A Viennese industrial design student, Miulein, created a little zippered container using the bottoms of PET bottles. The frog-like contraption can be used as a chunky purse, a place to stash small items or a really fat wallet. That doesn’t mean it will have money in it. It will just be fat.
We use PET (polyethylene terephthalate) a lot, especially for drink containers. It is a material that will outlive you. In fact, it won’t even start to break down until the 28th century. That would be like having something used by medieval peasants still around today. Short of giving up the products that come in it altogether, finding ways to recycle and reuse PET bottes is a good idea.
Miulein is actually Zitta Schnitt, an industrial design student. You can see more of her work here.
FEBRUARY 2010 UPDATE: Zitta Schnitt e-mailed us this addition to our original feature, which we have reproduced in full below:
PET BOTTLE PURSE
The PET Bottle Purse consists of two pieces of PET bottles and a zipper. The transformed item of daily use allocates a new place in its usage. It becomes little companion from everyday life for everyday life, accessible trough the OPEN SOURCE DESIGN below.
A construction tutorial for “PET BOTTLE PURSE” is available at
http://www.designstudents-for-rent.at in English and German.
Design: Zitta Schnitt, 2004
What's Driving This Trend
- Upcycled Fashion
- Creating fashion items from recycled materials, such as PET bottles, presents opportunities for sustainable and eco-friendly fashion brands.
- Open Source Design
- The concept of open source design allows for collaboration and sharing of ideas in transforming everyday items into innovative products, like the PET bottle purse.
- DIY Sustainability
- The rise of do-it-yourself (DIY) sustainability encourages individuals to repurpose and reuse materials for personal use, fostering creativity and reducing waste.
Who This Affects Most
- Fashion
- The fashion industry can explore opportunities in upcycling materials and creating sustainable fashion accessories, like purses made from PET bottles.
- Design
- The design industry can embrace the concept of open source design and encourage collaboration to transform everyday items into innovative products.
- DIY & Crafts
- The DIY and crafts industry can tap into the trend of DIY sustainability by providing resources, tutorials, and materials for repurposing and upcycling projects.
