Combining design and engineering experience that includes Indy 500 winning racecars, composite aircraft, consumer products, and industrial equipment, Scott Bennett's
Housefish now specializes in modern, contemporary furniture. Their newest product, called
Key, is debuting at
CO-Design, a show currently running (through August 25, 2007) at the P Design Gallery in Denver, Colorado, and we like it. We like it a lot. The modular pieces, which flat-pack for shipping, starts with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified maple veneer plywood, which gets a low-VOC finish before being built into one of three configurations: a low, stackable piece, plus one each with short and tall legs to take it off the floor and up to waist height. Check out pics of all three after the jump, as well as more details about some cool modifications coming to the design down the line.
::Housefish via
::designklub...
It's a lot easier to have less stuff and use less space when everything has its place. You always know where everything is, don't have to go rooting around in that random drawer in the kitchen for something you know you have, and won't end up with duplicate kitchen shears or other easily misplace-able items. Such is the idea behind the clever
Shed/Shelf by
Studio Gorm: just about anything (and almost everything) one person needs for a studio or small apartment can fit neatly inside, from plates, wine glasses and other kitchen utensils to shoes, clothes and jackets and even a bench and a reading lamp. When in use, they can be out and handy; when you're not busy with them, things can be tucked away in a compact, mobile (notice the casters) package. Not only handy for storage, it offers an interesting critique/commentary on stuff and the notion of what we really all "need" to live. Get up close and personal with more pics after the jump; plus, is that a turbine-powered lightbulb?
::Studio Gorm via
::Pan-Dan...
How green is your
garden shed? This was the question that the young British Designer,
Sy Willmer, asked himself during the final year of his MA design program at
Göteborg University in Sweden. Taking the traditional garden shed motif found in many Northern European countries, known as a Friggebod in Swedish, Willmer looked at how this generic structure is typically used. From practical storage and work places, to quiet refuges and from humble huts to extravagant architectural garden monuments. This research lead to a design project which evaluated the need for a flexible solution to an ecologically sound 21st century shed. The result is a modular design which Willmer describes as being "placed in the middle to upper end of the current shed market; more than a utility hut but not a bespoke design of building." The main feature of the design is the slanted green roof, the benefits of which include increased insulation, purifying the run off rainwater and encouraging local biodiversity....
Bonnie Alter mentioned the UK eco-garden suppliers
Hen+Hammock last December for their gorgeous bird feeder Christmas decorations. Now that the Spring season has sprung and people are looking to get their green fingers working again The Observer Magazine has directed us towards Hen+Hammock's latest sustainable garden products. We love their organic garden salad seeds, the beautiful cotton, bamboo + wood parasol, the recycled rubber planters and the reused hessian coffee sacks which, they say, can be used for garden waste, potatoes and, of course, sack races!
Via: Observer Magazine :: Hen + Hammock :: Hen+Hammock Blog...
The other day we took some flak for showing a design students concept of a
folding bike. And while we agree it can be frustrating seeing ideas, not actual products, we firmly believe supporting fledgling designers who show a bent towards eco-design can only be a positive thing. A thought echoed by South African designer Ryan Frank, commenting on the state of furniture in the current issue of the UK’s New Consumer magazine, “You can see the design graduates coming up now using reclaimed, recycled and sustainable materials,’ says Frank. ‘They have a better education about such issues now and know they’re important. But consumers will have to be more demanding if the benefits of eco-friendly furniture are going to be seen beyond just small batch production.” However, David Colwell, founder of eco-furniture company
Trannon says, “Conceptual sustainable furniture is important to get the message across, [...] but it could be so much better.” He suggests that designers should also be striving for works which are sustainable, sexy and inviting, give long service, and “minimise the desire for a rapid turnover of styles.” In short, classics. Though he does concede the high price of designer eco-furniture is holding back its broader uptake. A concern we are well familiar with here at TH. [In a related New Consumer piece you can read of
Kresse Wesling, a young Canadian, selling furniture made from salvaged fire hose. A stool goes for £600 (~$1175 USD).]The first article explores further the issues in taking eco-furniture mainstream.
