eco-chic design

sustainable fashion and jewelry with a mission

NOW Showcase in NYC last month featured some of the newest trends in sustainable fashion and accessories. The location made it easy to get around this year since it was at ICO gallery. Los Angeles based eco-fashion designer Linda Loudermilk had a great quote on a banner leading up to her collection that read “nature is the original punk.” I loved her white shirts for men and women that featured a cool illustration of a water faucet on the back and are part of her water is a human right collection. I had seen the powerful icon on t-shirts, tank tops and scarves before and it’s even available as jewelry in copper, silver or gold. Her website states that more than 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s why 17% of proceeds of her mission wear collection are donated to clean water initiatives all around the world.

Two other jewelry designers caught my eye as well. I loved Kimberlin Brown’s coral reef pendants that are handcrafted from recycled 18 karat gold. She recently joined SeaWeb’s coral conservation campaign entitled ‘Too Precious To Wear’ that’s dedicated to celebrate the ocean without harming it. And last I was really impressed by Article 22’s hand cast aluminum bracelets made from repurposed bomb metal from the Vietnam War. I guess you can tell by now that I really love design for a cause.

Greener Gadgets 2010: where art meets science

Like last year the Greener Gadgets conference 2010 here in NYC had an amazing line-up of speakers. I’ve always admired Yves Behar’s work at fuseproject. His opening speech mentioned that as designers we can put sexy back into green. This was underlined by his work for PACT organic underwear and the electric Mission One motorcycle. He introduced two new projects: a ‘hackable’ car for the developing world and a crystal chandelier powered by only one LED light that uses one crystal and one paper shade. The latter will debut at the Milan Furniture Fair in April.

Another session was entitled Gadget Talks and Tom Hadfield from LaboGroup explained the amazing concept behind the plant-based air purifier Andrea. It looks like a beautiful sculpture and it was no surprise that Tom mentioned that his French innovation company is dedicated to turn science into an art form. LaboGroup is associated with Le Laboratoire, the art and innovation center in Paris. Andrea is 1000 times more efficient at removing toxic gases from the air than plants alone. It’s based on a NASA design and purifies all those nasty VOCs which makes it perfect for stagnant areas in your home or office. The other highlight was the presentation by Leonardo Bonanni from MIT Media Lab for Sourcemap that’s a very cool tool for LCA and supply chain transparency. It’s open source and would for example tell you the carbon footprint you incurred to attend the Greener Gadgets conference. And then of course, don’t forget to offset it.

colorful glass cups with a social conscience

As a fan of design that not only looks good but also does good I love glassybaby’s hand-blown votives that give back to the community. I found the colorful votives that double as glasses or vases while looking for additional ways to give to Haiti besides traditional donations. Glassybaby’s blog mentioned the option to donate 10% of any glassybaby purchase to the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti through the end of February.

It’s no surprise since the founder Lee Rhodes started the company in 2001 while battling cancer. Her glassybaby goodwill program supports cancer related causes and designated colors of her gorgeous glass cups are dedicated to different charities. I love that glassybaby supports the local economy and craftsmanship since the beautiful and colorful cups are hand-blown by glassblowers in and around her Seattle studio. Glassybaby votives have been produced in over 450 different colors and come in opaque, translucent, and deeply colored hues. They add color to any room, dinner party, or even fireplace mantel and look stunning as a group. The inspiring votives are a great way to remind ourselves that we’re all connected and to hopefully keep on giving. Thanks to their timeless design they are the perfect housewarming gift for green homes. The company strives towards an eco-friendly status. Currently all product boxes are built from recycled material and glassybaby donates excess glass created during production to a local artist who transforms it into glass art.

eco-friendly journals that tell their own story

At NYIGF last week I discovered a sleek alternative to my Muji notebook made of 100% recycled paper. Ecosystem introduced a green yet stylish take on Moleskine books with their eco-friendly planners, journals, and notebooks. The colorful ecosystem products are made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper in the USA. What makes them so cool besides the fun and contemporary design is that you can track where and how your eco-friendly book was made. To my delight I received a sample of the ecosystem ruled journal Author in watermelon with a flexi cover. Each eco-friendly journal has a unique identification number on the back page. It allows you to find out about the origin of the various materials used to make your specific journal. Plus you can register it online in case it gets lost. So last night I registered my journal at ecosystem’s website to view its ecosystem book ingredients. It was made in July 2009 and a chart displayed each step of the manufacturing process with its eco-friendly practices. For example the elastic band is woven with 100% organic cotton fibers and dyed using water soluble low-impact dyes in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. Or the flexi cover is 100% post-consumer recycled base paper and coated with water-based acrylic technology in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It’s great to see how transparent the company is about their supply chain. It makes you feel like we’re all part of the same ecosystem.

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.