eco-chic design

a second life for safety belts

Peter Danko is an early founder of Eco-Modernism, a design style that embraces the marriage of sustainability with industrial production.

I love how he’s able to use something so mundane as an automotive seatbelt to create something so modern and contemporary looking like the Greenbelt Tandem or Greenbelt Side Chair as shown in the pictures.

This whole group of designs includes chairs, loveseats, stools and benches that use seatbelts in combination with European beech that’s sustainably sourced. Not only are the seatbelts recycled material, but they also look beautiful since the belt fibres create a moiré effect. The visual tension between the European beech wood and industrial looking seatbelts is stunning. The furniture comes in many beautiful color combinations with some of the belts in translucent and metallic.

two peas in a pod: modern and eco-friendly

Balanced Design is a small design studio based in Providence Rhode Island founded by the designer Melinda Cox. She created a line of “greener” home accessories using hemp, linen, water-based inks, organic flannel and felted wool. What impresses me most are the striking designs of her pillows, since they proof that eco-friendly can look bold and colorful.

The designs remind me of Henri Matisse’s paper cutouts and the designer cites the modern artists of the 20th century as her inspiration. Her background as a logo designer helps her to translate the world around her into simple shapes and bold colors like some of her design pattern that are entitled “pods” (as seen in the picture), “corals” or “bird’s feet”.

On her website she states that the balance of great design with the goal of reducing, reusing or recycling is the definition of the new modern and I completely agree with her.

modern fusion cuisine: EVO Design & Recycline

EVO Design, a leading product design firm, teamed up with Recycline, a company that manufacturers consumer goods from 100 percent recycled plastic to introduce Preserve Kitchen. The new product line is a collection of durable, dishwasher-safe kitchen utensils currently available through Whole Food Markets and includes cutting boards, colanders and food storage containers.

What I love most about these products is that their shapes are inspired by organic shapes found in nature like the food-storage containers that resemble Granny Smith apples or the colander that’s slightly reminiscent of strawberries.

Preserve Kitchen is a great example that eco-conscious design can look fun, vibrant and sleek. And maybe sometimes two cooks in the kitchen are better than one.

prefab can be fabulous

One of my all-time favorite architectural buildings is Frank Lloyd Wright’s building Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. It’s the perfect example how architecture can live in harmony with nature. For the same reason I love a lot of the new mid-century inspired architecture.

Marmol Radziner Prefab is a company based in Los Angeles that offers the clean lines of mid-century design in combination with the efficiency of factory-built homes. Their floor-to-ceiling windows capture natural light, while expansive decks promote indoor/outdoor living.

The company builds the prefab modules in their own factory and ships them complete with your choice of pre-installed interior and exterior finishes, flooring, appliances, and more. This prefabrication process and the importance of in-house construction helps to reduce waste and increase efficiency. These prefab homes are created with the environment in mind and have achieved LEED certification. For long-term sustainability, the module structures are made from recycled steel. The homes employ other green materials like solar panels for example.

But most of all I love that this approach to modern green architecture stays sensitive to the environment without sacrificing the modernist aesthetic.

eco-friendly zipping

Zip Car is the largest car sharing company in the world and was inspired by an existing concept in Berlin, Germany where members can rent cars by the hour instead of owning their own car. Members can pick up their car from a parking space in their neighborhood after they booked it online or over the phone at any time.

But not only does car-sharing take the hassle out of owning your own car in the city or wasting time to check out your car at a rental facility. It also has many green benefits. Zipcar claims that over 30% of their customers have either sold their car or have stopped their purchasing decision which results in lower fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The company has a fleet of 2,000 vehicles, 10 percent of them hybrids. You can choose from over 20 models ranging from fun to environmentally friendly like the super cute MINI, the eco-conscious Prius hybrid or the more stylish BMW.

natural yet luxurious

Born from the personal philosophy of Stella McCartney, and from her vegetarian principles and her continued commitment towards environmental protection, Care by Stella McCartney is a unique luxury line of certified organic skincare.

It’s formulated with 100 percent organic active ingredients and zero percent petrochemicals or silicones. Nothing is tested on animals and the formulas are just as gentle on skin as they are on the environment. The line includes seven products, from a cleansing milk made with lemon balm and apricot, to green tea and linden blossom floral water.

I’ve been a huge fan of her fashion, but could never afford them. The sleek packaging of her Care products reflect the same sophistication and might be a way to finally own one of her designs.

modern - organic fusion

I was first introduced to the work of designer Michael Aram when I discovered his forest leaf olive dish at a store in Greenport, Long Island. Since then I'm a huge fan.

Michael Aram is an American born artist who works primarily in metal. He studied his craft of metal working in India and in New York, which led to a truly unique style. Each piece is made using age old traditional handmade techniques with no two examples ever exactly the same. Primarily he uses aluminum and stainless steel in his designs, which are created in such a way that excess material can be reused for other objects. His products range from tableware to furniture and he beautifully fuses modern design with organic form.

He’s one of the pioneers of the modern – organic trend. One of his signature styles is to mix organic forms with modern materials. I especially love his earth and water collections that are based on foliage from around the world or nautical themes.

the power of the olive tree

Oliveda is a company that’s based in Mallorca, Spain and was founded by Alexandra and Thomas Lommel centered around the olive tree with its 7.000 year cultural history.

It’s Oliveda’s mission to make ancient formulas from the Mediterranean area, based on earthy wisdom and the vitality of the olive tree, available to everybody. Mediterranean recipes, handed down over the centuries are the basis of all Oliveda natural products.

Online they sell premium elixirs, first-class olive oils, unique teas as well as hand-made natural cosmetics line as part of their portfolio. All products are based on the power of the olive tree - olive leaf, olive oil, olive butter, olive wax and olive seed are the basis. Last time I checked you were only able to order their products within Europe.

being social while being socially conscious

Square One is the first certified organic 100% American rye vodka founded by Allison Evanow in 2006 in Novato, California. It’s handcrafted from 100%-certified organically grown rye from North Dakota and produced with an unprecedented organic fermentation process.

It’s a great-tasting, ultra-premium vodka that is also certified organic. Most importantly though it has a beautiful bottle design which reflects Square One’s philosophy of eco-conscious sophistication. It has a very distinct and unique look that features concentric squares. The square bottle design is not frosted which would involve chemicals and the label is printed on paper made from bamboo, bagasse and cotton. 

Once the bottle is empty the label easily peels off and the bottle can be used as a vase or other container.

green with envy

My interest in organic-chic products started about two years ago while I worked on a branding project for the launch of a new organic vodka called Square One.

I was really impressed by the founder’s clear vision. She was able to use her existing background as a marketing manager at Chandon to start a new venture on her own while doing something good for the environment. But not only did she create a truly unique organic vodka that tastes great but it also looks amazing. This is especially important to me since I work as a designer/creative director in advertising and packaging is as important to me as content. And I believe that great modern design and eco-friendliness don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

A year later I was on vacation in Mallorca, Spain and discovered many companies that were founded by Germans like myself that were based around the natural resources of the Island yet were very urban-chic by design. Most of their founders were able to use their knowledge of their first careers for their later business adventure in their lives. Like the pharmacist who produces organic wines called Castell Miquel or the trained lawyer and contractor who started a product line all around olive trees called Oliveda. It’s something I envy and hope to be able to do myself one day.

In the meantime I’ll be reporting and writing about anything related to a stylish green life style with more emphasis on design then green. I love every type of product or design that brings us closer to nature either by design like some of the modern pre-fab homes that bring the outdoors in or organic products that are as good for our planets as for ourselves.