Toxic Legacies

Part 1: Material Tests

With the help of discarded cigarette butts, Toxic Legacies starts with a series of material tests that show the aesthetic and seductive qualities in the small waste items that otherwise pose a significant environmental threat – testing how best to transform their negative connotations into something visually captivating.

Part 2: Campaign "re:cig"

By then reshaping / repurposing these discarded items into a series of useless products, the accompanying campaign re:cig presents a series of untouchable soaps, unwearable yarns and unburnable candles. Each product promotes itself to be recycled to a minimal percentage, bringing to light the irony of some of these sustainability claims. Slogans such as “from waste to waste” and “freeing you of guilt” encapsulate this essence and serve as a reminder that recycling alone is not enough. By embracing the irony of repurposing waste into more waste, Toxic Legacies provokes thought about the need for genuine sustainability efforts and questions if we even really need some of these materials it in the first place.