Many thanks to my friend, Jess of Sweet Eventide, for popping back in with another guest post. Last time, she wrote about Green Art. This time, she shares her experience at the coolest event to hit the Bay Area in years - the Maker Faire.
When Green Bean heard that I was heading to the Maker Faire, she asked if I'd report back here with another post. I happily accepted the offer, although there was so much to see and not nearly enough time to see it. My family spent six hours there, and we saw only a smidge of the crafts, builds and amazing technology.
The Maker Faire is a hubbub of grown-up and kid brains hard at work and working hard at creating and making. The creative energy is palpable and there is an enormous ripple effect that occurs when you see people having fun making things -- often by reusing things.
One such brain hard at work is Costas Shuler, aka The Pen Guy. You couldn't possibly walk by his Mercedes Pens without stopping to stare. He saved over 10,000 pens from ending up in the landfill and decorated his car with them instead.
If you spend some time on his blog, you'll see that every day is a parade in the Mercedes Pens. I know I'll be thinking twice now before tossing an old pen in the trash.
He's not the only one driving around in an art car by the way. The Pen Guy is hoping to collect one million pens in the next 5-10 years for various other art projects (now that his car is all penned out). We can even mail our pens to him.
The Pen Guy
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Update: new address
P.O.Box 994 - Forestville, CA 95436
Update: new address
P.O.Box 994 - Forestville, CA 95436
Now go forth and...
"Make" photo credit: Jeff Nichols
all other images via Sweet Eventide
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9 comments:
That faire sounds really cool! Wish we had one around here.
Hey thanks a "million" for writing about my Mercedes Art car and my big pen project. Very nice article:)
Hey, the Pen Guy stopped by! Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed my article. I love all that you're doing!
Jess the guest blogger
Woot!! Way to go, Jess. Love that the Pen Guy came to see what all the hub-bub was about. Love the photos too. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
You are welcome, it feels good to do something others can smile about:):):)
The Mercedes Pens - too funny. Is there a plastic pen alternative? Refillable pens that aren't fountain pens? I try to look the other way when I throw pens out but, well, I always catch a glimpse of them landing there in trash. Plastic. There forever. And then I grab a new pen and carry on. There must be a better way.
Inspiring! I'm so totally going to save my old pens for the Pen Guy - thanks for the report. I wish we had a Maker Faire around here!
Sweet, now I know what to do with all my old pens! I have stopped purchasing any new pens to avoid plastic. Switching to the good old #2 instead.
If you must have a pen, I have seen wood ones. The ink tube is still plastic, but the rest of the pen is wood. At least it cuts down on the amount of plastic. I think TerraCycle has them.
I have a new address now for sending pens:The Pen Guy - P.O.Box 994 - Forestville, CA 95436
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