My husband popped in the old Fight Club DVD last night. In these post-9/11, economically tanked times, I’ve begun to miss when America’s biggest problem was our disillusionment with our excessive consumerism.

“Boohoohoo! I drink my coffee at Starbucks! I must be a cog in the machine!”

All of that angst—it just seems so absurd now.

She’s never owned a cell phone, and Clinton was still president when her computer rolled off the assembly line. Yet Nicola Harper spends her days creating some of the coolest geek accessories I’ve ever seen.

GEEKWARE creator Nicola Harper turns obsolete electronic waste into popular fashion accessories (image courtesy of GEEKWARE)

A former waste-management engineer in Edmonton, Canada, Harper collects old electronics from landfills and recycling centers, cleans them, dissects them, and then reassembles them into “GEEKWARE,” her popular line of home/office products, gadgets, and jewelry. (Fellow tech nerds might recognize Harper’s circuit-board necklaces from the ThinkGeek superstore. They’ve ordered about 500 of them from her already.)

GEEKWARE is a one-woman endeavor and Harper’s day job. She left waste management in 2004 to focus on her products. She still works with trash all day (actually, let’s call it “e-waste”) but now she’s able to sell it back to the very people who might have thrown it away in the first place. How’s that for recycling?

I can’t wait for iPhones and all the current technologies to become ‘old’ so that I can take them apart and craft with them. – Nicola Harper

I had the pleasure of interviewing Harper earlier this week. Here’s an excerpt from our chat, followed by a slide-show featuring some of her products.

Q: You’ve spent your entire career working with waste in one way or another. I have to ask: What gets a girl excited about digging around in garbage?
A: I’ve always been curious about where our garbage goes to and what happens to it after it gets there. Whilst taking my undergrad degree in civil engineering [at Nottingham University in England], I realized I could actually be part of the solution and decided to study waste-management engineering in Canada.

It was a super exciting job! You get to design landfills and recycling plants to ensure that waste is disposed of efficiently and with the least damage to our environment.

Q: How did this lead to GEEKWARE?
A: I used to visit so many landfills in my old job and get really frustrated by the amount of waste piling up. I really wanted to do more–to get my hands on all of that waste and actually make something out of it rather than watch it get crushed for recycling.

I now run GEEKWARE full-time as a one-gal operation. I started out doing small local craft fairs, selling a few recycled artwork pieces made from wine corks and diskettes. Now I have a full line of products that I make out of my home-based studio and sell world-wide through the Web site. I’ve gone from selling a few items at a Christmas show 6 years ago, to making and packing up to 100 orders a month.

Q: You have quite the interest in geek culture for someone who doesn’t possess too many high-tech devices herself. Why is that?
A: It’s true that I’ve never owned a cell phone and my computer is 10 years old (though it still runs well enough for me to use it for 5 or more hours per day). I don’t wear a watch, either.

But, I’m really fascinated by technology in terms of culture, economics, and, well, waste. I marvel at the speed at which newer models of things come along and how fast the older ones become obsolete when there’s not really anything “wrong” with them. I like seeing how they are made, and taking the technology apart and seeing what’s inside. I also love working out how I can repurpose the pieces into something else, giving them a new usefulness.

I’m not really interested in what the technology itself can do. (That is to say, I don’t care about iPhone apps, etc.) Rather, I’m more fascinated by how the technology is made: How is it held together? What screws did they use to manufacture it? How many different types of plastic did they use? Is it recyclable? These kinds of things interest me.

Q: You make an array of cool products, from vintage film-reel clocks to floppy-disk notebooks. What other products can we expect to see in the future?
A: Look out for more customizable Mac products. I have some ideas in my head for monogrammed Macbook cuff links and earrings. I can’t wait for iPhones and all the current technologies to become “old” so that I can take them apart and craft with them!

I get such a kick out of people liking my creations. I’ve had couples order cufflinks for their entire wedding parties, and it makes me so happy to think of the joy I’m bringing to people’s lives.

We interrupt the commentary on all things editorial, political, and tech-related to bring you… just what the header says: stuff–on my dog.

Last week, I visited YoungUrbanPuppy on Etsy, a great eBay-inspired shopping-cart site that allows creative types to sell their custom-made wares to consumers worldwide. If you’re into unique art, clothing, and accessories, I highly recommend shopping there.

The above outfits were part of my first Etsy purchase, and I’ve got to say I’m really pleased. The Mario costume brings me back to my childhood, while the smart trench coat and hat make Herbie, my eight-month-old miniature dachshund, look like a dapper Sherlock Holmes. Jenielle (YoungUrbanPuppy) did an excellent job on the outfits. They’re fitted with Velcro straps so that even if Herbie grows, he’ll still be able to wear them.

So here’s my shout out to Jenielle, her dog Parsnip, and all of the people who’ve made Etsy possible! Thanks, guys!