From automotive brawn to porn, Toyota look like they are out to capture all segments of the fast emerging low emission, fuel efficient vehicles. And given the kudos they are getting for their proven Prius hybrid sedan its easy to see why they want to capitalise on this success. Particularly as a Prius has just taken outright victory in the New Zealand run
Energywise Rally 2004 with an impressive fuel consumption figure of just 4.02L / 100km (70.3 mpg). Take a peek at five eco brothers that Toyota are thinking of spawning from the Prius genes... [by
WM]...
Luisa Cevese's Tote bag is a brilliant use of products in their afterlife. Using industrial waste--scrap textiles and plastic--she creates a new (and we say better) material from which she constructs all manner of bags and other accessories. Each piece is unique due the process. 225-315€, depending on you location.
::Luisa Cevese Reidizioni [by
MO]...
Stokke's Ekstrem chair is a funky take on modernity that challenges the sitter to find the myriad ways on which it can be sat. With playful humor and superior Scandanavian craftmanship, it's ekstrem-ly (haha) ergonomically friendly and fantastically visual in any space. Made of a sustainably-forested wood frame and upholstered with a wool-blend. Contact Designs for Comfort, Stokke's U.S. distributor for sales. $725
::Designs for Comfort [by
MO]...
Been a lot of hype recently about the U2 iPod. And there is no denying that the group have been up-front in pushing for social and environmental justice. But as always there is are related stories that get less coverage. In this vein is the Sarah McLachlan video clip for her tune "World on Fire." The vid calculates what it really costs to make a single music clip. And compares what this obscene amount of dough ($150,000) could do, if used to......
Danny Seo isn’t the only one with a green lifestyle show in the works. Cameron Diaz is planning to star in a travel program for MTV that will raise awareness of eco-issues in each of her destinations. Adventure travel – she tries sand surfing in Chile – is the other half......
The new music savvy BMWs are said to be the ultimate iPod accessory. Well, we beg to differ. Beemers, make way for the iXi. No CO2 emissions from this modern person-powered marvel. It doesn't even need oil for the chain, preferring a grease-free composite drive belt. The list of specs is quite astounding. Stainless steel disc brakes, Shimano Nexus 4 speed internal hub and handle bar grip shifter, aluminium frame and quick rolling 16" 100 psi tyres. Ingeniously designed for anyone who thought bikes were a hassle. Truly. You owe it to yourself to read on....
The Cuba chest is a handsome, manly cabinet that's perfect as an entertainment center in the living room or a wardrobe in the bedroom, where you can admire it from a lofty position in your bed. Designed by Terence Conran (did you know his NY shop turns five this year?) in oak. We know the red portion is laquered (oh dear), but we do love the peek-a-boo element it provides. Like all
Benchmark furniture, the Cuba is FSC-certified. £1,750
::Benchmark [by
MO]...
Some pundits reckon it belongs to Captain Scarlet of the Mysterons. Me, I plug for it being the Lady Penelope's weekend car when her pink Thunderbird's
FAB 1 is safely garaged. While it may conjure up images of something out of a Saturday morning kids show, the Eliica also appeals to another schoolboy fantasy – speed. Charge the batteries for 10 hours... ...
Designer Peter Danko's
modern chair made from recycled seatbelts is great! Danko has exhibited his
eco-modern furniture in museums throughout the world, but you can see and sit on it in the comfort of your own home. The Arbor Tandem Chair is made with
eco-friendly, recycled seatbelt webbing on a maple wood frame using Eco-Benefit Ply-bending techniques that yield eight-to-ten times more usable wood from a log than does solid lumber....
Located in the California redwoods, the Sun Frost factory is surrounded by the beauty of the earth it helps preserve by engineering energy efficient freezers/refrigerators that cut consumption by 80% to make powering your home with solar energy affordable, while offering high humidity, quiet operation, and an easy-to-clean interior. Every unit is customized with the choice of hinge side and a laminate, wood, or stainless steel finish. And we love the freezer on the bottom (least used=least convenient, no?).
::Sun Frost [by Adam Troy Edwards]...
Slip into something more comfortable. The great thing about these plush towels, is there isn't much to say. Because they have no added extras. Not even dye. The colours you see are the unprocessed colours of the cotton. We expect natural cotton to be white. Ain't necessarily so. In places like Peru, Ecuador and Central America, thousands of years ago, they had short fibre, wild cotton lints in... ...
