Eco Books: Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin
With so much emphasis on preserving the environment, it follows that crafters want to do their part to help. This book, an amalgam of projects by different designers, presents imaginative variations on the art of bookmaking. After setting the tone with some alarming statistics about how much paper we waste, Taylor explains the tools needed to transform that paper trash into treasure. A scattering of thumbnail drawings visualizing some of the more detailed procedures accompany step-by-step guidelines, and an appendix clarifies basic information about sewing signatures and building a text block. Also appended are templates crafters can enlarge on a copy machine. The projects, which range from over the top to beautiful and practical, make use of everything from old books and maps to Styrofoam egg cartons, cassette tapes, and dental floss containers to create journals, notepads, sketchbooks, and more. This isn’t your run-of-the mill craft book, for sure, but that’s the attraction. --Stephanie Zvirin