Eco Trash Couture
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Faux Fur Coat
Obsolete cassette & video tape make an absolutely reeling garment.
Cassette tape was woven onto the fabric of a second-hand coat to create the looped texture. The collar and cuffs are accented with the larger discarded video tape. A thrift store prom dress was cut up and sewn for the lining of the coat. This cold weather garment took 310 hours to create. Created in 2005.
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Recycle or donate old electronics, visit Earth911.com to learn where.
Electronics contain valuable materials such as glass, copper, aluminum, plastic and other components that can often be extracted and reused. In addition to valuable metals electronics often contain hazardous materials such as mercury. E-waste accounts for 70 percent of the overall toxic waste currently found in landfills. When placed in a landfill, even in small doses, these materials can contaminate soil as well as drinking water.
Source: Earth911.com
Pop Can Couture
Aluminum Coke cans make this little black dress a classic!
Aluminum cans were hand-cut into leaves, petals and vines then hand-sewn onto the dress, purse and vintage shoes. The 1950s retro cocktail dress and purse were created from canvas scraps. Coke can aluminum earrings and necklace top off the ensemble. This fashion creation took 135 hours to make. Created in 2006.
Commissioned by the Coca Cola ® Company
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Find out where to recycle aluminum cans in your community at: www.earth911.com.
Recycling 1 aluminum can saves enough energy to run a computer or TV for 3 hours, or a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours.
Every 3 months, Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire fleet of commercial airplanes.
Sources: Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Defense Fund
Obama Cocktail Dress
Surplus campaign yard signs make this dress politically correct!
Plastic campaign signs from the 2009 presidential election were collected for this party line dress. An old cotton sheet was repurposed for the lining of the dress. The plastic signs were cut into strips and attached to the lining in overlapping layers from bottom to top. This campaign dress was designed and fabricated in 50 hours. Created in 2009.
Change Couture Collection at the Green Inaugural Ball
The Obama Cocktail Dress is part of the Change Couture Collection which was showcased at numerous inaugural balls in Washington D.C. in 2009 for the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.
Couture Plastique
Glamour is in the bag when you wear this elegant gown created from plastic film and bottles.
Plastic bottles are recycled into Eco-spun, the fabric in this gown. The eco-spun evening wear is covered with used plastic packaging film and accented with small circles cut from post-consumer plastic detergent bottles. The stole is knit from used clear plastic bags and lined with fabric from a second-hand white satin prom dress. This Oscar winner for best use of plastic film took 225 hours to create. Created in 2006.
Recycle plastic bags and film at home and at work. Visit www.plasticbagrecycling.org to learn how.
Any of the follow plastic that is dry, clean and free of paper labels can be recycled at your local grocery store:
- Grocery, produce, food storage bags (including cereal box liners)
- retail bags (hard plastic and string handles removed) newspaper and dry cleaning bags
- Retail wrap (e.g., furniture, electronics, napkin, and food containers)
- Plastic shipping envelopes (no bubble wrap/remove labels)
Source: plasticbagrecycling.org
Junk Mail Fan Dress
Discarded junk mail solicits a positive response when made into “fan-tastic” attire.
Catalogues, solicitations and newspaper ads were folded into fans and sewn onto the Spanish style dress. The skirt and bodice were constructed from canvas scraps. The thrift store shoes were covered with used postage stamps. This ensemble is topped off with a vintage mantilla embellished with junk-mail fans and origami peacock earrings. This creation took 200 hours. Created in 2000.
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Cancel unwanted solicitations and catalogues!
Learn how to STOP JUNK MAIL!
More than 4 million tons of junk mail are produced yearly. Over 50 percent of this unsolicited mail ends up in landfills annually.
Recycle your unwanted mail and it will be made into paper towels, notebook paper, envelopes, copy paper, boxes, hydro-mulch, molded packing, and kitty litter. Producing paper from post-consumer paper uses 40% less energy than making paper from virgin wood pulp.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency
Glass Evening Gown
12,000 pieces of recycled crushed glass reflects sustainable elegance.
Crushed glass jars and bottles from the City of Albuquerque recycling program were glued to the gown and second-hand shoes. The 1930s style gown was made from upholstery fabric remnants. This couture fashion took 400 hours to create. Created in 2002.
Commissioned by the Glass Packaging Institute
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Recycle glass jars & bottles forever!
Recycling glass reduces emissions and consumption of raw materials, extends the life of plant equipment, such as furnaces, and saves energy. Ceramics, porcelain, Pyrex, and dishware are the most destructive contaminants for glass recycling. Make sure they don’t get mixed in with your recycled glass bottles.