The Congress for the New Urbanism, which promotes walkable urban planning with sensitive blends of housing and job-creating buildings, has declared the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Robert Redford Building
to be “one of the greenest buildings in the United States” and given it a Charter Award. Taking a holistic approach to ecology, the building conserves energy and......
Which is the most Treehugger to drink one's java from? Ceramic, stryofoam, paper? Ceramic, you scream – how can someone be so dumb as to ask that? Some serious scientific and academic rigour has been applied to just this question. By no less of a studious group than the Dutch Ministry of Environment. Their conclusions? Not what you might first suspect. You see, its like "paper, scissors, rock". In some circumstances one might win over the others but then, can in turn, be trumped itself....
Last night Russia formally agreed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Remember Kyoto, that agreement designed to reduce global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions? The one established a whole seven years ago. Of course, there are still a few abstainers. The 'western' countries yet to put pen to paper are those industrial giants of Liechtenstein and Monaco and some bit players you've probably never heard of: the United States and Australia. And hadn't Australia negotiated to actually increase its CO2 production, yet still they won't sign. Let's hope those 125 enlightened signatory nations can get this long delayed show on the road, even without these 4 laggards.
::Kyoto Protocol [by
WM]...
He shows you how to live green with style. We show you how to live green with style. Could Danny Seo be a long-lost TreeHugger relation? The eco-stylist who’s editor-at-large for
Organic Style is fast becoming a Martha Stewart for the young, green crowd. A few years back......
Kevin Kosbab’s interest in design and architecture developed while serving tea in a building designed by Arne Jacobsen. Lots and lots of tea. In a parallel universe, Kevin’s work as a book editor has taught him to disarm an angry alligator, leap out of a building into a dumpster (properly), and perform numerous other tasks he’s sure he will someday find essential. After several years in the UK and a stopover in Michigan, he lives in Philadelphia....
Furniture finishes that don’t release fumes are great, but creative green finishes are even better. 1Earth 1 Design offers a torched wood finish, which entirely eliminates the need for chemicals. Rather than striving for a smooth, glossy coating, the torched finish accentuates the......
Reisenthel Accessories’ Easy Bags are a really excellent solution to the paper vs. plastic conundrum—just bring your own. We love how they fit right into a shopping cart. They are a Euro design, however, so the scale may be slightly smaller, German shopping carts being proportionate to German markets, and not the mega, ultra, giant shopping zoos we have here in America. At the very least, they wouldn’t overwhelm your cart.
::Reisenthel [by
MO] ...
Green Map System is showcasing a decade of eco-cultural mapmaking at its first New York exhibit, "Vibrant Communities: Green Maps of New York and the World." But just what is a green map? They are locally created maps that chart the natural and cultural environment of an area. By illuminating the interconnections between the natural and......
The Alvis chair, designed by Terence Conran, reminds us of an Alvar Aalto classic that went to deconstructionist camp. Conran's delightful, geometric piece has a beautifully crafted comb-jointed, solid-oak frame and is upholstered with natural linen. Like all
Benchmark items, it is made with FSC-certified wood. $1,350
::Benchmark [by
MO]...
It’s easy to simply say that GM foods are scary and dangerous, or that their impact is threateningly unknown, but when confronted with the “Golden Rice will feed starving children in Africa” argument, you’ve got to have a handbag of facts to hurl back. That, or one solid videotape.
Deborah Koons Garcia, Jerry Garcia’s last wife, has done good with what she calls her “Jerry money”, and produced......
Recycled glass tiles are only the start of Livingreen’s line of surfaces. Their Vetrazzo countertop and bathroom surface uses more than 80% recycled glass waste – made with a process that allows reuse of normally unrecyclable tempered glass, even old traffic lights might find their way into your kitchen counter. Also on offer is Bamboo Ply flooring, which uses rapidly grown bamboo as an alternative to hardwood and contains low amounts of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds.
::Livingreen [by Kevin Kosbab] ...
Kim White took her time machine way back in the day to the land of vintage car textiles to find the motor-licious materials from which she makes her fabulous handbags. Take, for example, the Wheat Basketweave satchel--made from a 1975 Buick Skylark--a vision in retro-ness that manages to avoid being kitschy. (Can you believe they upholstered cars with this stuff?!)Even the 1983 Camaro is perfectly charming--and, thankfully, with no hint of a mullet in sight. $180
::Kim White Handbags [by
MO]...
