This is easily the best ideas I've heard in a long time. In fact, I think it's been four years since I've heard of an idea almost as good as this--back in 2006 I wrote about cigarette machines that had been repurposed to dispense inexpesnive mini-works of art. So, it's been almost half-a-decade since someone's done something truly cool with something that was pretty bad. This time 'round, it's taking gumball machines that were designed to dispense chewy, sugary, teeth-rotting balls of pre-goo and using them, instead, to dispense wads of dirt and seeds--aka seedbombs.
The concept of seedbombs is a pretty cool one, too--it takes the idea of warfare and spins it around--these bombs don't destroy life, they grow it. The idea is simple--using seedbombs you can "temporarily reclaim and transform" the "many forgotten grey spaces we encounter everyday-from sidewalk cracks to vacant lots and parking medians...The Greenaid dispensary simply makes these guerilla gardening efforts more accessible to all by appropriating the existing distribution system of the quarter operated candy machine. Using just the loose coins in your pocket, you can make a small but meaningful contribution to the beautification of your city!"
Yeah, it doesn't get much more awesome than that--these machines put the power to grow in everyone's hands.
The only problem? These seedbomb machines aren't getting out there enough--looking at the map on the Greenaid page, there are just a handfull of locations along the west coast (and one in Wisconsin!) that you can find them. There are two ways you can help!
Check out their Kickstarter page and toss a couple bucks their way to help sponsor a machine.
Order yourself some seedbombs directly, online, and start waging a guerrilla gardening war on your own. You can get a seedbomb for just $2 or a 12-pack for just $9. Just make sure to order the right kind of seedbomb for your region (if you don't the seeds might not grow). Hell, I'm thinking about getting a 12-pack and then tossing a few into the alley outside my apartment to see what happens--or I might even get a planter for the window next to my desk at home and try a little in-home gardening.
Either way, we need more ideas like this one, which take traditional concepts (candy machines/war) and turns them on their ears (dispensing seedbombs for growing plants in urban areas).
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