The Locust Effect and The Problem of Poverty

The main topic in “The Locust Effect” breaks my heart. It is basically the argument that I made for my final project in my Ethical Philosophy of Global Justice class.

Violence and crime affect the poor. Trafficking, rape, and other forms of violence are problem of an unequal distribution of resources.

Though this book is specific to the developing world, it was seeing this poverty in my backyard as a kid that helped me to really see the problem of poverty for what it is.

World Water Matt Damon Press Conference Response

World Water by Felicia Follum

Matt Damon recently put out a video with Water.org. The video really made me start thinking about what I saw in Haiti.  I created this poster in response to some of the children....

...and I created the video response below to talk more about my experience in Haiti, why I think it is important to help other abroad as well as locally and to show off my graphic design world water poster.

You can view Matt Damon's video here.

Upcycling Inspiration for Earth Day!

For Earth Day I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my Upcycling projects, my Upcycling Pinterest Board and my  World Water Poster.

Circuit board inspired Art
More Circuit Board Inspired Art
Circuit Board Gift Created from an actual circuit board
Upcycled Shopping Bag
Upcycled Men's Shirt into a Shopping Bag Part 2
Paper Beads in Haiti

T-Shirt Necklaces
Dead Roses

Paper bead art lesson in Haiti

Some of the 150+ projects that can be found on my my Upcycling Pinterest Board include rubber band cards, Gumball Machine Fish Tank, Newspaper Art, CD Jewelry, toilet paper tube and plastic bag projects, Lego necklace, QWERTY key art, old window projects and many many more fashion, decorating and art ideas.


I am sure that these ideas will provide you with just the project inspiration you are searching for this Earth Day!

What are your favorite upcycling projects?

World Water and Haiti

I created this poster in response to my Haiti trip.  The community we were in was incredibly fortunate.  They had their own well (about 1000 people) so that they had drinking water within in a couple miles; however, the kids would pick up our water bottles and pretend to drink.  It was adorable, as you can see.

The idea of a Haitian child pretending to drink from a water bottle creates a sense of cognitive dissonance.  When we look at how many children die each year from bad water and realize that Haiti ranks last in the world for drinkable water.  60% of the population does not have safe drinking water and a child mortality rate of more than 13 times that of the United States (10% of that is attributed to water related skin ailments and dysentery which lead to dehydration).

 
World Water Day is March 22nd, 2012.  Learn more about the world water crisis at the UN site or water.org.

Water and golf courses