GREENIE # 8

Erin Lee makes bright and vivacious paintings on recycled cardboard. I love the idea of taking an ordinary object like a chair and sprucing it up with daring and bold colors. I also love her embroidered, recycled t-shirt.

1. When did you decide to start making eco-friendly stuff and what triggered your going green? In college I made weird sculptures out of newspapers or qtips, and liked making things out of stuff I already had. Partly because I lived in a dorm and didn’t have a lot of room and because I was a college student and didn’t have a lot of money! I also started painting on cardboard in college and that is when I fell in love with that material.

2. What recycled, reused, or eco-conscious materials do you typically use? What is your favorite? Cardboard! I love it. It can be made into any shape, and I love that it is so lightweight and portable. For such a simple material, it can be made into such cool things.
3. What non-art or craft related things do you try to do to lead an eco-savvy life?Recycle! My husband and I only own one car, so we definitely drive less than if we had two. I like shopping at thrift stores, then I find things no one else has and it’s an amazing deal! We also bring our own bags to the grocery store.

4. What is the one thing you wish people would do more of to contribute to the green cause? I really can’t believe that everyone doesn’t bring their own bags to stores, it is so easy and most grocery stores even sell cloth bags there!

5. Do you have a green hero? Artist or environmentalist or just uber-eco friend?There are so many etsy artists that are my green heroes! I love the jewelry and clothing designers that use vintage, recycled pieces. The last two things I ordered from etsy were environmentally friendly. I ordered a t-shirt from partybots, who uses eco-friendly printing processes. And I ordered a necklace from gigglinggoldfish, who makes jewelry from scrabble tiles! Very cool.