From baby decor to Adrift’s sophisticated mobiles, mobiles brighten up a room for inhabitants of all ages. The Birds of a Feather Mobile. is a new favorite we just discovered at Friend in San Franciso. Designed by Helene Ige, this flora-and-fauna mobile features tree branches and cute little birds laser cut out of Walnut Veneer. We think its a lovely way to bring a little of the outdoors into your home.
One of the biggest tenets of living a sustainable life is doing more with less, and as we grapple with reducing our carbon footprints we have to take a closer look at how we equip the world we live in. These beautiful recycled paper baskets from award-winning artist Leonor Mendoza are definitely a step in the lighter footstep direction. Made from recycled paper and cotton woven together, these colorful and multifaceted mats sport corner buttons allowing them to go from a colorful placemat to functional basket in seconds.
With Spring finally starting to spring, we are excited to announce that Domino Magazine has just published a feature story on our Inhabitat founder Jill Fehrenbacher. The April issue of Domino - the guide to living with style - is tinged with green as Earth Day approaches and that’s where Inhabitat founder Jill Fehrenbacher makes an appearance in the monthly My Green Life feature. Decked out in sustainable style favorites like Ekovaruhuset and Veja, she talks about living green in NYC and her vision of the perfect way to spend April 22, 2008.
Furniture designer Cliff Spencer couldn’t resist when he heard about a Napa winery discarding wine-stained oak. An avid user of reclaimed materials, Spencer now regularly reclaims oak staves from California wineries and transforms them into these stunning one-of-a-kind pieces for residential and commercial use. (p.s., you don’t have to be a wine aficionado to enjoy them).
Flipping through new magazines today can feel like shaking the colorful branches of a glossy tree, with leaves falling out from between its limbs. Only they’re falling into your lap, and sometimes 6 at a time. Magazine subscription cards, fouling up the pre-buy flip through at the newsstand and littering up your living room. Thought subscribing would keep them at bay? Nope, but an address file might. Ugly Kitty is taking those fallen leaves and turning them into functional, pretty indexing to keep your reading clean and your contacts in order.
The sleek industrial contemporary kitchen is challenged in Mike Meiré’s The Farm Project - a brand imaging campaign for the German fixture manufacturer Dornbracht. This barn-like, “real-life” stage is charged with aromas, animals, plants and objects housed with an archetypal rural building with an outer cover made of patchwork materials. A beautiful exploration of design and living, The Farm Project shuns the “hidden” kitchen, enclosed in steel and stone, to connect people to that which sustains them.
What would you do if someone told you that you could help the environment by purchasing a bottle of vodka? That’s exactly the message America’s oldest continuously operating distillery, McCormick Distilling, is trying to spread with the launch of their brand new product 360 Vodka, as it enters the highly competitive market of ultra luxury vodkas. With this new launch, the company’s recently formed Earth Friendly Distilling Co. division also hopes to establish new sustainable product development and packaging standards in the distilling industry.
India is well-known for delicious food, and the kitchen is considered to be a sacred place in any Indian home. And now India has something else to be proud of: the world’s largest solar kitchen. The system has been installed as a collaboration between the Academy for a Better World and Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, with technology from Solare-Brücke, Germany. With 84 receivers and cooking at 650 degrees, the system can produce up to 38,500 meals a day when the sun is at its peak!
Danish architect Knud Kapper has drawn from the tradition of handmade, mid century furniture to create the new eco-friendly Living Kitchen Architecture series which was recently unveiled in New York. The pieces are attentively hand built from solid woods that were harvested from sustainably managed forests under stringent regulations. Engaging, durable and finished with natural wood treatments, Kapper’s kitchen furnishings have a built-in longevity that embody the core meaning of the rooms they establish.
Sometimes ‘it’s not easy being green’, and a little help is needed to make our living space or office cubicle greener and cleaner without much maintenance. Enter the ‘techno-organic’ Grobal planter, a super-stylish self-watering planter that is a foolproof way to grow plants and flowers without day-to-day watering or green-thumb know-how. Invented by Treg Bradley and designed with the high-gloss biomorphism of superstar Karim Rashid, Grobal is ideal for cultivating house plants, flowers, herbs, orchids, and succulents. Let the internal ‘grow chamber’ do the work, and you can sit back and nurture yourself and your plants in self-sufficient, eco-style.
If you associate the affordable and ubiquitous ‘Bic pen’ with disposable, throw away office culture - think again, as Zo-loft design has added a whole new dimension to desktop utility. Their “Din-ink” series of Bic pen style tops allows you to instantly convert your writing tools into ready made cutlery. With one easy step that trusty chewed-up pen of yours can become a sleek spoon, fork, or knife for that classic dining ‘al desko’ experience.
H is for Humanity, Habitats, Health, Habitats, and HIPPO! Project H, an organization that promotes, inspires, and delivers humanitarian product design, is funding 50 Hippo Rollers for a series of 17 villages in Kgautswane in Northeastern South Africa. Hippo Rollers, if you haven’t seen them before, they are amazing barrel devices that allow the millions whose livelihoods depend on the daily fetching of water to more safely and efficiently access and transport water. The roller holds 3-4 days worth of water for a family of 7, about 5 times the amount of water that can be moved using traditional methods, which frees up time for more productive economic and educational activities. It’s an amazing product and an amazing story of good design enabling communities.
