We are proud to say that we are finishing our 2nd MaGiC Design Competition. This time we had our focus on reusing soft plastics to make practical and aesthetic fashion products.
We got some creative, green product ideas and we have our winners – it’s Zhang Jing Qiu and Tian Xue ZhuThey from University of Hong Kong. They have been invited this summer to join Greennovate and our MaGiC Experience. It’s a one-month working experience on sustainable design, where they will get to work with international design professionals taking part in a original green design project.
See the winning designs and keep following our posts to see what our interns will be working on in the summer. Maybe we will encourage you to take part in our new competition in the fall, so stay tuned!

If you’re searching for some ideas for the MaGiC Design Competition: Plastic round, check out the finalists from a different design competition from the design website Inhabitat. Their competition has already closed, but you can browse the finalist entries and cast your vote here. Don’t forget, our MaGiC Design Competition is running until June 20, so if you’re a Chinese design student and you haven’t signed up yet, enter here!

Our Design Interns Sport Aprons Later Given to Street Cooks!

After the 2009 MaGiC Design Competition, we invited a diverse, creative team of design students from Tongji University and Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts to join MaGiC Experience. Six interns from China and Italy spent several months of 2009/10 in our green office researching, designing, creating, and finally showcasing a host of fashionable, practical products made from old, non-recyclable event banners – “bringing back” materials that would have otherwise been wasted and discarded. Click here to check out their project and see what MaGiC Experience can be, or watch the video below!

Chris Introduces MaGiC Design Competition

MaGiC is starting to heat up again! We’ve just kicked off the MaGiC Design Competition – this time with a refined focus: using soft plastics to create practical and aesthetic fashion products. Last night our MaGiC team visited Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University, where we had a sustainability introduction workshop and invited students to join this year’s design competition!

Stay tuned for more updates.

MaGiC (Made GREEN in China) is back in action, and Plastiki– our inspiration for the program – is already halfway across the Pacific! After a successful pilot round in 2009, we are launching our second MaGiC Design Competition – this time with a refined focus: reusing soft plastics to make practical and aesthetic fashion products. Winners of the competition will be invited this summer to join MaGiC Experience, a one-month sustainable design experience working with international design professionals and becoming a part of an original green design project.

The competition will run from May 13 to June 15. Chinese students – click here to find out more and sign up!

Be Creative, Be Green, and Win!

For English competition guidelines, click here.

Earth Day 2010 Cool Your Bike Workshop, sponsored by Momentum

If there were any party in the world worthy of celebrating Earth Day’s 40th anniversary (and more importantly, the roughly 4.6 billionth anniversary of our amazing planet), it would have been Greennovate’s DIY Earth Day event last night. Simply put, it was awesome.

The night started on a relatively calm note, with visitors checking out our office to learn how to become an environmental trainer and speak their “green voice” (in exchange for a free cupcake, donated kindly by Sweet Ever After). We’ll be making a video out of the best responses – check back in a week or so!

Volunteers Oliver and Flora Listen to Green Voices, Young and Old

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Next up was the Rooftop Organic Garden. We cannot express how thankful we are for Martin and Shirley at Organic Farm, who were kind enough to donate organic vegetables, soil, expertise, and hard labor to help us turn our rooftop into a vibrant garden. Combine a DIY planting activity with a free BBQ on the roof, and you won’t be surprised that we had trouble convincing everyone to go back down to the courtyard for the main event…

A Young Chinese Students Plants Spring Onion on the Roof

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Our green design interns did not let us (or our 300 visitors) down. They had worked long and hard to turn used banners into beautiful designer products, including bags, hoods, and aprons. But this was no ordinary fashion show…we were honored to have the Fanye dance troupe display our “RE” products while tap dancing! Thanks guys!