::New Consumer on Eco Furniture....
Much of the push to "re-engineer" business to "streamline for profits" over the last twenty years is captured in the buzz-phrase
Just In Time(JIT). If you were a a business owner, experts urged you to store as much as possible of your inventory in the trucks moving toward your customers from outsourced suppliers, minimizing your own payroll and warehousing costs. A product line manager discovered to have amassed a cache of actual inventory faced dismissal, and so on. As a result, trucks in North America and Europe are, in effect, the warehouse system. Hence, the recent argument that under NAFTA, that Mexican trucking companies should be allowed to bring goods in to the US without transferring. The glue that holds this logistical approach together is comprised of the Enterprise Software System, so-called Business to Business (B2B) linkup portals, and a lot of phone calling and fancy shipping contracts. A seldom acknowledged JIT casualty is the near end of the warehouse full of unsold crap merchandise, dumped via "clearance re-sellers". Those clearance malls along the expressways of America are now most likely getting their inventory JIT, as the retail stores in the mall do. One seldom discussed drawback of JIT is the swarm of half- or mostly-empty trucks driving from supplier to distributor or customers and back; or worse, completely empty trucks going half way across the country to get to the next load. With fuel so much more costly and highways slipping into gridlock, might businesses soon have to go back to classic product designs stored in venerable warehouses? Not quite yet. ...
There is recycling, there is repurposing, and there is good design; few items, even on design-obsessed TreeHugger, combine them all. That's why we love Cristina Covello's Tin Can Storage. According to the Canadian Design Resource, "Emerging with a band of talented designers from Sheridan [College], Cristina has been consistently producing clever and humble work and this shelving unit continues the pattern."
::The Canadian Design Resource...
Last week the Eugene-based bike trailer brand Burley, who we noted back
here, was financially rescued by a local businessman. While Michael Coughlin has brought the business back from the brink of complete closure, it has meant 39 of the 104 staff will not return to work. The company will now refocus it’s energies on its signature line of
bike trailers that help cyclists lug around kids and cargo. Apparently they make about 27,000 of these a year, with 3,000-4,000 currently on back order. The news item we read suggested that cheaper imports had made the bike trailer market exceedingly competitive. Another salient reminder of the benefits of buying local, and not just your groceries. Cheaper and cheaper prices do come at a cost. And that is often born by local communities as jobs go offshore to the lowest bidder of the day. Via
::News Review....
San Francisco-based
Ohio Design has all the right green credentials to get a TreeHugger thumbs up (reclaimed wood, recyclable steel, non-toxic finishes), and, while that's great, it isn't really what got our attention. Their designs are fabulous; subtle, modern and clean, providing equal parts functionality and artistic statement, but that's not what sold us, either. Give up? They use a technique they call PrintFurniture, where the natural wood pieces are graphically enhanced, and it's unlike anything we've ever seen before. Pictured above are three versions of their Sophia Credenza; the graphic overlay adds a whole new dimension and gives the piece a dynamic, artistic quality. Ohio Design has lots of other great designs, PrintFurniture and not, that we'll definitely be keeping an eye on.
::Ohio Design...
Not sure how well this would work in the real world, but we do like the thought process. The In-Lock is designed to create secure storage for your bike when camping, or anytime you run out of street signs and lamp posts to chain your trusted steed to. Twist the corkscrew into the ground (using the provide bar), slip a chain through the eye. (see 'how-to' image after the fold) The blades of the corkscrew are wide enough to resist pulling up through soil. There are numerous ways the lock could be thwarted by determined thieves, but against the casual, light-fingered person it would have some useful deterrent value. Regardless of actual effectiveness, we applaud any move to make cycling a more positive experience. In-Lock concept by
John Wrightson, via
Cool Hunter. ...