For $100 you can sponsor the manufacturing and delivery of one roller in your name, which will be personally delivered to a family in Kgautswane this April by Project H Design. If you believe in the power of good design, here’s your chance to show it! Check out the Hippometer to see how many rollers have been funded to date.
Think a luxury pillow has to be made of silk? Think again- African-born, London-based designer Bridget West crafts gorgeous housewares, pillows, and throws, from vintage labels and tags that critique the throw-away nature of our consumer existence in a really beautiful way. Her Handle With Care pillow is made from clothing tags, while the Delicate Cube and Made in Cube pillows are quirky and comfy, featuring inked graphics and organic cotton or hemp.
If you want to see some truly innovative greener gadgets up close and personal, come by the Project H Design booth at next week’s Greener Gadgets Conference. The clever and socially-responsible BOGO flashlight, XO Laptop (One Laptop Per Child), and kinetic devices by Freeplay will be on display for you to check out, all under the umbrella of Project H Design, a charitable organization promoting humanitarian-focused product design, founded by Inhabitat’s Managing Editor, Emily Pilloton.
If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, there’s no time like the present! Register here and be sure to come by the Project H Design booth for more info on the organization and these great products.
British-born sculptor Tony Cragg uses color families and a carefully curated collection of flotsam and jetsam in his large-scale installations. Born in Liverpool, Cragg has an amazing collection of pieces made from found materials from household trash to construction refuse. We love the impressionistic charm of his pieces- gorgeous and graphic from far away, intricate and detailed from up close.
There is something intrinsically pleasing about experiencing natural fibers in the form of good design. When this happens within a fair trade setting, the mix of aesthetics, function, environmental and social awareness is an irresistible draw for those with an eye on sustainability. That’s why we’re intrigued by “Design Beyond the Borders of Development” from SUDesign, a collaborative of academics, architects, designers and artisans from around the globe. The results are some great home products made beautifully and sustainably (environmentally and socially).
Producing a beautiful ambient glow through it’s perforated surface, Reestore’s recycled washing machine table turns a household appliance into gorgeous piece of functional furniture. This post-industrial table, dubbed ‘Silvana‘, is fashioned from a reclaimed washing machine drum and a polished glass surface by Reestore.
Bathtubs are places for relaxation, and here’s a new interpretation- turn your tub into a sofa! This clever design by Max McMurdo breathes life into an antique fixture, and turns what was headed for landfill into a smart, provocative, and comfy conversation starter. Founded by UK product designer Max McMurdo, Reestore is a line of green products based on the recycling of old home products. Taking everyday waste objects and turning them into charming yet functional pieces of furniture and accessories, Reestore attempts to “avoid traditional eco materials in favor of contemporary finishes, fabrics, and, above all, style.”
Deck the halls with reusable water bottles! Tra la la la la…. The holiday spirit is about kindness and generosity towards your fellow man, and what better way to express that thoughtfulness than a reusable aluminum water bottle from Sigg? Every year over 50 billion plastic waters are sent to landfill in this country - despite the fact that tap water is as clean, safe, and way cheaper than bottled water. Need to carry water along with you during your day to keep hydrated? Skip the bottled water and get one of these stylish aluminum Sigg bottles. It’s better for the environment and better on you wallet, too. And in time for the holidays, now you can pick up lovely brushed aluminum Sigg bottles in red and green.
$15.99 - $24.99 from Sigg
Ever wondered what could be done with a 1,200 foot spool of rope? Designer Josh Urso answers the question with this marvelous innovation in table design: KNOOP (Dutch for “knot”) is his latest line of table designs, which uses resin-impregnated military-grade rope to deliver wonderful inspiration to often discarded materials.
One of our favorite eco-design visionaries Cohda Design recently brought its amazing recycling design process to the public by staging an interactive event that showed off its recycling machines and allowed the public to participate in the process of turning plastic bottles into beautiful designer chairs.
For anyone with a taste for motorcycles and retro product design styling, here’s the perfect lighting solution. Recycled from old motorcycle parts (and the occasional household appliance), Lamponi Lamps are designed and constructed by Milan born artist Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi, bringing sleek speedy and recycled design to your tabletop.
From our favorite Dutch design duo Tejo Remy and Rene VeenHuizen comes an awesome reclaimed material rug to cozy up to. Made from recycled blankets, the rug takes cuddly comfort and turns it into a great example of recycled design that your toes will love. Tejo Remy spoke at our Reclaiming Design event on the issues of reclaimed materials in design, and this is a shining example of turning potential trash into great design treasure.
Here’s a sweet treat that may leave you a little sticky. Anna Bullus’s gives new meaning to term ‘biodegradeable’ with a vanishing cup made entirely of sugar. With ‘One Cup or Two’ not only is there no leftover plastic or paper cup headed for landfill, but there is also no need to add sugar to your tea or coffee — as you can just add your tea or coffee to the sugar cup and enjoy. One Cup or Two can be used up to four times and come in an assortment of flavors including plain, almond and Irish Whiskey. Hey Starbucks…. can you smell a fun eco idea brewing here?
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If you love treehouses as much as we do but don’t live in a forest, here’s a smaller option for you, your kids, and their dolls to enjoy- this recycled wood treehouse from new online green retailer ReForm School is made from recycled cherry and elder wood and stands 22″ tall. It’s easy to assemble and comes with retractable stairs, rope ladder, bucket and pulley, and three platforms for hours of doll (and human) fun!
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