eco-chic design

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.