eco-chic design

Three Tips To Green Your Lunch

Over the last few years, I wrote many posts about individual green products. Lately, I realized that the fun starts once you combine them in your daily life. For example, what goes well as a set if you want to pack an eco-friendly lunch? Being quite systematic, I took small baby steps trying to green my own life and I still have a long way to go. In the meantime, I would like to share some combinations that I picked up along the way. For starters, here’s how can you green your lunch:

1. Food storage containers from Preserve
2. Lunch tote from Built NY
3. Bamboo utensil set from To-Go Ware

Why does the combination work? The food storage containers are made in the USA from recycled #5 plastic, the lunch bag is reusable and washable, and the utensils are made of the renewable resource bamboo. As I have been planning and packing my own lunch, I have also been eating healthier. Please share your tips and ideas for greening your lunch.

toast to a colorful New Year with recycled glassware

Currently I’m reading the book “sculpture and design with recycled glass” by Cindy Ann Coldiron. It features artists that turn recycled glass into beautiful sculptures, has step-by-step instructions on how to create some glass projects that I would like to tackle next year, and highlights green glass companies such as California-based Fire & Light. I’m always on the lookout for contemporary green glassware since it seems hard to come by in the US. Usually during my Christmas break in Europe I pick up some tumblers and wine glasses made of 100% extra-clear recycled glass by La Mediterránea, located in Spain. As much as I love their designs and commitment to the environment I would prefer to buy recycled glassware that’s locally produced.

Fire & Light was founded in 1995 as a partnership between the Arcata Community Recycling Center in Humboldt County, California, and local investors. Since then John and Natali McClurg purchased the company in 1999 and nowadays the line of colored glass dinnerware can be found in many galleries and stores. The contemporary looking glassware line is created by melting crushed glass in furnaces, adding pigment, and pressing the molten glass into bowls, plates, and glasses that have a very distinct look. Each piece is made one at a time and the process can take up to three days. If you would like to learn more about how the company turns broken glass into beautiful pieces of utilitarian art make sure to check out their video about the glass making progress. It also mentions that every day in the US we throw out enough glass to fill the Empire State Building twice.

The hand-poured glass tableware collection includes bowls, plates, glasses as well as artful vases and is made with over ninety percent of recycled glass. In the spirit of upcoming New Year’s Eve I’m especially enchanted with the eco-friendly goblets and martini glasses since they help to ring in the New Year with sustainable style. Here’s to a happy and greener New Year!

(In case you have been wondering what I've been up to for the last few months check out my weekly posts for the style/design section at Organic Spa Magazine.)

solar powered chocolate from Grenada

Sampling Grenada Chocolate at the Belmont Estate in Grenada combined two of my passions: chocolate and sustainability. Well, and then there’s traveling of course. Belmont Estate is a 17th century plantation on the Spice Island Grenada and offers tours to their organic farm and cocoa processing facilities. My favorite part was the outlet for Grenada Chocolate and to learn more about the handcrafted tree to bar chocolate making process.

First oval shaped cocoa pods are harvested by cutting them of the trees. The pods are cracked with a machete so that the white seeds or beans can be removed to undergo a fermentation process. This takes place in large wooden bins covered with banana leaves and jute bags for about 7-8 days. During the fermentation process the cocoa beans turn into a rich shade of brown and their flavor develops. Next they are placed outside to dry in the sun on big wooden trays for another week. During the last two steps the beans are moved manually to allow for air circulation. In the end the beans are polished to remove any dried pulp residue. Since 2012 Belmont Estate and the Grenada Chocolate Factory formed a partnership where organic beans are purchased from local organically certified farmers. These organic beans are then fermented and dried at Belmont Estate. From there they go to the Grenada Chocolate Factory where they are turned into delicious Organic Dark Chocolate.

All Grenada Chocolate bars are CERES and USDA certified. They are made in small batches with machines powered by solar-electric energy. Other ingredients include organic cane sugar, organic vanilla beans and organic soy lecithin used as emulsifier. The charming design of the outside wrapper looks like local Caribbean art and is printed with vegetable based ink on recycled paper. Inside on the actual chocolate bar is a gorgeous stylized image of cacao at the center. During our chocolate tasting we sampled about 8-10 Bonbon Chocolates that combined the organic chocolate with the many fruits, nuts and spices of Grenada like nutmeg. It was probably the most amazing experience from my entire Grenada vacation.

fair trade and farmer-owned chocolate at Green Festival NYC

Over the next week I’ll be covering my eco-friendly design highlights from the Green Festival in New York City. I hope you had a chance to view my slideshow. Please tell me about your favorite eco-designs as well. At the event I was impressed by Ford’s interactive displays that demonstrated the use of sustainable materials in their new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. They illustrated for example how armrest handles are made of corn or door panels from wheat straw. The same was true for the biodegradable watches by Sprout that showed the use of organic cotton, bamboo, and corn resin. I’ll dig deeper into both eco-chic products soon but want to talk about my favorite subject first: chocolate.

