KEVIN SLADKY

Kevin Sladky is a visual artist based in Milwaukee, rooted largely in the practice of photography and graphic design. Heavily inspired by our natural environment, culture, music, and street art, his creative direction functions as a means of self-expression driven by emotional connection. Through forming a brand and identity through practice, his ultimate goal is to offer something valuable to the world, establishing a sense of community and connection with the world around us along the way.

What if Statement
What if we could sustainably eliminate single-use waste?

Project Description
Having worked in restaurants for a lot of years, something that was regularly on my mind was just how much waste is produced, and thinking about that on a global scale is pretty terrifying. Since more eco-friendly alternatives are often too expensive to be sustainable in practice, I thought about ways the entire world of disposables could be overhauled, so that inspired me to research real-world examples. I came across a Brooklyn restaurant that had bar stools made of baked mycelium, which gave birth to my vision of the logistics company Mycelogic, which utilizes nanotechnology to alter the properties of mycelium for a variety of functions and purposes.⠀
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The idea is that the product can replace things like single-use plastics/non-compostables, something used heavily in the restaurant industry and instead of creating waste or even using traditional recycling methods which already are far from perfect, the 'waste' is collected and used for composting to create more mycelium for production. Rather, it is more of a regeneration process versus a recycling process. And because the product fuels it's own production, costs can be kept low making it an affordable alternative for everyone. Further development would also include more permanent use such as utensils, plates, or even furniture like from the original source of inspiration. The main target for this product is the restaurant industry, but the idea is that it could also be used to find new solutions for other industries in the interest of eliminating waste on our planet.

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