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Myoocreate

Design

The Latest Inventions in Line Drying

August 19, 2010

Air-drying your clothes is one simple way you can lower your carbon footprint. And I’ll be honest– living in an apartment in a city, it’s not something I ever thought I could do. But after seeing all the great entries from the Care To Air Design Challenge, I just might get started.

A few days ago, our CEO Dave Bolotsky went out to San Francisco to join a panel of judges for the Levi’s Care to Air Design Challenge, hosted by Myoocreate.

And after some careful deliberations and some great presentations from the finalists, the judges picked a winner– Nothing is What It Seems

Photo by Eurydice Thomas

Nothing is What It Seems blends modern design with functionality. The perfect size for small apartments, it folds out from the wall when you have a load of laundry to dry. And when your clothes are put away, it folds back in, cleverly disguised as wall art.
You can check out all the entries at Myoocreate.

Once you see them all, I’ll bet you’ll be inspired to start air drying your laundry too!

Design

Care to Air Design Challenge

July 23, 2010

 

Care to Air

Just a friendly little reminder that this is the last week to submit  your entry to the Care to Air contest, which challenges people to design “the world’s most innovative, covetable, and sustainable air-drying solution for clothing.” Sponsored by Levi’s and Myoocreate, the contest prize is $10,000 to be split among the finalists, plus a chance to meet with some really cool judges, including our CEO and founder Dave Bolotsky!

If you’ve got an idea, please visit Myoocreate to submit. Entries are due by July 31. Good luck!

The Uncommon Life

Care to Air Design Challenge

July 2, 2010

Care to Air

A few years ago, a neighbor moved out of our apartment building and gave us her washer/dryer. Instead of doing our laundry in the building’s basement, we could now do it at home. But there was one catch: our building prohibits the use of dryers. To solve that problem, we decided to keep the washer, pass on the dryer and become air (aka line) dryers with the help of a couple folding metal racks.

It’s a little more work, but I enjoy it, much in the way I like composting or cooking.  It’s a welcome contrast from my digital existence and makes me feel a bit more grounded.  It’s also a household chore that my sons can participate in (with only a limited amount of grousing).

Last year, I read an article about  a non-profit called Project Laundry List that was fighting for people’s right to line dry their clothes.  Apparently, some towns ban line drying for aesthetic reasons.  Project Laundry List’s founder Alex Lee is an environmental activist who believes in the energy savings of line drying.  It makes a lot of sense, since line drying gets the job done in 24 hours using zero fossil fuels.

In talking to Alex about his efforts, I learned about the current “Care to Air” design challenge being sponsored by Levi’s and Myoocreate. The Care to Air contest challenges people to design “the world’s most innovative, covetable, and sustainable air-drying solution for clothing.” Levi’s is offering up a $10,000 prize for the best design, and they are doing this in conjunction with their new product care labels that instruct customers to cold water wash, air dry and donate the jeans to Goodwill when they’re done with them. UncommonGoods was invited to participate in the design challenge and help judge the winning entries next month.  Ultimately, we hope to be able to bring one of the designs to market.  If you’ve got an idea, please visit  Myoocreate to submit. Good luck!