It’s always exciting to see the creative ways our customers are able to reuse the materials that we divert from landfill. Part of our mission here at The Resource Exchange is to support local artists, designers, and makers of all kinds who employ creative reuse in their projects. We believe that prioritizing sustainable solutions in design is important for our climate’s future, and a big part of that has to be reuse. 

Resource Exchange customer and Senior Industrial Design Major at The University of the Arts, Jose Carpena, demonstrated these ideals in his most recent project. Carpena often puts sustainability at the forefront of his MZ Studios™ designs. For his senior thesis, he fabricated a “love seat sofa” from an old oil drum, reclaimed wood and steel, and fabric that The Resource Exchange rescued from a film set. 

“It was fireproof fabric from a movie set and I used this to upholster a reclaimed sofa I designed with an old oil drum. Your store played a very important part in my presentation and in showing proof that there are other individuals who care about diverting useful materials away from the landfill just as much as I do!”

This clever seat opens for roomy storage below too!

Thank you, Jose, for sharing your design with us! All photos by MZ Studios™ follow his design projects and learn more on Instagram: @MachZombieArt