We met last semester when Nate was Sami’s star student in her Design for Social Entrepreneurship studio at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Now, Nate is off building his Local401 project, which uses scrap materials to design socially responsible products, while Sami is piloting a healthy home make-over show with urban teens.

Designing away the world’s most “inconvenient” social and environmental problems is something we are both passionate about, signaling a paradigm shift in America that will place creative design at center stage as our most untapped renewable resource.

Sami Nerenberg:

Hey there! I’m Sami, the youngest adjunct faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design where I developed and taught the advanced studio, Design for Social Entrepreneurship (DeSE) to juniors and seniors. My studio was basically where I a staked out a plot of land among the Industrial Design studios to let students’ creativity run wild in thinking about how design can benefit our communities and get them started on actually doing it.

I started out at RISD as a student in 2003 and came into industrial design to 1- design less waste and 2- design for needs as oppose to creating more wants. With these goals in mind, I found myself not designing products, but designing systems- such as a science curriculum that empowers students to clean up their local brownfields by using plants to extract toxic material from the soil. Since graduating, it has become my goal to enable designers to see beyond their traditional role of product designers and form givers, to be problem solvers and creative leaders. And I am so thankful that I actually get to do this through my DeSE studio and work with Grain Design!

Growing up in San Francisco at every light switch, faucet, and toilet flush, I was reminded of our world’s limited resources. Growing up in a comfortable neighborhood a block away from the Projects also reminded me everyday of our world’s social inequalities.  Throughout the years, I have started to see more and more of how these two factors-- our environment and society- are interconnected. For one, I see our environment not only as the beautiful forests, oceans and wilderness out over yonder, but also where we live, work, play and learn. Looking at our own home environment for example, one’s environment may contain lead paint, VOCs in the carpet, vinyl in the furniture, mold, pest, and toxic cleaning products and more- all leading to things like brain damage, asthma, headaches, and even cancer. These types of environments typically affect low-income minority communities the most. Imagine striving to thrive in the world with just some of your obstacles being like this!

After living in a run-down apartment last year myself that I fixed up, this summer I’ll be piloting a home re-decorating show with urban teens. (I must also add that I grew up watching home re-decorating shows and it has always been a secret dream of mine to host my own!) Students will learn about the home environment and how they can make healthy and beautiful changes for their own homes!

With six weeks of eco-design boot camp, follow the journeys of 9 Providence High School students as they transform their rooms to be healthy and more beautiful! Some have and some have not ever taken an art or design class- so join us for the adventure! 

Follow me as I pilot my healthy-home makeover show with urban teens to showcase healthy, beautiful and affordable design changes within the home! 

For more info, feel free to check out: DeSE, Grain Design, My Blog 

Nate Bastien:

I am a senior at the Rhode Island School of Design.  At RISD I have designed products from a folding bicycle for urban commuters to an "assemble on site" oxygen concentrator for rural hospitals in the developing world.  The more I learned about the role of industrial designers the more I questioned it.  Only one percent of all materials produced are still in use six months after they were created.  That's just ridiculous!  At the same time, the people most in need of innovative design solutions are also the people least able to afford them.  It is the responsibility of designers and social entrepreneurs to address this incongruity. 

In October of last year, I began volunteering with Street Sights, a non-profit newspaper providing a voice for the homeless.  I spent time with many individuals who were experiencing homelessness and developed a deep sense of compassion for their situation.  It's shocking to hear how in some cases, individuals have been displaced through no fault of their own; like an apartment complex foreclosure, or a sudden medical condition. 

I began spending more time at meal sites talking with people to learn more about their daily lives and routines.  Because the shelters are only open at night, you are forced out on the streets between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm every day.  And don't expect the shelter to provide any storage for your belongings, the conditions can be so poor and degrading that some individuals actually prefer to sleep on the streets or in a tent.  Can you even imagine having to make that decision!  In both cases, homeless individuals, and all of their belongings, are exposed to the weather every day.  Through these conversations and observations I recognized a design opportunity - displaced individuals need a means to carry their belongings that is affordable, durable, and waterproof.  And why tap into virgin materials when there are heaps of quality materials heading to the landfill right now.

Enter Local 401, a project I created, whose mission is to design environmentally responsible products for marginalized communities and the organizations who serve these communities. 

The first project is a low cost, durable, waterproof backpack designed for individuals experiencing homelessness.  I am working directly with members of the community to specify potential pack features, like the ability to "add on", double as a pillow, lockable, or incorporating a multi-use thermal blanket.  To save money, and the environment, the pack is designed to be produced from manufacturing scrap and excess materials.  I realize this is not going to solve homelessness but I hope it will make life on the streets a bit more comfortable.

In May I graduate from RISD and am going to launch Local 401.  My goal is to provide as many backpacks as I can to individuals experiencing homelessness.  My plan is to involve as many people as possible in this project by creating a 'buy one, give one' distribution model.  Every time you buy a backpack from Local 401, we'll donate one to a human being in need.  

Follow my story as I continue to refine the design, scavenge for useful scrap materials, spend nights on the streets, test the product, and launch the company that will enable this idea to become a reality.