The frilly wedding dress made from recycled paper wouldn't have lasted long in yesterday's drizzle, but at least it showed that some of the "waste" we discard can be turned into a beautiful object.
There are lots of other examples of award-winning products - 74 in all - made from recycled materials in an inspirational Earth Week exhibit ion at ENFO, St Andrew's Street, Dublin. Terrazzo tiles made from cement, broken mirrors, screws and bolts. Fruit bowls made from used vinyl records, picture frames from bicycle chains and colourful bracelets from yoghurt cartons and old clothes.
Corrugated cardboard is the material for what is billed as "dry pottery" and for the Wiggle side chair, itself a designer object, while soft drink cans and wire netting have been used to make a screen.
The Madame Ruby table lamp is made from the red tail-lights of junked cars and the inner tubes of tyres, long past retreading, live on as rain shoes or a spiky handbag, probably not very comfortable to carry.
There's even a Philips compact disc player made from used CDs and a CD rack made from used bicycle parts, with chain wheels as its end pieces, as well as all sorts of chairs made from types of plastic.
Brainchild of a US architect, Mr Tom Johnson, the exhibition was opened yesterday by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, who described it as a showcase of good environmental design.
He noted that some of the items, including the Celtona wedding dress, have not yet moved beyond the design stage. But the Aeron office chair, made from recycled metal and plastic, is a hot seller in the US. "This exhibition stimulates the creative and commercial reuse of waste materials, thereby reducing the demand on natural resources and minimising the impact of waste disposal", according to Mr Dempsey.
"It's the direction in which many Government and industry initiatives are aimed and I would encourage all students of design, business, architecture and environment to visit before it finishes on May 1st."