Q. What in the US uses a whole one dozen power plants and costs more than a billion bucks annually? A. All those tiny glowing LEDs and associated standby activity in your microwave, cordless phone, TV, DVD, etc. The US EPA estimate that a whopping 75% of energy used in the average home comes from appliances that are thought to be......
Launched earlier this year, U.K.-based Enamore's M.O. is to create contemporary clothing from pesticide-free hemp-based fabrics and recycled materials. We definitely (amore) their street-savvy, bio-smart designs.
::Enamore [by
MO]
Check our
earlier post on re-branding hemp....
UK furniture designer Roy Tam’s definitely in our good books. We loved his
writing desk and we love his Bow hanging shelves, too. A shelf so shapely and so elegantly proportioned is a rare find. The sustainable, fast-grown ash......
The Saka Unfur yoga bag is, well, very unfurry. The limited edition bag, made from Italian faux fur, is meant to suggest the yogic principal of
ahimsa, or non-violence, and the idea that peace begins with compassion for all beings--including yourself and Gaia. So just smile in an enlightened way when they ask you if you're carrying your Flokati rug to the cleaners. Thanks for the tip, Michele W! $58
::Saka [by
MO]...
Forget yellow snow, now it's green. Northern Winter approaches. Fluffy stuff falls from the sky. Time to get those boards and planks out of the attic. Obviously backcountry skiers and boarders are human powered but what about resort revellers? In an innovative SkiCool partnership, Smugglers Notch, Vermont and NativeEnergy will sell you a Green Pass, so your lift assisted fun has neutral impact on the climate. Calculated to offset carbon dioxide pollution from lifts, snowmaking and grooming, and travel, you pay a bit extra on your ticket to ease your conscience. Now that
is Cool.
::SkiCool [by
WM]...
The materials in this love seat were carved about 100 years ago. The knife marks from the original craftsman are said to be still visible. Reclaimed from wine casks of Californian wineries these quartersawn, white oak staves are straightened, using steam, to create a line of heritage rich furniture. Available with leather upholstery, the one shown here instead comes with Hungarian hemp covers, over a wool and natural fibre coil sprung seat. The oak is finished with a hand-rubbed shellac. $6,320 for the hemp model.
::Whit McLeod [by
WM]...
I like to buy flowers. Actually truth be know, I'd much rather give flowers. Buying them makes me edgy, unnerved. Having opted for largely organic food in my diet, I have reservations about other agricultural crops, which are not organic. I simply cannot hand over my money, without wondering about all the synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides etc. Are they still on the flowers, have they contaminated the soil and ground water, have they been absorbed by the farmers, or maybe even the florist handing them to me? Fortunately someone has been eavesdropping on my ruminations... ...
A barrel over Nigara? What about a shampoo bottle down some whitewater rapids? Walden Kayaks are made mostly from recycled HDPE plastics, such as also found in
milk bottles. They figure that over the years they've diverted over 600 tons of the stuff from landfills. Specialising in... ...
The Green Apple: Coupons for Natural Living in NYC is a coupon book for New Yorkers. Its mission? To prove that living an organic, natural and eco-friendly lifestyle is indeed affordable. And to help you make it more so. Though you have to buy the book to get the coupons, it also doubles as guide for resources throughout the city and features relevant articles. Plus, the 200 discount coupons redeemable at all kinds of stores, restaurants, and fitness and yoga centers appear to be worth the price tag. If you don't live in the Green Apple, don't fret--nearly 150 of the coupons can be used online or through mail-order. Books are available Nov. 30, but you can pre-order them now. Thanks for the tip Andrea! $19.95
::The Green Apple [by
MO]...
We like him for his acting and we love him for his activism. Sitting on the Board of Directors for Friends of the
High Line wasn’t enough for Edward Norton, oh no. He’s also spreading his greenness to the other coast with a plan that lets celebrities help low-income families in Southern California get cheap solar power for their homes.
Norton, a Trustee of the
Enterprise Foundation since 2000, negotiated with that organization,
BP , and the
Environmental Media Association to create the BP Solar Neighbors Program. For each celebrity who has......
This Emeco Navy chair, manufactured in the same way since 1944, is equally comfortable in a prison, a submarine, or your home. Individually sculpted by hand in 77 steps. $370
::RetroModern [by
MO] ...
