When the sun begins to set, the devices will be submerged underwater and multicolored LED lights within the devices’ plastic spheres will to glow and compliment the natural beauty of the setting sun by creating a spectacular light-show for park visitors.
    The goal of the Beauty of Recycling project is to avoid endangering the existing engineered systems and infrastructure of the landfill. The project will attract visitors to the park who will enjoy its natural unaltered beauty. The devices will simply be anchored to the riverbed through the use of steel nails (not to exceed 3 feet in length). This will assure minimal environment impact, and allow for easy installation. The design of the device naturally insures that these nails are secured at varying angles to enhance its grip to the riverbed. When the Twilight Show is over, the devices are completely submerged until the next day when the cycle will recommence. Visitors to Freshkills Park will leave this former landfill with a greater appreciation for nature, an understanding of technology’s potential to compliment nature, rather than destroy it, and our ability to merge vision and beauty in the realm of recycling.

The beauty of recycling
land art generator initiative Competition
honorable mention 
2009

Land Art Generator Initiative Competition Entry
   The L.A.G.I. Competition challenged designers to design artwork capable of producing renewable energy while enhancing the natural beauty of Freshkills Park on Staten Island NY.
Team: Daniel Elmore
Shortlisted Entry

    The “Beauty of Recycling” seeks to enforce the importance of recycling by creating solar energy collectors that will harvest the sun’s energy, and create a spectacular light show during the twilight hours. These solar energy collectors, composed largely of recycled materials, collect energy throughout the day, reserving small amounts of energy for a daily “Twilight Show”.  The rest of the energy is distributed to local power grids. Spheres made of recycled plastic float on the surface of the water, tethered to the riverbed by anchored pulleys controlling their various heights and levels of submersion. These solar-energy-collecting spheres will go through a ​daily cycle of collecting energy from dawn to dusk.