In 2016, a company specializing in the creation of functional and comfortable office products partnered with Bureo to decrease the ever-growing deluge of plastic in our oceans. More specifically, Humanscale plans to make a difference by manufacturing their new Smart Ocean task chair through Bureo’s “Net Positiva” program.

This recovery and recycling initiative facilitates the reuse of discarded fishing nets by breaking them down and transforming their plastic into nylon pellets. In order to do this, the plastic must first be cleaned and mechanically shredded. The resulting pellets are then used to create quality products like skateboards, sunglasses, and now, the Smart Ocean chair.

Bureo is working directly with fishermen across the coast of Chile to promote the collection and recycling of fishing nets. The Net Positivia program teaches these fishermen about the materials that go into fishing nets and the proper way to dispose of them. On top of that, the program also provides the locals with opportunities for employment and collects funds for their communities.

Fishing nets are considered to be one of the single most harmful pollutants out there, with some 640,000 tons of them being left in our oceans each and every year. The Bureo team claims to have already recovered more than 10 tons of discarded fishing net material.

At its core, the Smart Ocean task chair is a clever reinvention of Humanscale’s “Diffrient Smart” model. Smart Ocean offers the same timeless design and functionality as Diffrient Smart while adding a new “Form-Sensing Mesh Technology” to the mix. This material was designed to instantly adjust to and move with every individual user. Each chair is made using two pounds of recycled fishing net material and is Living Product certified, which means that it lives up to the most rigorous sustainable manufacturing standards around.

Humanscale’s partnership with Buero continues to yield innovative solutions for getting plastic out of our oceans. Both companies recognize the tremendous impact this issue has had on both human health and the health of the environment. The number of plastic objects being dumped into the ocean will surpass the number of fish in it by 2050 if we don’t make a change soon. Recycling and reprocessing those plastics keeps them from ever going into the water in the first place.

Humanscale is also a founding partner of the NextWave initiative. Spearheaded by Lonely Whale, this program hopes to successfully evolve into the world’s first international ocean-bound plastic supply chain. They give courageous ideas a platform by building useful products out of materials collected from river and coastal areas. NextWave is also supported by companies like Dell and GM.

While Humanscale continues to promote their eco-friendly Smart Ocean chair, they also encourage us to play a part in saving the oceans. They advise that we recycle or donate unwanted plastics, avoid the use of micro-beads, reduce our usage of disposable plastics, participate in cleanup projects, and spread the word on plastic’s negative impact. Together, we can keep plastics circulating in the global economy and out of the oceans.

The post Humanscale Saves the Oceans by Making Office Chairs from Recycled Fishing Nets first appeared on Dornob.

So, you’re driving along a country road, minding your own business, and suddenly you spot a river. “Hmmm, I bet there are some beautiful trout in there,” you think to yourself. “I wish I’d brought my fishing rod!”

Bummer. How frustrating. No fishing for you today.

But wait! If you’d treated yourself to Tenkara‘s Mini Sawtooth or Mini Teton rod, you’d have been able to stash it in your glovebox or backpack, just in case of an opportunity such as this. Call it fishing on the fly, if you will.

The tiny, lightweight mini Tenkara fly fishing rods can go everywhere with you. At just over 1 ounce, you’ll not even realized you’re carrying one, and there’s no danger of poking someone’s eye out, as the clever rods collapse to just 10 inches.

Tenkara has this lightweight, compact fishing rod thing down pat. Even their regular rods are small of stature. But a 10-inch rod? How the heck does that work?

Well, the Mini Sawtooth has 15 sections and extends to an impressive 9 feet when you’re ready to fish. The Mini Teton comes with 20 sections, and that allows it to reach 12 feet when fully assembled.

The rods are precisely crafted from high-quality carbon fiber, and they come in a package with everything you need to fish: the rod, line, flies, line clips, rod sock and rod tube for carrying it safely. They even sport a lifetime warranty.

Both rods are small but mighty, and their size does not take anything away from their performance when you hit the banks and cast for those trout. They are recommended for catching fish up to two pounds.

