be introduced to sustainable design information. We would LOVE to produce a short print run of the Sustainable Design Toolkit to hand over to each designer we meet, even in these informal environments. To achieve this, we’re CROWDFUNDING, calling on you to donate your small change to make a big change.

Crowdfunding describes the collective cooperation and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Since the Eco Design Initiative was founded as a non-profit organization, essentially to welcome everyone’s involvement, we think it’s a good idea to open a project to public for participation.

To learn more about our call to action, please visit our page on Funded by Me, by clicking here.

We sincerely hope that you are able to show your support by donating your “small change”. Every little bit goes a long way and we’re offering rewards for each person that makes a donation. Most importantly though, we know that it’s going to make a big change on the ground, amongst skilled crafters that have not had the fortune of formal education..

THANKS for your support for the design of our sustainable future!

(And allows us to indulge in a little reminisence as we tell our story.)

***

In true rock star style, the team rushed straight from the airport, after more than 15 hours travelling time, to attend the launch of the No Shit! Eco Design Showcase at Malmöhus Castle. Always with a warm welcome, Malmö Museum’s team hosted a vibrant audience that were clearly excited by the concepts, products and sustainable design story told.

Malmö City is widely recognized for its efforst in sustainable urban development. Through implementing smart systems, the City supports the community in living better quality lifestyles, with respect for environmental resources.

During Day 1 of the visit, our South African delegation were orientated to the ways of getting around in Malmö: bicycles being primary modes for mobility, meant that we need a crash-course in the art of cycling for a few members of the No Kak team. The fact that Swedish spring includes rain showers, chilly breezes and temperatures on par with South African winter, would not be an obstacle to our pleasure in discovering the city!

Since we were on a mission to gather as much information and inspiration as possible, Day 2′s programme took advantage of the fact that Team No Kak was well rested and ready to absorb.  The (organic) jam packed day started with a visit to Eko Centrum and Sege park – permanent exhibition about sustainable urban development and Scandinavia’s largest solar park. All new to the team, our guide Marcus managed our many questions with ease!

We shifted our focus from the intersection between sustainability and TECHNOLOGY to the importance of SOCIAL wellbeing in the persuit of our sustainable future. This took us to a very special organization, Barn i Stan (Children in the City) which is based in a neighbourhood called Seved, which used to be area rife with struggle between immigrants and older, more conservative Swedes. Barn i Stan’s approach is centred on SURPRIZE as the key ingredient to neutralizing emotions. It’s a playful, comfortable oasis… gentle African beats reverberate out onto the street and the food garden flourishes! We were reminded of how importnat it is to PLAY for change!

The DESIGN + MALMÖ experience would not be without a visit to Form/ Design Centre on Lilla Torg (the Little Square)

***

All this is an account of only the first couple of days of Team No Kak’s sustainable design discovery!

To be continued…

Soon.

In the meantime, BIG THANKS to all the hearts, hands and minds that played a part in our 1st Chapter!