
Greenaid converts vintage gumball machines into "seedbomb" dispensers to encourage community engagement with green space in urban environments.
Made from a mixture of clay, compost, and seeds, "seedbombs" are becoming an increasingly popular means combating the many forgotten grey spaces we encounter everyday-from sidewalk cracks to vacant lots and parking medians. They can be thrown anonymously into these derelict urban sites to temporarily reclaim and transform them into places worth looking at and caring for.
The Greenaid dispensary simply makes these guerrilla gardening efforts more accessible to all by appropriating the existing distribution system of the quarter-operated gumball machine. With a simple edict, "Change for Change", the Greenaid initiative encourages urban dwellers of any age to become casual activists by taking part in the incremental beautification of their environment using only the loose coins in their pocket.
We recently built and placed several machines in the L.A. area containing native California wildflower seeds (such as White Yarrow, California Poppy, Lupine, and Blue Flax) and they've been received with enormous enthusiasm from local residents and businesses. We're enlisting your help to deploy a fleet of 12 more machines in underserved communities across L.A! We are in the process of determining the best locations for them, and as a backer you too can have a chance to help us determine where they'll go!
Rather than just drop them off and wish them good luck, what we'd like to be able to do is provide a year's worth of seedbomb stock and periodic visits/maintenance to the locations in which we place them We'd also like to offer a significant portion of the proceeds generated from sales back to the businesses, schools or individuals we partner with. Each fill for the machines is approximately 8 pounds (or 200 bombs total). In our experience, high traffic locations can burn through about this much every month. 12 machines doing this volume for a year equates to about 1200 pounds (i.e. about $4200 in seedbomb costs alone).
In short, the price breakdown is about 50/50 for initial setup and then sustaining the initiative for one year. 20 percent of the funding pledged be dedicated to expanding and adapting the Greenaid initiative to other U.S. cities and beyond by helping local businesses and residents to deploy their own machines.
Help us create more livable cities!
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Funding period
May 17, 2010 -
Jul 3, 2010
- First created · 0 backed
- Daniel Phillips 341 friends
- Website: thecommonstudio.com
Pledge $10 or more
147 backers
A hand-stamped package of hand-rolled seedbombs containing native seeds from your region.
Pledge $25 or more
126 backers
A large package of handmade seedbombs, and a custom seedbomb slingshot for tactical intervention!
Pledge $100 or more
7 backers
A large package of seedbombs and your name engraved on a donor plaque affixed to one of our Greenaid dispensers.
Pledge $300 or more
5 backers Limited (7 of 12 left)
All of the above, and a Greenaid dispenser placed at a location of your choice in the Los Angeles area.
Pledge $650 or more
1 backer Limited (11 of 12 left)
Your very own Greenaid dispenser, and a full container of 300 seedbombs to start beautifying your own community anywhere in the U.S!