The Tenkara rodmeisters explain that the mini rods come with an extra serving of finesse. “What makes these rods incredible is their ability to be precise and offer delicate presentations with an insane amount of feel,” they say. “You can literally feel your nymph bouncing along the river bed, and even when a little 6-inch trout hits your fly, you are able to detect the strike.” (We assume you fisher-people know what a nymph is here….)

They add that the flexibility and thin construction of the rod “offers a really unique casting experience.”

And just in case you’re not sure what to fish for with them, they say, “While we don’t recommend these rods for chasing pigs, they do great with your typical mountain stream conditions and are a great take-anywhere rod.”

Of course they should know. They are based out of Driggs, Idaho, and happily boast that “Within one hour of our headquarters we have some of the world’s best trout rivers and streams (but don’t tell anybody that).” They add that the state’s geography inspired them to devote themselves to the sport of fishing.

The Tenkara team do their best to pass along their passion for fishing and the outdoors to the rest of us. While we may not all be lucky enough to live in fish-rich Idaho, the mini rods make it easy to take advantage when a fishing opp presents itself, wherever we may be.

The post Mini Rods, for Fishing on the Fly first appeared on Dornob.

Think: cast-in-place versus prefab concrete. Part fishing shack, part igloo, part minimalist chalet, this portable part-time dwelling uses blocks of ice that are poured on the spot rather than painstakingly cut, drug and assembled on site.

Wire mesh reinforces these wall-and-window elements, which can serve as a trellis for greenery during summer months of disuse (or alternative open-air uses).

“Unavailability” from studio Gartnerfuglen can be assembled in minutes, or less, by a pair of people – easy to deploy and also to store (since the heaviest part – the thick walls – simply melt away).

More info on this ephemeral ice cabin from the designers:

“Noun 1. Unavailability – the quality of not being available when needed. As the smartphone is slowly taking over society, more and more people treasure the feeling when their battery runs out. This small shelter for unavailability follows the seasons as it is built with and by nature. The shelter’s construction is foldable for easy relocation and storage. It is effortlessly put up anywhere by one (or two small) persons in 30 seconds.”

“In winter its walls are filled with panels of ice, cast in snow. The ice panels function as a first skin against the harsh winter winds, creating a pocket of heated air and tranquillity, as the cold light of the setting sun is diffused through the frozen water. Used as an ice fishing shanty, lake water can be used to form the walls. Lit inside with a candle, the shelter will light up like a lantern. When the weather gets warmer the bare chicken wire walls will serve as support for climbing plants, and form a green transportable gazebo providing fresh cool air for its occupant. Edible climbers like sweet peas, tomatoes and cucumbers will thrive and add to your evening salad.”

Photos by Astrid Rohde Wang and Olav Lunde Arneberg.

The post Ice Fishing Hut Melts When the Weather Warms first appeared on Dornob.

This idea is so obvious yet so ingenious: flip a local wooden fishing boat in a remote place like Holy Island and you have the perfect little hut, built to withstand the weather, heavy enough not to require as firm a foundation as a tent or yurt … and if you need to make it water-worthy again, well, it can be patched up taken out the next season by its resident fisherman. Well, not really, but you get the idea.

The stern of these reclaimed boats becomes the broad entry face, set with a door – the only necessary exterior modification. The interior then tapers in all directions, narrowing toward the bow but also port and aft on either side. The resulting recycled fishing boat houses may be small, dark and cozy, but since they’re also designed to weather storms on the water, they can surely take a few on land as well. The romanticism of it all might be enough to get you through life without windows, eh? But it might not be too difficult to insert a couple if you’re handy.

Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, lies off the northwest coast of Great Britain and is home to but a handful of permanent residents year round. During low tide, you can actually walk right out to the island, though invariably a few people fail to follow the warnings and get into deep trouble as the tides rise each day. Fortunately, the residents of Holy Island leave way-finding posts and emergency mini-shelters along the path for such foolish misadventures. If you happened to lose track of time and get stuck on the other side, it might not be so bad, especially if you can stay in one of these unique recycled houses for a night.(Images via Ghisan, Guthlac, Kevin Wakelam & Fiona McPhie)

The post Reclaimed Upside-Down Boat Houses first appeared on Dornob.