eco-chic design

sustainable pillows to green your decor

My favorite sustainable designs at NYIGF this week are k studio’s figure shaped decorative pillows that double as toys and the zipper pouches with their signature oval faces. I love the elongated shapes of their human and animal figures with the whimsical drawings and the friendly faces on the pouches. K studio’s line of sustainable soft goods is made of green materials such as organic cotton, hemp or recycled wool. Plus the eco-friendly pillows offer a kapok-filled insert option. I had admired the charming designs on shopping sites dedicated to sustainable living like Branch but was thrilled to finally see them in person. The oval face pouches are really well made and quilted with cotton batting which makes them perfect for keeping things in your purse organized. K studio was launched by mother-and-daughter team Mary and Shelly Klein in 2004. All sustainable designs are hand-made at their studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I adore the subtle humor in the drawings that are inspired by Shelly’s paintings. Make sure to check out their customizable eco-friendly pillows for Valentine’s Day on their website. There you can mix and match your own couple based on several drawings of men or women that are equally as cute. They are not only great for green Valentine gifts but also make fun wedding gifts for eco-chic brides and grooms.

green your home with eco-friendly felt

Felt is one of the oldest fabrics in the world and I mentioned its modern comeback in Undercollar’s pillows made from reclaimed felt or Megan Auman’s cozy/cuffs. This weekend I’ll make sure to check out the latest home accessories made of wool felt by Graf & Lantz at NYIGF. I love how the designers combine the sturdy and eco-friendly material with contemporary shapes. Graf & Lantz is a design studio based in LA that creates eco-modern designs such as bags, pillows, wallets or bowls made primarily from 100% merino wool felt imported from Germany. Wool felt is a sustainable and biodegradable material since it comes from sheep and is therefore completely natural. The beauty of the high density felt used by Graf & Lantz is that it’s not only stain- and water-resistant thanks to its natural oil content but it also gives their designs a sculptural quality. My favorite home accessories are the elegant felt bowls in heathered white, grey, pistachio and charcoal with a different colored center. They are fun to look at plus handmade in the USA. Most recently Graf & Lantz added a new line of Swiss wool felt that’s coarser and not dyed or bleached to their collections. It’s used in some of the ottoman designs and comes in the two colors white and brown. I’m curious to see what else the designers came up with.

modern design for sustainable table settings

Soon I’ll be at NYIGF 2010 here in NYC to check out the latest sustainable designs in home furnishings. I can’t wait to see the PaperStone tablemats and coasters by Dinah Coops as well as her hemp/organic cotton tea towels that are part of the sustainable display. Her eco-modern tablemats and coasters use PaperStone that’s made from 100% recycled paper, non-petroleum resins and organic pigments. It’s a stone-like material and contrasts beautifully with her free-flowing and modern designs. I especially like Dina Coops’ designs for the triple seed pod coaster, the sea fan with trunk coaster and the little cone plant with squiggle coaster. The squiggles of her elegant compositions remind me of drawing with pebbles on slate as kids in Germany. No wonder Dinah Coops describes her PaperStone tablemats and coasters as a modern take on traditional European slate tableware. Each coaster or placemat is silkscreened by hand and treated with a protective coating of water-based polyurethane and silicone. They are backed with a thin layer of cork so that you won’t have to worry about scratching your favorite eco-chic tabletop. Her sustainable napkins and tea towels are made of un-dyed 100% linen or hemp/cotton blend with similar abstract compositions of nature silkscreened by hand with water based inks. Thanks to their neutral color palette the minimalist designs fit easily into any eco-modern home.

nature inspired water filtration design

On my annual trip to ABC Home & Planet before the holidays I saw the stylish OVOPUR by AQUAOVO that was part of a special display about sustainable living. The contemporary egg-shaped design stuck with me since every year I make the resolution to drink more water. And the sleek design of the OVOPUR water filtration unit gives water the central role in any eco-modern home or office that it deserves. After all the average human body is about 60–70% water and needs plenty of hydration.

AQUAOVO was founded in 2007 by brother-and-sister team Manuel and Noemie Desrochers in Montreal with the goal to keep plastic water bottles out of landfills. Taking some inspiration from nature the egg-shaped design combined with the thermal properties of porcelain allows the filtered water to move freely and naturally. This movement prevents stagnation and revitalizes the water. The actual filtration happens through the multilayer AQUACRISTAL filter cartridge that removes chemicals and organic pollutants through a 4-step filtration process. It’s reusable for 4 months and 100% recyclable. OVOPUR by AQUAOVA comes in white or black lead-free glazed porcelain as a limited edition. Either one holds 11 liters of water. I love that these eco-modern water filtration units are a stylish alternative to traditionally unattractive water coolers. Plus they make it easy to stick to my resolution in green style.

green beauty resolutions from Nature Girl

The best way to keep your green New Year’s resolutions might be to have a daily reminder to go green in your bathroom. Nature Girl’s natural and organic skin care line might just do that with names like “I Love Organic”, “Eco Chic”, or “Nature Groupie”. What initially attracted me to Nature Girl was the graffiti-style packaging designed by founder Nannette Pallround. It looks earthy yet hip and I love the stark contrast between the simple bottles and the handwritten feel of the type that reflects the diversity of nature. But most of all I love that Nature Girl’s lotions, scrubs and oils use organic and wildcrafted ingredients grown on small, family-run farms from all around the world. All Nature Girl products are 100% natural and at least half of them are 100% organic. None of them contain sulfates, phylates, dyes, parabens or any harmful man-made ingredients. Plus they don’t use any synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes or animal testing. This should make it pretty easy to stick to your New Year’s resolution to live green this year.

plantable eco calendar for a green New Year

As I’m in the process of researching upcoming dates for green trade shows and conferences this year I remembered Botanical PaperWorks’ plantable eco calendar. I always liked that it helps you plant seeds for the New Year in many ways with its seed embedded calendar pages.

