Alex's wax-off, wax-on candle holder

And here's the third submission from our Process 376 lighting project. Our own Alex Pappas took things in a really different direction, creating a candle-holder concept that speaks directly about consumption and resources, while being a lovely object in its own right. He says it better than I could:

When thinking about creating a 'green' lighting piece, I knew that I wanted to create something that constantly reminded the user of what it takes to produce that light. In doing so I was hoping to raise the individual's awareness about the amount of resources used in producing light... with an outside hope that this awareness could transfer to other aspects of that person's life.

As the candle burns, the excess wax drips down and around a suspended wick that sits strung across the mold for a new candle. After burning several candles, you create a new candle that can be pulled from the mold, and re-used. You become very aware that it takes wax from more than one candle to create a new candle; while also understanding the value of trying to save excess material that is otherwise looked at as useless.

See more photos of the design on Alex's website. This piece isn't for sale, but Alex is available for custom work.

Finally, this isn't particularly relevant to green design or the Process 376 lighting project, but I have to put in a mention for Alex's artfully disturbing illustrations. I LOVE the "Catching Monsters with World" one.
Images from Alex Pappas