GREEN GRADS - Innovators, makers, activists
Vases grown from mycelium, a new seaweed bio-material, a heating blanket powered by the sun, and a DIY robot to monitor polluted water worldwide: these are just a few enterprises the GREEN GRADS are bringing to Green Living Live.
But who and what exactly are GREEN GRADS?
“We’re a ‘platform’ promoting recent graduates of UK Universities who are confronting the world’s most pressing eco-issues,” explains founder/curator Barbara Chandler, who will be at the show. “Our graduates are tackling sustainability, climate change, circular production, waste and pollution, new materials, biophilia, bio-diversity and much more. We find them at universities and degree shows. And we promote them through shows, films, informal Salons, a website, a YouTube channel and Instagram.
See the profiles of the 24 GREEN GRADS below and their talks on the Sustainable Future Theatre.
Who is running GREEN GRADS?
Founder/curator: multi award-winning design journalist Barbara Chandler, known for her long-running pages in the London Evening Standard. Barbara is also a photographer with skills honed by numerous exhibitions and commercial ventures. This is invaluable for “populating” publicity and social media, website and exhibition reports.
Show/events director: Michael Czerwinski, founder/director of Studio Tucktite). Michael has extensive experience of delivering exhibitions, talks and seminars, including numerous events for the Design Museum. He is the co-founder/director of the Illustrators Fair
Textile projects: Debbie McKeegan; CEO of Texintel); FESPA Textile Ambassador. Debbie took charge of the unique GREEN GRADS TEXTILE CHALLENGE 2022 with its call for ECO STORIES from graduating textile students.
Photographed from left to right: Barbara Chandler, Michael Czerwinski, Debbie McKeegan
.png)
Meet the GREEN GRADS
-
)
BA Birmingham City University Textiles with a home-grown message Whilst studying for her textile degree, Rebekah was inspired by a visit to a walled garden, sparking a new appreciation for vegetables ... -
)
Roberta’s soft sculptures show Nature as an Activist. She is a researcher, artist and activist – “dreaming of a future where humans respect nature and its ecosystems.” She’s telling stories through mi ... -
)
MSc RCA + Imperial College A pollution monitor for watersports Ryan’s invention Neaho is an ingenious attack on water pollution, which enables people doing water sports to also monitor water quality ... -
)
MA Manchester School of Art Old duvets for insulating blinds Adele is a tireless activist. She hates waste and is transforming discarded duvets into much-needed insulating window blinds. “My local t ... -
)
Amber is appalled by the low price farmers now get for their fleece: on some farms it is less than the cost of shearing it. “As a result some farmers are burning this abundant, natural and compostabl ... -
)
Some of the most difficult materials to biodegrade or recycle are MLPs (multi-layered plastics), such as toothpaste tubes, because they have an aluminium layer. Angela found existing recycling methods ... -
)
Callum’s Slice Table is made from two folded pieces of sandblasted aluminium and six pieces of sliced silver birch, which minimises timber wastage by using the whole width of the trunk. Each slice is ... -
)
“I have a whole new take on upcycling,” says Christoph, an accomplished craftsman, who was born and raised in Austria. He has sleek modern designs for stools and a storage tower which he can make in q ... -
)
Artist Elena’s reaction to climate crisis is a portfolio of bold art prints, cards and fabrics, inspired by Russian Constructivism. Her strong motifs, confidently expressed in striking abstractions, s ... -
)
BA Kingston University New ceramics from ceramic waste “Grog” is an aggregate that’s added to clay during ceramic production to improve its stability and drying properties. Currently, industry is us ... -
)
Four enthusiastic and dedicated graduates are hand making plant pots from Jesmonite (often called eco-concrete) combined with recycled glass collected from Sheffield’s rivers and waterways. The unique ... -
)
Surely a material of the moment is mycelium, part of the fungi kingdom, a ubiquitous fast-spreading underground network of threads from which mushrooms grow. It’s already producing materials for packa ... -
Grace is a sixth generation farmer. Her family has 1040 acres, a mixture of arable and livestock with 1000 ewes and 60 cows. “British wool is now largely worthless so I am campaigning to rebuild the i ... -
)
Helen’s art baskets and striking lampshades are a contemporary take on an old craft, woven from natural materials that include willow she has planted and harvested herself, rushes gathered from rivers ... -
)
Jacob is reviving the traditional craft of extracting resin from pine, fir and cedar trees. This was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly for waterproofing ships. However, it was push ... -
)
Kiara has repurposed waste electronics (WEEE*) to make her low-cost WEEE lights, suitable for Agbogbloshie, Ghana, the world’s largest and most notorious electronic waste dumpsite, hazardous for both ... -
)
Making use of an abundance of seaweed local to her University, Libby developed a sustainable biomaterial which will biodegrade in two weeks. This can be moulded, or pressed into sheets which can be co ... -
)
"I’m celebrating the irregularities and beauty of raw timber,” says Millie, “and sustainability is everything for me.” Her turned wood vessels, with their rich organic textures, are made from foraged ... -
)
As energy bills soar, more people are drawn into relative poverty – at least 14.5 million according to the UK Parliament, reporting in 2022. Mireille’s People Power features a heated Solar Blanket, po ... -
Navpreet won the GREEN GRADS Earth Award 2022 “for the person who loves the planet the most.” Her goals are design activism, the circular economy and sustainability and she radiates commitment. “I wan ... -
)
Float is a robotic device that measures and records water quality data. It was developed for and alongside Colombo City’s wetland communities, and can be built by unskilled citizen scientists out of l ...