Hip yet casual clothing with style that speaks for itself from
Stewart+Brown is inspired by nature, sustainablilty, and the business practices that make those things happen. Their clothing is made from organic cotton and fine Mongolian cashmere, which is culled from a co-op that help nomads in the region sustain their centuries-old practices. One percent of Stewart+Brown's sales profits are donated to non-governmental, environmental associations. Wide neck crew, $98; Shore hat, $80.
::Pangaya ...
Japanese electronics company Pioneer has apparently developed a biodegradable DVD, which is a cool idea, because, let’s face it, now that you want to slit to your wrists for buying that last
Terminator movie, it would be safer for everybody if you could simply let it fade away. However, the biodegradable material is based on corn starch (
genetically-modified corn make us nervous, keep reading). But Pioneer says the material could be cheaper than the polycarbonate that DVDs are currently made from. Although the bulk of the disc will be biodegradable, the data layer will have to be recycled separately. Pioneer expects the discs to be on the market with a year or two, but the idea remains controversial......
Demolishing buildings to make green space releases dust into the air and
produces huge amounts of waste - often it's more environmental to work
with what you've already got. New York's taking that route with its
plans to turn a stretch of Westside Manhattan elevated track, unused for
nearly a quarter of a century, into an "agri-tectural" public open
space. It's like the Jetsons, only greener. Landscape architecture firm
Field Operations, together with Diller Scofidio + Renfro architects, has
been announced......
A decade ago, a respected German outdoor gear company decided to put its money where its mouth was. Instead of platitudes about doing 'good' for the environment they got off their butt and made something happen. It goes by the moniker of Ecolog. Working hard with many component and fabric suppliers, vauDe put together a palette of materials, which allowed their designers to fashion garments, which were 100% polyester. That's the fabric, zippers, snap fasteners, labels, thread, cords, cord grips, etc — the whole shebang. This totally homogenous product, such as the Womens' Lhasa II shown here, could then be recycled (just like a PET bottle) to make more ......
Jed first met Edgar Lopez at a mid-summer birthday brunch our mutual highschool friend, Liza, threw for herself. It was at a pretty little doll of a garden café in downtown Manhattan and Edgar, the long-locked Mexican Adonis, was wearing nothing more than a pair of white overalls and a tan. Now, Jed is a straight......
Yikes! Bikes and trikes. What's with Treehugger's fascination? Probably because the single largest contributor to atmospheric pollution is surprise, surprise: motor vehicles. And according to various estimates 250,000 people die on the road every year, with 10,000,000 more injured. And yet the world has maybe 4 times as many bicycles as cars, (some estimates as high as 2 billion!) with 1 billion persons being classified as utiltarian cyclists. That should speak volumes for itself. Humankind has yet to invent a means of transport that is more earth and people friendly or emission-free as a pushbike. Munch a half decent breakfast and lunch and you can cover maybe 140 km (87 miles) a day. No electricity, oil, gas, hydrogen or batteries required. ...
Now we've been pushing up the profile of bamboo a bit on this site. With good reason, of course. But we wouldn't want you to think that we were grassist. We like other stalky stuff, as well. A recent arrival on the design scene is sorghum. A residual from alcohol and molasses production. The stalks of this grain are compressed, washed, woven into engineered building sheets and marketed under the name of Kirei Board. Bonded with heat and a formaldehyde-free adhesive it can be had in sheets and planks is 3 different thickness' for cabinetry, flooring and paneling. Costs begin at $7 per sq. ft. for what appears to be a very versatile plywood substitute.
::Kirei [by
WM]...
Aussie designer Gabriel Scarvelli makes beautiful clothes. But we’re not just talking about his intricately beaded dresses and tops that have made him a fashion darling. The man also has a conscience and a soul. Wherever possible, the designer uses natural fibers and 98% of the dyes he specifies are organic... ...
"The Cardboard House is a direct challenge to the housing industry to reduce housing and environmental costs." So says architects Stutchbury and Pape, and the Ian Buchan Fell Housing Research Unit at University of Sydney. This partnership designed and constructed one of 6 pre-fabricated homes for an exhibition entitled "The House of the Future" to celebrate The Year of the Built Environment. It is made of recycled cardboard, with a waterproof......
