Industrial design students to present projects Feb. 1

Juniors in Western Washington University’s Industrial Design program have completed their annual ReMade projects, with this year’s designs featuring products for the household.

ReMade is an annual design challenge combining sustainability and entrepreneurship.

The goal is to transform items of industrial waste into viable commercial products that are then sold; each participant must first come up with a design prototype followed by a small production run of 20 products, which are then sold in a retail venue.

By going through this “trash to cash” process, students get a fresh understanding of the designer’s impact on the environment and the economy.

This year’s collection includes vases made from scrap piping, doormats and coasters from discarded rope and kitchen utensils from wooden coat hangers. Students will showcase their projects from 6 – 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1, at Ideal, 1227 Cornwall Ave. in Bellingham.

In addition to working with Ideal, the students also partnered with the Entreamigos organization located in San Pancho, Mexico. Entreamigos is a nonprofit focusing on creating learning spaces and opportunities for San Pancho’s children and families.

One of each student’s products will be donated for retail at the organization’s tourist shop, which sells sustainable items, to raise funds for their efforts.

Students are also including fabrication instructions in Spanish so that these products can be reproduced and hopefully spawn cottage industries within the community. Arunas Oslapas, a professor of Industrial Design at Western, and his wife will bring the products to San Pancho in March and give workshops on creating eco-friendly products from trash and refining the existing products they currently produce.

To learn more about Entreamigos, visit www.entreamigos.org.mx. For more information on the ReMade project, contact Oslapas at arunas.oslapas@wwu.edu.