Designer Yaroslava Galaiko develops her recycled plastic collection dedicated to global climate change. The Arctic Vibes line includes a coffee table, a mirror and other objects. The collection has been shortlisted for the RoPlastic Prize 2023 in the Art and Collectible Design category and will be shown during Milan Design Week.
The competition, initiated by Rossana Orlandi Gallery, attracted thousands of entries from all over the world. Among them, the jury selected about 200 finalists, the winners will be announced during the exhibition curated by Rossana Orlandi.
“Now visible changes are taking place in the Earth’s climate system: the average annual temperature of the planet is rising, glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, precipitation is changing. The biggest changes are happening to the Arctic sea ice,” Yaroslava explains. “The shape and texture of the pieces in the Arctic Vibes collection are reminiscent of the climate crisis, that there are many steps everyone can take to help reduce the pace of climate change. Do not think that nothing depends on the actions of one person: millions of people around the world have already joined the climate movement and are changing their habits.
Items from the line are created by heating the material and manually processing large fractions of recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE). Due to the characteristics of this type of plastic, it can be recycled without losing its functional characteristics. Recycling technologies solve two problems at once: reducing plastic waste and reducing the carbon footprint, since recycling requires significantly less energy than the production of new material.
“With my projects, I want to prove that plastic can be used not only as a utilitarian, practical material, but also as an artistic one,” adds the designer. “I believe that products made from recycled plastic as art have a more emotional impact on people, changing the reputation of the material for the better.”