Fanye Tap Dancers Sport our Interns' RE Products

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But, let’s not forget about the “Cool Your Bike” workshop. Momentum, a subset of GIANT and our most generous sponsor, was awesome enough to donate several bikes for the event. We invited four Chinese student artists to turn the bikes into works of art. Again, we were not let down. Words cannot express this display of talent, so I’ll let this photo do the job:

The Winning Cool Bike

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After selecting the best bike design and presenting the artist with two free nights at the luxurious Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Kunshan (thanks Double Tree!), it seemed almost as if the best was still to come. Jammala, a local West African-style drumming group (joined with a surprise appearance of Zimbabwean master Dingiswayo Juma), beat their djembes late into the night to conclude Greennovate’s 3rd annual Earth Day event.

Jammala, Masters of the Djembe

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In addition to Momentum, Organic Farm, and Jammala, we’d also like to thank our sponsors Interface Flor, Shanghai Community International School (Lower Pudong Campus), Ren Ai International Patient Center, Pamir Law Group, DSM, Sherpa’s, Sweet Ever After, Double Tree Hilton, Kaiba, China Bridge International, and Shanghai Expat – without the help of whom this event would not have been possible.

Oh yeah, we would also like to thank Earth for not raining on us and completely ruining our event. Happy Birthday, Earth.

Hope to see you all next year! For more Earth Day 2010 photos, click here.

For the third year running, Greennovate will hold an exciting Earth Day Event on April 22nd! This year’s theme will be DIY – Do it Yourself. We’ve gathered some of Shanghai’s brightest environmental and artistic minds to share some great ways to integrate cool green ideas into your everyday routine to develop a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. The night’s workshops and activities will include:

1. “Bring it Back” Fashion Show
2. Cool Your Bike Workshop
3. Concert by Jammala
4. Green Voices of Shanghai
5. Plant Your Own Organic Garden
6. Become a GECKO Trainer

Best thing – the event is FREE! Everyone is welcome to drop by, learn and share new green ideas, and have an awesome night! More info at earthday.greennovate.net !

Time/Location: April 22nd, 6pm – 10pm, 528 Kangding Road (near Xikang Road)

Dear all,
I hope you are well.
The time has come, the Plastiki is ready to begin her momentous voyage on Saturday 20th March, setting sail from Sausalito, CA, under San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge on an adventure that will take her crew across the Pacific Ocean to Sydney Australia, on a mission to deliver a global message to beat waste.
If you are based in San Francisco please come and join us to wave the Plastiki and her crew off and to wish them a safe voyage.  Departure will be from Clipper Maritime Centre, 420 West Harbor Drive, Sausalito, CA, 94965 at 9.30 AM PST.
Please find attached a media alert, should you wish to invite any of your key, local media please send them this alert.
Please find attached the Plastiki launch press release, once the Plastiki has set sail Glodow Nead will distribute it to you and to the media, please can i request that you do not circulate it until then – thank you in advance.
By 2pm PST on Saturday, we will have a selection of launch photography available on line at www.theplastiki.com/press for you to download and distribute to any media.
Kind regards
Katie and the Plastiki Team

The Plastiki will sail from San Francisco to Sydney

Plastiki is about to sail! They have everything ready, from their own vertical garden on the boat to their very own song. Join us in wishing them good luck!

More info at www.theplastiki.com

Chinese youth rank health, education as most important life quality factors

Throughout November and December of last year, we collaborated with enovate to gather insights into the minds of China’s socially aware, progressive youth. This was the first nation-wide survey of youth attitudes towards environmental issues and awareness!

Through an online survey of over 400 students and young employees from around China, as well as in-depth interviews in Shanghai, Greennovate and enovate sought to discover what defines a modern quality of life for Chinese youth in 2010, as well as attitudes and perceptions towards green products and brands.

So what were the findings? Put in short, Chinese youth have indicated a desire for a healthier, more environmentally-conscious lifestyle, and have demanded that green brands prove their “greenism” through products – not just marketing!

Special thanks to the Shanghai youth-insights group enovate for all their help!

Click here to see the detailed results!