Recycling is a word that we associate with used cans and bottles and other waste materials. In most cases, we dump the waste into a recycle bin and forget about it. But even these waste articles can be used in unique and creative ways. This was what was done by Designer Vanessa Harden, photographer and designer Ross Cairns, product designer Kellee Kimbro and volunteers from the Bonnaroo. They developed this idea for an environmental movement called Do The Green Thing.
The Bonnaroo is one of the most anticipated music festival organized in the United States every year. It pulls a crowd of around 80,000 music lovers each year. This year, at the 10th anniversary of Bonnaroo, the organizers asked Vanessa Harden to design something new.
The tents that are normally used are mostly one time usage which are usually discarded after use. This concept was what led the team to think outside of the box. And from this the scavenger was born. The Scavenger is a unique contraption of tents made completely by beer cans and sheets. The Scavenger was constructed using 8 bed sheets and 2,576 beer cans found, donated and collected on the first and second day of the âpre-festival.â
As the festival was about to begin, during the “pre-fest” which went on for two days, the team started collecting beer cans. And even though the team had anticipated a longer time span, the required number of beer cans was collected much earlier. This in itself shows how many tin cans are used during a big gathering like this.
Once the beer cans were collected, they have had to be built in the necessary fashion. After building the columns, the team combined the beer cans with the sheets to form the tents.
It was not just tents that were made with beer cans, there were also artificial palm trees, pen-holders camping stove and other small memorabilia which was built. The beer cans were held together using duct tapes and arranged in the fashion of poles and other shapes. Artificial palm trees were arranged throughout the camp site to give the area an aesthetic look.
The outer limit of the entire camp was also bordered with beer cans or a fence to create a completely “beered-in” environment throughout the camp site.
The entire festival became so well-known throughout the country that people specially came just to see this unique Scavenger party. Many tourists came equipped with cameras to take their photographs with the Scavenger.
At the end of the festival, all the tents were dismantled, and some of the volunteers took home the Scavenger in small parts like the palm trees.
The music festival was the biggest thing happening in the state and attracted a huge crowd. As the majority of the audience for the festival would have been the youth, it was a good platform for hitting some hard truths. By organizing the Scavenger, the organizers were probably hoping to get the message to the youth about the advantages of recycling.
Let us hope the message was received.
Via: The Scavenger
