eco-chic design

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 I love its modern take on traditional chandeliers and that it turns outdated technology into modern eco-design by repurposing incandescent light bulbs.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.