From Artists of Humanity comes an innovative design that turns more than 200 plastic shopping, dry-cleaning or newspaper bags into a colorful plastic bar stool, called “ReVision.”

Made by inner-city youth in Boston, Massachusetts, the stools received the Social Responsibility Award by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) at the 2011 Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York City. Photos:

Besides fast foot chains, AFH is the largest youth employer in Boston, where they are based. They provide employment to more than two hundred inner-city teenagers per year, many of whom are under-served, in commission projects including painting, video, animation, sculpture, 3D design, graphic design and screen printing. The youth work with mentors and develop entrepreneurial skills. And they work out of a Platinum LEED-Certified building, called the Epicenter, which was designed in part by former participants of their programs.

The new plastic stool tops are the brainchild of Jamison Sellers, AFH’s 3-D Studio Project Coordinator, who developed the idea while working on his senior thesis at the Rhode Island School of Design two years ago.

The first layer of the stool top is created by fusing colored bags with an iron then placing it at the bottom of the round plastic bag press, which makes it easy to create specific branding or patterns.

The project has no plans of slowing down. They’re currently working on developing a mold for plastic top side tables, larger tables, benches and, according to Jamison, “the possibilities are endless.”

AFH accepts custom orders for the plastic bag stools which retail at $400 each. Visit Artists for Humanity for more.

Hit From: Treehugger