Botanical PaperWorks is a stationary business that creates plantable paper, greeting cards and gift tags handcrafted by local papermakers in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was founded by mother and daughter team Mary Reimer and Heidi Reimer Epp while they were looking for ways to reuse paper discarded by local schools. I always love when waste is turned into something useful like this fun and eco-friendly calendar for the New Year. Botanical PaperWorks’ plantable desk calendar uses paper made with post consumer waste fibers, cotton remnants and the renewable leaf fiber abaca. The calendar pages with their cute illustrations are nestled in a recyclable tin that’s refillable for years to come. The fun part though is that you can plant the paper embedded with wildflower seeds after each month in a pot of soil. Make sure to add plenty of water and sunshine and you can watch it grow into wildflowers such as Clarkia, Poppy or Catchfly. May the rest of the year be this easy and colorful.

stylish and sustainable activewear

Eco-friendly clothing company Nau had their pop-up shop Here/Nau/NYC in Soho for the last 4-6 weeks and I finally managed to stop by. I’ve always wanted to try their eco-friendly activewear and outdoor clothes since I love the design and sustainability mission of the Portland based company. What I like about their eco-friendly apparel line for men and women is that it’s an urban take on outdoor clothing. It’s like Patagonia meets Prada since their apparel line combines sustainability with style. Some of their pieces are very sleek by design and others almost utilitarian. I was impressed by the quality and softness of their women's down shirts whose shell fabric and lining are crafted from 100% recycled polyester. Their 850-fill goose down fill is naturally renewable and the highly compressible design packs down to a grapefruit size. It’s just another example how Nau combines performance and sustainability with the goal to create long-lasting garments.

All clothes are designed for social, material and aesthetic sustainability and Nau considers the complete life-cycle not only of their products but also of their retail fixtures. Even the pop-up shop Here/Nau/NYC was decorated with reused and repurposed local waste products such as cardboard or recycled metal that were turned into cool product displays. I’ll be sad to see the store go, but I also found out that Paragon Sports is carrying their collection in Manhattan.

repurposed lighting for sustainable living

The Sea Urchin Chandelier by HelenBilt caught my eye as part of the silent auction at the Green Drinks Holiday Party last week since it fit beautifully with the intricate details of The Prince George Ballroom. I love its modern take on traditional chandeliers and that it turns outdated technology into modern eco-design by repurposing incandescent light bulbs.

Helen Gifford is the founder and designer of HelenBilt based in South Hampton. Most of her designs are hand-built and customized to the client’s needs. The Urchin Series comes in many different designs like the Goldfinger Pendant that’s created out of amber spun flame-tipped bulbs or the Prism Pendant that’s made out of elongated conical bulbs. The bulbs are arranged into organic yet modern shapes that serve as lighting pendants and are lit by a single compact fluorescent light bulb. This cluster of incandescent light bulbs is built around a skeleton of recycled steel and creates a beautiful pattern of light and shadow on its surrounding when illuminated. The best part is that the Urchin Series does all this without using unnecessary energy that would be needed to light up each individual bulb. All designs are locally manufactured for the lowest impact on electricity and water. Let the green holidays begin.

reusable gift bags for a green holiday season

As I’m scrambling to get my last minute gift shopping done I was happy to discover the reusable LivingEthos gift bags through Organic Spa magazine. Not only do they make wrapping gifts easy without a need for scissors and tape but they are also an eco-chic alternative to traditional wrapping paper.

LivingEthos was founded by Josie Gaillard in 2008 to offer people stylish yet eco-conscious choices for their every day lives. Her modern looking gift bags are a smart way to go green with your gift wrap since you can reuse or regift them. They come in 4 different sizes so that you can wrap or store anything from jewelry, cosmetics to toys. The LivingEthos gift bags are made out of 100% cotton and the grosgrain ribbon is made out of 100% recycled PET like soda bottles. Her fun website lets you shop by occasion, giftee, style or color. As a big fan of modern eco-friendly design I love her contemporary fabrics such as retro squares, ripple stripe or martini that are all formaldehyde-free and AZO-free. The eco-modern gift bags come with a paper wraparound label made of 100% recycled paper and printed with soy based ink. It can be transformed into eco-conscious “to-from” tags for the gifts. I love that you can reuse the bags as well as the packaging. The tough part will be to decide if you want to give them away or keep them for yourself.

green networking accessories

Last Saturday I attended the event Green Is: Digital organized by the newly founded company Green Is: in New York. Besides the amazing speakers of course I loved that I received Muji’s PET business card holder made with 50% recycled plastic bottles as a welcome gift. As mentioned before I’m a big fan of Muji’s no-frill products that are designed with the environment in mind. I’ve been using their sleek aluminum business card cases but was always on the lookout for a green alternative to hold more cards.

The reason that I attended the seminar was to learn more about sustainability in the digital age. The speakers included the digital strategy consultant Daniel Schutzsmith, the web editor of The Daily Green Brian Clark Howard, the president of GreenT Digital Christopher Conway and the co-founder of PageTurnPro Anurag Ahuja. The message was pretty clear that the green digital revolution is here and social networking sites are a driving force. A lot of helpful tools and tips were shared on how to green your digital life through networking and technology. For starters get rid of energy vampires through the Belkin Conserve as I had done earlier this year or consider offline data backup. In regards to green networking sites I still need to check out Justmeans or care2 myself. Upcoming seminars by Green Is: are Green Is: Beauty and Green Is: Social. I’ll make sure to take good notes in my Muji notebook made from recycled paper.