Recycle glass is primarily made into new bottles. It is also added to asphalt (glassphalt) to pave airport runways, parking aprons and taxiways; and added to paint that marks these areas. The reflective properties of these materials make it safer for airplane landings and take offs.
Source: Glass Packaging Institute
Creative Eco-Events
Creating Tire-less Couture in Chapel Hill, NC
Nancy Judd provides unique and memorable experiences for businesses, non-profit organizations and even small groups of individuals!
Combining art, fashion and eco-consciousness, she creates opportunities for you to engage your “participants” at special occasions, conferences, conventions, meetings, trade shows, team building exercises, retail locations, commemorative events and in educational campaigns with:
- Interactive, community-based up-cycled art and fashion workshops
- Inspiring speeches on numerous topics
- Site-specific Recycle Runway garments that can be created with the public
At a time when people are increasingly shopping, socializing and learning on-line Nancy creates compelling experiences that bring us together in a meaningful context.
“I was so positively impressed by your ability to relate so well to a wide variety of participants. You seemed calm and non-pressured and accepting of who showed up and how we accomplished what you needed. You gave so many options to stop and reroute if we needed to. I was amazed by your people skills! I thank you for the opportunity to be a part of the workshop.”
Jody Cassell, Chapel Hill, NC
Nancy can work with you to create the perfect event to meet your specific goals. Contact her at 505-577-9712 or Nancy@RecycleRunway.com to learn more!
Eco-Flamenco was created with 5,000 people in Grand Rapids, MI.
Exhibitions
Nancy Judd has been exhibiting the Recycle Runway Collection in high traffic public locations around the United States for many years.
Exhibitions
- Fort Collins Museum of Art in Fort Collins, CO, 2017 – solo exhibition
- Farmington Museum in Farmington NM, 2016/2017 – solo exhibition
- Artesia Historical Museum/Art Center in Artesia, NM, 2016 – solo exhibition
- Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe, NM – permanent collection
- Stamford Museum in Stamford, CT – Fall 2015 – solo exhibition
- Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, WI – Spring 2014 – solo exhibition
- Reading Public Museum in Reading, PA, 2013 – solo exhibition
- Bascom Visual Arts Center in Highlands, NC, 2013 – solo exhibition
- Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts in Melbourne, FL , 2013 – solo exhibition
- New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, NM, 2012 – part of juried show
- New Mexico Arts in Santa Fe, NM, 2012 – solo installation
- Millicent Rodgers Museum in Taos, NM, 2012 – part of juried show
- Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, MI, 2011 – part of juried show
- Smithsonian National African American Museum of History and Culture – permanent collection
Airport Exhibitions
The Recycle Runway collection has appeared in four international airports reaching millions of international travelers with Nancy’s message of environmental conservation.
- 2nd Exhibition, Atlanta International Airport, Fall 2019
- Atlanta International Airport, 2011-2012
- Phoenix International Airport, 2010
- Pittsburgh International Airport, 2008-2009
- Albuquerque International Airport, 2007-2008
Installations
Nancy has also created site-specific installations using trash. Consumption was funded by New Mexico Arts, explores many aspects of the concept of waste.
Praise for Nancy’s exhibitions:
“The exhibition was imaginative and fun! Beautifully designed and executed, Nancy Judd’s artwork delightfully engaged Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport‘s traveling public and employees. Her innovative exhibition creatively used the art of fashion to cleverly convey messages to promote sustainability and recycling. Highly popular, the exhibition generated wide media interest, both local and national, and will be remembered for years to come. “Art works” to make a difference, and Nancy’s certainly does!”
Lennée Eller
Phoenix Airport Museum
It’s fun to see such innovation – in artistic expression and message – amidst the trappings of State bureaucracy. Everyone who sees it is intrigued. The Jellyfish Dress also honors women in interesting ways, which pop out in a public art piece. I like the subversive ways it turns people on to creativity. Bravo!
Carol Cooper
New Mexico Arts
Plastic Bathing Beauty
No. 2 plastic detergent bottles create a wash of color!
The plastic from various colored detergent bottles was cut into circles and punched with two holes. Each piece was hand-sewn onto a vintage 1950s bathing suit and second-hand umbrella. This eco-friendly beachwear required 150 hours to create. Created in 2004.
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Recycle plastic at home and at work, visit Earth911.com to find a recycling center in your community.
Recycling #2 HDPE plastic consumes significantly less energy, generates considerably fewer greenhouse gases, and and produces less solid waste than does the production of virgin resins. Plastic is most commonly recycled into: carpet and clothing, new containers, plastic pipe, and plastic lumber (decks, benches, picnic tables).
Try to reduce the amount of plastic you purchase and reuse what you can!
Source: Environmental Projection Agency
