Use Less Paper This Earth Day

The amount of brochures and flyers I have received since coming to this country hurts my heart. It seems to me that we can do without all of the paper we waste every day. It pains me to throw a portion of it away, because let's face it, I'd drown in it if I didn't. And recycling is not always available.

Or is it? It is in the very spirit of origami to reuse paper when you are done with it. In ancient Japan, paper was not as cheap as it is today, so people made pretty things out of used paper so as not to waste it. 

So this Earth Day, try to use less paper, and instead of your expensive patterned origami paper, why not try reusing some old flyers you have lying around? All those extra sheets and leaflets you've accumulated would be perfect for making a kusudama or other modular origami that requires several pieces of paper. Check out my Earth Day kusudama from last year.

You can also use it to make your 1000 paper cranes. Honestly, who has the money to buy special paper for a project like that? Or simply try these nice Earth Day-appropriate models!

Lizard

Origami jumping frog by Toshikazu Kawasaki

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day 2013

We are nearing the end of April, and it's still cold and rainy here in Lebanon. Some people in Canada are still  snowed in, and winter just does not seem to want to leave. It makes me think, today especially, how bad we must have been to our Earth to make it so confused. 

It is no tragedy when thousands of people die in an earthquake, hurricane or flood; it's just nature fighting back. The real tragedy is how we turn a deaf ear to her desperate cries for help. Winter in the middle of spring, and summers which stretch out well into autumn should be a sign that something is terribly wrong. Or is it just me?

To put my conscience at ease, I decided to make today's origami out of reused paper.

This frog looks nothing like the original design.

There is always used paper lying around, so why not make something out of it? That is after all the idea behind origami, and this blog for that matter.

I made my very first kusudama following this tutorial. Kusudama often require a lot of paper. This model for instance uses 30 units (no wonder I'd never had the courage to make one before), so try putting all that paper you were going to toss out to good use and make something decorative and neat (those of you who have read this blog before know that when I say neat, I mean "cool", "cute", "interesting", not the other thing, which my models very seldom are.)

 


And if you don't have anyone to impress, or if you've already snazzed-up your living quarters enough (seriously, are your parents/roommates starting to complain?) you can make something useful out of scraps of paper.

We use these little boxes around the office sometimes. Pages from magazines and flyers printed on glossy paper work best and are often colorful. For instructions on how to make this origami box, visit this older blog post.

As a child, I wanted to be an environmentalist/conservationist/zoologist. I later realized that it was a lost cause, and that Mother Nature was beyond help. Maybe if I had gone through with my dream, the Earth would have been saved by now. The thought will forever haunt me!

Origami First Lesson

One lady in our department who was passing by to say hello stopped to look at the paper flowers and other models that I leave strewn around the office. She liked them so much that she asked me if I would give her daughter origami lessons at their home once a month. This was the last thing I would have expected to happen, but it has turned out to be a fascinating experience.

My first lesson, I started out with one student and ended up with three, eight years old, sitting at the table, folding little paper tadpoles. 

Here are a couple of the models we made together.

We should really feel privileged if we are ever lucky enough to be invited into a child's magical world. These models are simple, but there is no reason they should not be exciting. The frog's lips move and make it look like it's croaking. The kids laughed endlessly at the funny expression on their frog's face. One of my students very eloquently said that he wanted to make his frog's eyes look "glazed over", as seen above. The box is an equally exciting toy; you can stow all your little bits and pieces and secrets in it. 

There is really nothing better or more rewarding than seeing a child excited about something. It reminds us adults (and I use the term begrudgingly in reference to myself) to appreciate the little things which could make us very happy if we just stopped to notice them.

After that first lesson, I am now introduced as "the origami teacher". That sounds pretty legit. I can't wait for my next lesson. I think we are ready to move on to slightly more difficult models.

Origami Wildlife

Animals are the most fun to make, especially when you can actually get an elephant to look like an elephant. There is something quite magical and almost sacrilegious about holding a little creature in your hands and thinking, Wow, I made that! 

These are all pretty basic, except for the lion by Robert Lang, which was a bit of a pain in the fanny. You can never give me a break, can you, Mr. Lang?

I stayed late in the office to finish up some...ahem, work.

My twin fogs made from one sheet of paper.

Robert Lang's lion.
Background courtesy of my grandmother's old tapestry.

Extinct wildlife is cool too.