The Peel chair by Stokke, along with its footrest, has a half-open back cushion and height adjustable neck support to give users the ultimate in comfort and movement. Designed to enable you to recline and support you without slipping forwards or backwards by gently altering your body weight through different sitting positions. It’s not *totally* Treehugger by design, but the wooden base and frame are made from sustainably forested wood and can be specified unfinished or finished with wax or oil. We like it. Thanks for the tip Nick!
::Designs for Comfort [by
MO] ...
The Rainforest Alliance, original pioneer of the concept of certified sustainable coffee, and Italian espresso magnate Lavazza have gotten together to help farmers in remote villages in Colombia, Honduras, and Peru to improve their quality of life along with the coffee they grow. Believing that good farming practices can produce top quality beans, better prices for farmers, sustain rural communities, and help conserve the rainforest all at the same time, the duo is helping to guide coffee producers with farming, training, and capital. Farmers will learn how to protect wildlife habitat, plant trees, combat pests without dangerous pesticides, rebuild houses, replace inefficient old mills with modern machines that use far less water and control pollution, compost organic wastes, implement worker health and safety programs, and plant protective buffer strips along streams. A lot of work for a good cup o’ joe. But luckily for you, all you have to do is buy it and stir in some sugar. Look for Tierra!, the new line of coffees that Lavazza will market in honor of the program, which will be available soon. Via
Sustainable Business ::Lavazza Tierra! [by
MO]...
Under the Canopy, an online retailer of clothing and accessories made from organic fibers, offers clothing and footwear for men and women, baby stuff, and bedding. All of the items are made from natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, linen, wool--even bamboo and soy. None of the fibers used is sprayed with harmful pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers. TH admits you’ll have to sift through a few dull items to find the gems, but they’re in there. We especially like the 180 Ecofashion line of T-shirts, like the one seen here, which is made entirely from organic cotton and retails for only $28. Also: UTC can soon be found at select
Whole Foods markets. Via
MetaEfficient ::Under the Canopy [by
MO]...
Slumming, but don’t want to give in to the McDynasty? Truth is, these won’t taste like the best of the worst (read: best) junk food, but for frozen French fries, Alexia Oven Crinkles are damn good. What would you expect from the same chefs (yes, they are chefs) who had the smarts to create Terra Chips so many years ago? Oh, and they’re Organic, too. Organic frozen French fries…think about it…something must be going right in the world. 15 oz. Bag: $2.49
::Alexia [by Tamara Holt]...
Hands up if you have a old bike in the garage gathering dust? Wouldn't it be better off making dust? Like allowing African school kids and low paid workers to hoon off down the dirt track, independent of expensive taxis (some households spend 25% of their income on transport). Or assisting women to collect water and firewood without them being the real beasts of burden. Or allowing HIV/AIDS awareness educators and volunteers to reach remote villages. Programs like Britain's
::Re-Cycle want your dusty old push-bike, so they can achieve such worthwhile outcomes....
Just like a fingerprint. Each one a total one-off. Never to be repeated. River rocks drilled out to make vases. What a concept. Take a rock out of the water so you can put water into a rock. Individual colours, patterns, shapes and sizes, each one hand crafted by that patron of all creative souls — Mum Nature. Down side? Well, if mail ordering then freight might be steeper than normal.
::Ecobydesign [by
WM]...
The Brume shower, still in its conceptual stage, was a submission into the Coram Sustainable Design Award international contest, hosted by the Dutch bathroom products manufacturer, the theme of which this year was bathing. Designed by
Dawn Danby, Vishnu Hoff, and Paul Waggoner of Ontario, Canada, the shower, unlike most of the designs it competed against, could be retro-fitted into existing showers to make them more efficient. The success of Brume comes from the designers’ awareness that showers give people that warm fuzzy feeling—they realized that comfort was paramount to the showering experience and that trying to modify people’s behavior would be more difficult than redesigning the existing system. ...
So, you wanna buy Fair Trade coffee, but there’s just something about those sealed bags of beans that makes you seriously wary of what’s inside. Packaging on eco-friendly products can be a touch too colorful, kinda papier-mache crunchy and seem to me to be…I dunno…unprofessional. The fear: That these well-meaning......
Although shopping is fun, the reality is that new green products, on their own, aren't going to get us out of the jam we're in. But new thinking just might. Last year Ezio Manzini and Francois Jegou, a couple of Italian visionaries, co-ordinated a......
