"Weird Eco Habit" Contest Finalist: Eco BDSM?
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio 
on 12. 1.05
John T. Unger's entry to the "Weird Eco Habits" Contest starts out, "eco-bdsm is probably a weird way to save the planet." Weird? Well, yes - but that is why we had to make it a finalist. It is not every day we get to feature green design in BDSM gear. When John started, however, he did not fully intend on getting into the eco-BDSM business, "I came up with the idea as I was trying to think of new products that could be made from rubber tires and happened to talk to a furniture maker who was considering using his scrap wood for spanking paddles."
"Burning Rubber" is made from mostly recycled or reclaimed materials. In fact, everything except for the handle was previously used would have otherwise ended up in the landfill. We can't vouch for its, umm...effectiveness, but we have to say this is an innovative use of reused materials. In John's words, it "just screams" to be a part of the "Weird Eco Habits" Contest.
All this week, TreeHugger is highlighting finalists for our "Weird Eco Habits" contest sponsored by Greenloop. Make sure to vote for your favorite "weird" habit starting this Friday.
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Green Glossary: Planet Bike
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- Rainy Day? Entertain the Kids with Green Activities for Under $25
- Can Your Fishing Habits Save the Coral Reefs?
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BSDM not BDSM
Er, yeah, the article has it both ways. According to wikipedia, BDSM is how you spell it. But hey, I suppose you can spell it any way you want...
A google search for BDSM yields 5.8 million hits, whereas a search for BSDM yields only 727,000 along with a "did you mean --?" question.
Hmmmm. Those tire treads look perfectly unused. Recycled, are they?
Is being Green really about finding a way to inflict pain and torture on another living creature with less of an environmental impact?
Charlie, being green is about finding more responsible ways to enjoy the things you already take part in.
If you are already into inflicting pain and torture on a willing participant, why not be more eco-conscious in your choice of tools?
FAB! Lame comments but the work is great!
From a spanking perspective, I can confirm that implements made from rubber are amongst the most painful. Those look particularly nasty :D. So as well as being eco-friendly, it's extremely effective.
Great work, John, but where do we get them from?
Katie
Katie: You can get them at my blog (the burning rubber link right under the picture). They will also be for sale at stockroom.com later this week.
Charlie: I have a few goals as an artist and designer.
To make as much use as possible of sustainable, recycled or reused content.
To design objects that are durable and beautiful for as long as possible, thus reducing the cycle of waste.
To create work that is so refined that the recycled content is invisble, thus reaching out to consumers who are less concerned with the process than the product -- ie: If my recycled work is better than stuff that is "all new" then it encourages green consumption even without education.
To re-use materials in a startling way, either by taking them way out of their original context or by making the original context invisible.
But my primary goal is to make people really think. It's not important to me that I change anyone's mind, I just like to feel that whatever position they decide is right for them has been thought through...
Combining good recycled design with BDSM is one really great way to do that. The two *do* seem on the surface to be at odds. But as philip points out, there will be paddles no matter what. If I can make a paddle that gives a better spanking than most on the market *and* do it sustainably, well, I think I've done some good in the world. Besides, think of all the trees I'm saving!
First, it is BDSM in its most popular usage. And it is not about "inflicting pain and torture," it's about exploring all areas of the human capacity for sensation, in a completely consensual way. And yes, i think these would be painful but fabulous, after a good warm-up to get those endorphins flowing! What a clever idea. Too bad i didnt see these early enough for stocking stuffers, lol.
For those of you who might wish to learn more about the BDSM lifestyle, you might wish to read "Different Loving: The World of Sexual Dominance & Submission" by Gloria and William D. Brame and Jon Jacobs. This book presents an excellent description about all areas of the BDSM lifestyle.
However, let me also mention one small caveat. Most kinky people are not into each and every kink that is mentioned in this book. Just because some kinky people find gratification in being humiliated, or in humiliating somebody, doesn't mean that all kinky people like humiliation play.
B-bondage D-discipline/dominance S-submission/sado M-masochism so when all is said and done you have BD DS SM not all lifestylers are in to all aspects of BDSM so those that are into BD might be into SM but not DS and so forth and so on. The "paddles" look quite interesting and I would have to agree with Katie about rubber being one of the most painful (not necessarily a bad thing) materials I have ever felt. Great to see someone taking a positive turn to a wonderful lifestyle trade.
Joker's Pet