eco-chic design

walk the Nike trash talk

When I first saw the Nike Trash Talk Shoe on inhabitat a few weeks ago I was on the fence about it in terms of design. I loved the orange/grey/white color scheme right away but I wasn’t crazy about the patchwork design with the zig-zag stitching.

A few days ago I saw it again under Best Bets in New York magazine and I finally came around since I realized that the upper is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from Nike’s own factory floor. The rest of the Trash Talk Shoe is made entirely of recycled materials as well and meets Nike’s considered design standards.

The shoe was launched in February of 2008 by Nike celebrity endorser Steve Nash and is the first Nike performance basketball sneaker completely produced from manufacturing waste. In addition it’s being packaged in a fully recyclable cardboard box.

seaside living

In today’s real estate market the Riverside Design Group’s seaglass collection is probably the closest I’ll ever get to living close to the sea. The design of the collection is inspired by the look and feel of sea glass that has been shaped by ocean waves which looks stunning with its translucent effect. They are handcrafted of post-industrial/pre-consumer recycled glass and come in many shapes and colors that seem to be inspired by the ocean as well.

The plates, bowls, and platters come in 10 different shapes and sizes ranging from round, square to freeform. You can choose from more monochromatic color schemes like charcoal, pearl or copper to really bright and poppy ones like citron, red or blue. The possibilities are endless. I love the mix and match effect and my personal favorites are the more muted colors. To me they are the epitome of stylish green living.  But best of all everything is dishwasher and microwave safe.

nude never looked better

Nude Skincare is a range of eco-friendly face and body products inspired by the idea that what you put on your skin is as important as what you put in your mouth. It’s no surprise that Bryan Meehan is the brain behind the product line who also co-founded the British organics store Fresh + Wild, that sold to Whole Foods in 2004.

The skincare line features cleansers, water, moisturizers and treatments that are based on certified organic, fair trade or community traded ingredients wherever possible. What really caught my eye though is the sleek and minimalistic packaging and logo type which was created by the design company Pearlfisher. The design of the bottles is stripped down to its basics yet couldn’t feel more stylish through the colors and smooth finish inspired by pebbles. The same bare yet sleek approach is reflected in the logo design.

The bottles are entirely recyclable and 40% of them use post industrial recycled plastic. They come in sleeves which are made of biodegradable starch instead of boxes to reduce packaging.

hatching new ideas

Since I work as a creative in advertising I stumbled upon the amazing sculptures of Patrick Dougherty through his bird nest installation for the ad agency Wieden & Kennedy in Portland. 

Patrick is an internationally acclaimed sculptor known for his large-scale installations that incorporate tree saplings. He twists and wraps his medium to create large, organic sculptures. Most of his art looks rather “found” than made as if nature had effected the objects.

His company stickworks created the meeting space in collaboration with the interior design firm, Intelligent Design. He crafted the nest out of sticks, willow saplings, and interwoven alder. It has a beautiful interplay of feeling organic and modern yet whimsical. It’s a perfect example to show how he combines his carpentry skills with a love for nature.

I mean, what better way is there to hatch out ideas than in an over-sized bird nest? During the last two decades, Patrick has built over 150 works throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

good clean fun

To be honest I’m not much of a cook these days so that I don’t have much cleaning to do but these beautifully designed cleaning products caught my eye. The packaging is fun, clean, and colorful plus all twist products are eco-conscious.

Twist is a Colorado based company that believes in a cleaner world on many different levels. The owners Brian Ross and Egil Wigert ventured out in 2006 to develop a better, more eco-friendly line of cleaning products which are the Loofah Sponge, the Euro Sponge, and the Euro Cloth (a reusable product that does the work of 17 rolls of paper towels). The products are biodegradable and made in a Mexican plant that reuses 99.97 percent of all waste.

An added bonus to the modern looking packaging is that it can be transformed into a small birdfeeder. It’s probably more of a gimmick than practical, but I do like the thinking behind it. Especially since the packaging is recyclable.

green it yourself

I guess you can tell by now that I love anything that has to do with nature or water. David Trubridge’s Coral Pendant is the result of both influences: the repeating patterns of ice crystals and the similar patterns he saw in underwater coral.

It’s no surprise that he finds his inspirations underwater since he holds a degree in naval architecture (or boat design in plain English) and lived on a boat for four years sailing from Britain to New Zealand. His work is produced in New Zealand using only natural materials. The Coral Pendant arrives unassembled to make shipping more efficient and to reduce the amount of packing materials. It can be purchased through Design Within Reach under eco-friendly solutions and is part of his 3-part pendant collection Kina, Coral and Koura.

David Trubridge’s website looks gorgeous and makes you want to pack up as well and travel around the world. You’ll find beautiful nature shots that visualize the inspirations for his furniture or lighting designs with poetic sounding names like reed, snowflake or life raft.

bamboo gone modern

Bambu is a renewable ideas company whose mission is to create interest and excitement in renewable materials. They certainly peaked my interest with these fun, colorful bowls that marry modern design with traditional bamboo craftsmanship.

What I love most about their bamboo lacquerware collection is that it blends sustainability with bold and bright colors in a modern way. The collection has a contemporary range of bowls, plates and other tabletop items. Each piece is hand coiled, shaped and finished with food-safe natural lacquer creating a beautiful, durable waterproof finish. The bowls come in delicious sounding colors like aqua, cayenne, kiwi, chocolate, or red pepper.

They are suitable for hot and cold food or they just make great decorating items. You can purchase them through several retailers including branch - an online store based in San Francisco that sells “sustainable design for living”.

fat-free design

My favorite designer these days is Ross Lovegrove who blends his love of high tech with the belief that nature had the right idea all along.

I’m a huge admirer of his plant-like solar trees that had their first test run in Vienna and Milan last year. The solar streetlights are a collaboration between Ross Lovegrove, solar cell producers Sharp Solar and lighting specialist Artemide. They absorb solar energy during the day and emit light in the nighttime. But not only are these solar trees environmentally friendly and economical but even visually they explore a new way of bringing nature into an urban environment.

And then there’s the designer’s more recent concept for a solar powered bubble-shaped car on a stick. The car on a stick can be stored atop telescopic poles at night – where it then acts as a streetlight and keeps the ground free of parked vehicles.

I mean who wouldn’t like the idea that a parked car could turn into a streetlight at night? It sounds crazy now, but might be a reality sooner than we think.

seeing the trees as a forest

I’ve always admired these cubes while flipping through design magazines, but I never tried to find out who made them. I’m glad I finally did.

Brent Comber is an art and design studio that creates sculpted objects, functional pieces, and design environments. His furniture not only uses sustainable practices throughout the manufacturing process but also feels more like a sculpture than anything else. These Alder Cubes for example are inspired by the spaces created between the trees in a forest and the play of light against dark. The result is a dynamic design that captures the interplay of negative and positive shapes.

The studio is located in North Vancouver, Canada and includes a diverse group of artists and craftspeople. Every piece of furniture or sculpture is build by hand, one at a time. The studio uses only natural wood products from local sources – quite often from wood that would have otherwise ended up as wood chips or waste.

scooting around in green style

Vespa is the quintessential symbol of stylish, eco-driven transportation. It has been a design icon for over 50 years with its elegant lines, that’s charming and endearing at the same time. But not only can you scoot around in style, but you can also feel good about yourself while doing it.

The company introduces the expression “Vespanomics” on their website that promotes embracing motor scooters as an alternative form of transportation to reduce oil consumption, pollution and traffic congestion. It states that if Americans switched only 10% of their total driving to scooters, ever day we could cut consumption of gas by 14 million gallons and cut carbon emissions by 324 pounds.