eco-chic design

green your life with eco-smart accessories

Just recently I rediscovered Econscious Market, a fantastic e-commerce site based in Boulder with a great selection of eco-modern designers. The company sells a mix of eco-friendly or socially responsible products and donates up to 10% of every purchase to non-profit organizations of your choice from their website. And there are many great causes to choose from. 

One of their eco-modern designers that I love is Josh Jakus at FUZ. The sustainable felt designs for his handbags and home accessories are super-smart and playful. I’m sure you have seen his clever napkin hugs made out of 100% recycled black rubber or 100% wool felt in various bright colors before. His handbags made from factory excess felt are created from a flat surface with the help of a zipper. The contrast of the grey industrial felt with the accent colors of the zippers in orange, green, or blue looks modern. There’s a really fun animation on his website that you have to check out. With the click of a mouse all five UM bags transform at the same time from two-dimensional shapes into structured bags. The efficiency of FUZ’s designs results in the reduction of energy-consuming machine time. Plus everything is manufactured locally in California. Somehow I like the simple elegance of FUZ’s protective wine pocket or media pocket pouch even more. Both make great green gifts for house warming parties or work related events through their sleek designs. Giving never looked better.

reclaimed urban trees turned into sustainable furniture

Over the weekend there was a great article in the NYT about sustainable furniture design company Meyer Wells. As a big fan of modern design and the environment I was thrilled to discover the Seattle based company founded by Seth Meyer and John Wells in 2006. Their eco-modern furniture is made from salvaged trees found around Seattle’s neighborhoods. In partnership with their sister company City Tree Salvage they have reclaimed hundreds of urban logs that would otherwise become part of the city’s waste stream. One of the many ecological advantages of using local reclaimed materials is that less energy is spent on transportation. And that reduces the embodied energy of the sophisticated furniture design.   

Meyer Wells offers residential and commercial furniture and I especially love their Clerestory coffee and end table as well as their feature wall for the lobby of F5 Networks. You would’ve never thought that these elegant pieces come from trees that were damaged through storms or grew in your own backyard. The sustainable coffee and end table are part of the modern roots collection that combines organic design with modern shapes. Both eco-modern pieces come in various finishes such as maple or walnut and the top coat options are low-VOC and HAP-free. Other variations are 100% botanical and VOC-free since indoor air quality is often worse than outdoor air. It’s great to see how Meyer Wells turns trees that served neighborhoods for so long into useful everyday objects. Plus I love sustainable stories with a happy ending.

acoustic wall panels made from eco-friendly felt at ICFF

As a long-standing fan of wool felt utilized in modern design I was excited to discover the stunning acoustic felt wall panels by Anne Kyyrö Quinn at ICFF. The installation unveiled her latest “Laine” and “Leaf” textile structures that are inspired by nature. Both create a sense of movement through their play of light and shadows. “Laine” is inspired by the reflections of ripples on water and “Leaf”, as the name suggests, by moving petals in a summer breeze. The structures of the acoustic felt walls were mesmerizing and felt like a breath of fresh air. I never imagined that acoustic wall panels could create movement and stillness at the same time. So how do they reduce noise levels? The main material felt absorbs sound through its tiny cavities of its intricate 3-D surface that wick sound waves into another layer of fabric underneath. It basically functions like an acoustic sponge. The result is beautiful and functional at the same time. This makes them perfect for eco-conscious home theaters, offices, lounges or restaurants. In addition the London-based designer Anne Kyyrö Quinn introduced her "Lola" low seating pieces and cushions. And here again, she puts a surprising twist on one of the oldest fabrics in the world by turning the organic designs into structural pieces of art.

urban-chic furniture made from recycled plastic

Within my certificate for sustainable design at MCAD I had to propose an office of the future with a minimal ecological footprint. That’s how I stumbled upon Rodrigo Alonso’s stools and recycling bins made from post-consumer recycled plastic. As mentioned before it’s difficult to find modern recycling bins that are actually recycled. I’m glad I discovered one as cool looking as this one. The Chilean designer Rodrigo Alonso created his 100% recycled furniture from plastic waste found in toys, drink trays, stadium seats or even electronic devices. These waste materials were then transformed through a rotomoulding technique into useful objects such as eco-modern stools or recycling bins. At the end of the product’s useful life it can be re-crushed and re-rotomoulded again. I love that part. Rodrigo Alonso’s 100% recycled plastic furniture was designed for the urban equipment company Fahneu in Santiago de Chile. But I can easily see his eco-modern furniture at outdoor areas of industrial or urban parks or at cool office spaces and atriums. They certainly make a bold sustainable statement with their irregular polyhedral shapes. I’m also very impressed by his latest fair-trade and social design project ARMO shoes but I’ll save this for a later post. Stay tuned.

green your lunch with hand embroidered reusable snack bags

Packing my own lunch for work has been an ongoing battle for me since there’s great take-out in the city everywhere. But when I look at the statistics that almost 1/3 of waste in the US is produced through packaging there’s really no excuse. Especially if there are such cute lunch bag options as BleuRoo’s reusable snack bags with hand embroidered designs. I had discovered them on Green Depot’s website and finally bought a bird design after seeing them in person. Of course I love the fact that the outer shell is made of 100% unbleached cotton. But what really won me over was that they are really well-made with their inner liner of water and stain resistant nylon and the double stitched side seams. The velcro closure sealed the deal for me. All eco-friendly designs are hand embroidered and you can choose your own colors.

The designs for BleuRoo’s reusable snack bags include birds, stars or even customized lettering. You can choose from several different typefaces and then create your own personalized message. I’m toying between my first name or “mine” since it’s my snack after all. Or simply “bon appetit”. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

eco-smart home and office design

What I’ve always loved about the EcoSmart Fireplaces from Australia is that they look as great at minimalistic eco-homes as well as office spaces. And then there are of course the environmental benefits that they are fueled by the renewable energy denatured Ethanol. As we all know Ethanol is produced through the fermentation of sugar from products such as sugarcane, potatoes or wheat. It needs to be de-natured with various substances since it can’t be sold in its purest form (100% alcohol) to avoid human consumption. The benefit of denatured Ethanol is that it’s completely composed of biological products making it greenhouse compliant. Its combustion results in a clean emission of heat, steam and carbon dioxide which means you’ll be able to breathe freely. The environmentally-friendly EcoSmart Fireplaces don’t require any installation or utility connection for fuel supply so that you can easily move them around. They come in a variety of stylish settings that range from modern to retro. My favorites are the Vision or Fusion that also work well as a visual separator for lofts. The Retro is a fun alternative for smaller studios or creative office spaces. Either one would definitely warm up any eco-modern space in a cool way.