Divine Chocolate had some samples of their fair-trade chocolate bars at the Green Festival. I was completely blown away by the amazing taste of their Coffee Milk Chocolate. To my surprise I bought two bars of it and one bar of the Orange Milk Chocolate. Divine Chocolates are made with 100% fair-trade cocoa beans grown by the Kuapa Kokoo farmers’ cooperative in Ghana whose members own 45% of Divine Chocolate. This ensures that the farmers not only receive a fair price for their cocoa but it also gives them a share of Divine’s profits. The design of the packaging is super-gorgeous with its golden traditional West African Adinkra symbols. Each symbol represents a proverb like “democracy & shared destiny”, “interdependence”, or “reconciliation & peace.” Divine doesn’t use airfreight at any stage of their supply chain to reduce its environmental impact. Needless to say that I’m already on my second Coffee Milk Chocolate bar but it’s truly divine.

organic and fair trade chocolate that’s deliciously good

There’s a cute coffee place in Lambertville NJ called Lambertville Trading Company with shelves full of interesting chocolates. I left the store with a big can of theo's 'chiplotle spice' sipping chocolate since I was really intrigued by the flavor. It’s organic, fair trade and has a gorgeous logo design made out of dripping dark chocolate. The taste is inbetween sweet and savory making it perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up or after dinner treat.

Theo is the first and only organic and fair trade chocolate factory in the US and was founded by Joseph Whinney in 2006. All ingredients are carefully screened for social and environmental practices. Sustainable growing methods include shade grown cacao that allows for biodiversity and offers habitat for many species. The ‘fair for life’ seal on the sipping chocolate ensures that human rights are met at every production stage. Workers are treated under fair working conditions and farmers receive a fair share. It’s quiet eye-opening to hear Debra Music from theo mention during her talk on ted that a lot of farmers have never tasted a chocolate bar. No wonder that theo is committed to support local farmers through education. Another example of theo’s transparent business practices are the factory tours in Seattle as part of their educational vision. I would love to go if it wouldn’t be on the West Coast. But luckily it’s easy for me to support this amazing USDA organic certified and fair trade company by sipping another cup of their amazingly good chocolate.

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.

chic and compostable dinnerware made from fallen palm leaves

It was great to see VerTerra’s products mixed in with reusable dinnerware at the St. Julien Hotel in Boulder during the LOHAS Forum last month. I've always loved the elegant design of the disposable plates, bowls and trays but never had a chance to use them. They are made with fallen palm leaves, steam, heat, and pressure only. You can’t get more pure than that. The idea originated during a trip to India where VerTerra’s founder Michael Dwork witnessed a local woman pressing leaves fallen from trees into plate like objects that were used to serve food. Now fallen leaves that otherwise would get burned are collected from plantations, then cleaned and pressed into contemporary looking dinnerware at local factories in India. Over 80% of the water used during the steam process is recaptured and reused. Even the waste products are powdered down into fertilizer that’s returned to the farmers who supply the leaves. I love eco-friendly products that close the loop like that. 

The results are organic looking plates and bowls that are non-toxic, biodegradable and even compostable. The great thing about being compostable is that these sustainable products will not only break down within 2 months after use in home or industrial composting but also release valuable nutrients into the soil. VerTerra’s dinnerware is intended for single-use and a green alternative to plastic and paper plates. Something that certainly comes in handy these days for eco-friendly BBQs, beach parties or rooftop gatherings.

the perfect blend of sustainable cuisine with green decor

One of the advantages of spending summer weekends in the city is that hard-to-get reservations at restaurants are available. That’s how I got a table at ABC Kitchen without reservations. And not just any table but a table made from salvaged wood since ABC Kitchen is committed to sustainable décor as much as sustainable food. All food is prepared with organic and local ingredients whenever possible. None of their produce uses pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, insecticides or GMOs and most meat, fish and dairy is locally sourced. The same commitment to sustainable cuisine can be found in their selection of beverages such as tea, coffee or wine that are organic or fair trade. The restaurant’s location close to the farmers market at Union Square doesn’t hurt either. 

The restaurant was co-created between ABC Carpet & Home with chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Phil Suarez. It perfectly fuses a pre-dominantly white and sustainable décor with seasonal produce to create a pleasantly airy atmosphere. I’ve always loved the sustainable products at ABC Home & Planet and it’s great to see them utilized in a restaurant. The food is served on handmade porcelain dinnerware by local artisan Jan Burtz. Each piece is hand-built and hand glazed. The bread baskets are handcrafted by the indigenous mapuche people of Patagonia and are part of the ABC Goodwood Collection that also includes Jim Denney’s dining table made from salvaged wood. If you happen to be in town I can highly recommend the peekytoe crab toast appetizer.

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.

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.