Kirei has been on the green design scene for awhile now (we first mentioned it
here) but we have yet to see it implemented in such an elegant piece of furniture. Iannone : Sanderson's Signature 2.0 Console is a showstopper; we really like the way the decorative graphic kirei inlay offsets the modern, minimal design. Looks perfect for anyone with a lonely wall that could use some storage as well. For anyone who needs a refresher on kirei, it's produced through a process of washing, weaving, and then compressing bamboo-like stalks of sorghum, which is often a byproduct of alcohol and molasses production. Definitely resource-efficient, definitely sexy; the only thing we aren't crazy about is the price (US$1,699), which might just be worth it for such a responsible, eye-catching design.
::Iannone : Sanderson available at
::2modern.com via
::2modern Design Talk...
Last week at
Vinçon’s, the Zig-Zag caught our eye. It’s a bottle rack that at first seems just grey but when you get to know it better you realise it’s actually green. That’s because it’s made from Syntrewood, a 100% recycled and recyclable material that’s not only ecological but also low-cost. Syntrewood is a product of the Spanish company
Lasentiu, who use discarded material from urban plastic waste collection (the yellow containers here in Spain) that would otherwise end up as landfill or be burnt. So with 85-90% of Polyolefin (from bottle caps, bags or detergent bottles) and 10-15% paper, board, fabric, PET and aluminium such as from Tetra-bricks, Lasentiu created Syntrewood, a plastic material free from PVC that is ‘water-repellent, unchangeable to environmental conditions and non toxic’. Apart from the simple V-shaped modular bottle rack Zig-Zag that fits different sizes of bottles horizontally, Lasentiu have also designed a series of chairs, component seats, stackable boxes, drawer units and other storage systems that allow for easily assembly and your own distribution. Maybe it is too grey for your living room but will do nicely in any workshop, cellar or garden shed.
::Lasentiu...
For our next act we’d like to welcome to the ever growing TreeHugger stage, the TreeHugger product label. Yes that’s right it is not just about reading or
watching that smooth flat computer screen anymore, TreeHugger is getting physical, you can hold us in your hands and stroke us! We love reviewing all the amazing eco-design work that’s going on out there in the big wide world, but there is no doubt that we are extremely tough critics and when a product is only halfway there TH writers and readers are not afraid to say it. So
Graham Hill, Lord of the TreeHugger Manor, decided it would be a good challenge to design a range of TreeHugger products which conform to our own very exacting standards, i.e. 100% eco-products, or as close as we can possibly get. Graham enlisted the talents of
Petz Scholtus, as his trusty eco-designer sidekick, and they hit the ground running. The first product out of the Hill/Scholtus/TreeHugger design stable is the amazingly tactile StuffBump! StuffBump? Yes
StuffBump - a fantastic and fun storage system which, using a clever die cut pattern, allows a flat piece of material to be opened up and stuffed with small belongings, thus becoming a bump. ...
Eco online stores are all the rage right now, there seems to be a new one popping up every week!
The Natural Store and
Coco's Shoppe are just two we've written about recently. But hey we’re not complaining, the more the better we say, there’s plenty of room for everybody on this world wide web of ours. The key to a successful online store is that it is easy to use and has it’s own distinctive style.
Eco Home is successful in both these aims, using strong colours and sharp images to create an attractive and fun ‘shop window’. The Eco Home Store was recently launched by Jane and Ali who say, ‘We wanted to create a sustainable business that made sustainability fun, neither of us is a lentil chomping weirdy-beardy, but normal everyday people who enjoy life, our friends and home.’ ...
Need a storage device so you stop knocking your bike over in the hallway? Maybe you could do with the cute and curious Cycloc. This plastic bucket (for want of a better description) has two opposing lips that use your bicycle’s own weight to hold it in place. Mounted to the appropriate wall it will cope with different slopes of top tubes from straight racing bikes through mountain bikes to women’s step-through frame geometries. The void in the middle of the Cycloc keeps your gloves, trouser clips, etc, close to hand, while holes in the cylinder allow you to fix a cable lock as well. Made in the UK and available in the red, white, green, and even more interesting for us treehuggers — recycled black plastic. £50 from
Nigel’s EcoStore. More info at
::Cycloc....
The change in seasons is right around the corner, so in preparation for a little spring cleaning, here are some ways to get your stuff up off the floor and organized, TreeHugger style.
1)
Duane Smith's Squat can be handily stacked as a shelf or used as a bench or table.
2)
ReturDesign's Rock-n-Roll Shelf is great for customization and stick any way you want with velcro (thank you NASA!).
3)
Kiri Houndstooth shelves are perfect for displaying that snow globe collection you just can’t get rid of.
4) With
Iola Designs' innovative bamboo shelves and bookcases, form truly follows function.
5)
Max Kistner’s durable, modular Lux-us cubes are lit with a fluorescent bulb and can be used as storage boxes, bookcases, planters, stools (cushion optional), and even as beer coolers....
Well predictably at two weeks into the New Year my resolution to be more organised in 2006 hasn’t quite taken effect yet. Being organised takes a lot of effort, it also means doing things like filing – arrrghhhhh – so boring! So it was with great effort that I made it to the stationers this week to pick up some filing bits and bobs and look what I found!
Schwartz, who do a very smart line in recycled stationary. It was at this point that I forgot all about the filing and began thinking about the aesthetics of filing – my inner designer always wins over my inner organiser! Schwartz is a family run company based in Barcelona. They enlisted architects to design their products with architects in mind, although they useful for everyone. We really like their clean, minimal aesthetic. The folders, files and containers are made from recycled paper or recyclable polypropylene. I was also pleased to note the intro on their website. They are quoting great eco-inspired literature - Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities no less: “Convinced that every innovation in the city influences the sky’s pattern, before taking any decision, Andria’s habitants calculate the risks and advantages for themselves and for the city and for all worlds.” Well if anything is going to inspire me to do some filing that certainly will, I have to admit I haven’t got around to yet, although my new Schwartz files do look very smart sitting on my desk!
::Schwartz...
These "Hive Cube" shelves where designed by Craig Varterian for
Boom Design. The system uses individual storage spaces connected via pins for infinite expansion. An eight cube stack is pictured here but a single Hive Cube can be used as a side table. Boom's wood products comes from sustainably managed forests, and the lacquers are all water-based. The Hive Cubes are available from
Mod Living for $125 or
PlushPod ::
Boom Design...
We received a question from Marcello F. that read
“Does Treehugger know of any companies that make "glass" Tupperware or something to store your food in rather than using plastic? I'm thinking that it can't be the best thing for you when microwaving food in it.” Well, Marcello, good question. We’ve seen a few different websites with information about this “urban legend” if you will and while there has never been any proven incidents that contaminants have posed a serious threat, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration says that chemical components can possibly “migrate” into food from plastics at microwaving temperatures. We say, why take the risk? On Crate & Barrel’s website we found several different types of glass storage containers, some with plastic lids and some with glass. Because there are so many, we’ll direct you to
the main storage container link. We also found a few on Williams Sonoma, but expect to pay a little more. Although we searched, we couldn’t find any recycled glass storage containers that were also microwavable. If you’re still dead-set on using your plastic containers, just make sure they say “Microwave safe.”
::Crate & Barrel ::Williams Sonoma
...
Whether you need to save space, want something more convenient or for aesthetic reasons, segregated bins are worth looking into. There's not much to explain: They are basically bins that are separated, and on one side you can put your recyclables and on the other (usually a smaller removable compartment) you can put your compostables. The three models you see above are from
HomeRecycling.co.uk and go for £17.00 (US$30.50), £71.01 (US$127.40) and £17.00 (US$30.50) respectively, but it certainly is possible to find cheaper ones elsewhere. To get exact capacity and specifications, and to see other interesting models such as
this one and
this one, you can
go here.
::HomeRecycling.co.uk Segregated Bins, via
::HipperShopper...
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the
if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
Twenty-one boxes filled with 7,000 unique seed samples from more than 36 African nations were shipped to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a facility being built on a remote island in the Arctic Circle as a repository of last resort for humanity’s agricultural heritage...
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