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TreeHugger "Old Faithful" Contest: Time to Vote

by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 10.27.05
Take Action (events)

vivavi logo.JPGWe want to extend a big thank you to everyone who entered our "Old Faithful" contest, your entries were all outstanding. Over the past week, we had the difficult task of narrowing down the entries to the best three. The three finalists are: Anthony Pagani and his Audi office chair, Kari Banta and her rattan living room set, and Bryan Carroll with his brown canvas wallet. Be sure to check out each entry in further detail by clicking on them (they each have great stories behind them). After reading about these great entries, be sure to vote below for the one you think is the best "old faithful". The entry with the most votes will take home a $100 gift certificate from our friends at Vivavi.


Comments (15)

Well, I voted for the wallet. Who's to say that my grandmother's entire house count' win this contest? While the chair was constructed, it is nonetheless an ugly thing, as is the generic living room set. Eco doesn't have to mean old, or ugly.


What makes the wallet win, in my humble opinion? For one, is it exactly that, so very humble. And who among us still wears things we wore when we were 13 years old? It is a personal item, which has the scars and dirt as the container for money, which also has scars and dirt.

For any other space/design fans out there - the wallet gets my 'Christopher Alexander' vote. For those who don't know who this is, check out A Pattern Language and others. Cheers.

jump to top Jess says:

does it get any cooler than an ancient canvas wallet? i can only imagine it's history-- torn open for packs of 1993 Upper Deck baseball cards, admission to various hardcore concerts and sporting events, the odd flatbread, border customs, etc.

jump to top ben says:


i wonder how the votes break down by gender.

jump to top rc says:

I was hoping to do the same thing for my wallet. I bought a wallet when I was 16 to take to Latin America with me. Up until three weeks, I had the wallet. Then, it got dropped in oil while my friend and I were changing the oil in my car. It's a nylon wallet (so not as treehugger, but I didn't know better when I was 16), and I've tried to wash it out. We'll see if I can salvage it. I'd love to still be using the same wallet in another ten years; it still looks new despite all the abuse I've put it through.

jump to top Leah says:

Yes, the wallet is humble and the chair is a monstrosity. I voted for the rattan furniture because it fits most within the "Old Faithful" criteria. It is old, have been reconditioned, is still in use, and have staved off additions to the landfill. It may not be as stylish or cool (like the chair, which btw has been done before) but it works. Give that chair 10 more years and see if it's still an "Old Faithful".

jump to top anonymous says:

Here's another "Old Faithful" story:

60 years, 1 toaster

jump to top Eric says:

What's with the "the chair is ugly" posts?
I think it looks pretty good, i've definately seen much uglier chairs, and certainly less comfortable ones!

For me, the big reasons why the chair beats the wallet were:
1) most wallets last many years, if not as long as this one
2) the ecological impact of making a few canvas wallets is tiny compared with that involved in making an office chair (say the Aeron chair he might have bought), so the 'treehuggerness' of the chair is much larger - saving leather, foam, steel, etc, both in the manufacturing of a new chair and the disposal of the old chair.

jump to top sheepdan [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

I think these finalist entries all stink -- no offense to the finalists themselves, but I have a hard time imagining this is the cream of the crop of old faithfuls. Or else there was a definite lack of quality entries. You should have included the firehouse lightbulb. I personally would be interested in an overview of the other entries that didn't make the cut. Or are these the only 3 entered? =)
Incidentally I voted for the chair as the least lamest entry.

jump to top tim says:

Tim,

Entries had to be things people had. The lightbulb is just something I found on the internet.

jump to top MGR [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

Ah - so much for my reading skills -thanks for the clarification.

jump to top tim says:

No problem, honest mistake.

jump to top MGR [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

My 2 cents: I am female & I voted for the audi chair. It would have gone to the dump otherwise, which happens way to often to cars. The furniture is a good practical thing, but this being the case lots of people re-use furniture. My parents' furniture was almost totally my grandparents'. And, rather than tossing all the chairs and couches, they have been re-covered 2 times in over 40 years. In my family this is common sense. The wallet is cool, but its tiny, not much landfill space, and one day compostable.

jump to top Alison says:

I wasn't expecting to become a finalist and since my chair has only been created 2.5 years ago I wondered if it would make it. but something I forgot to mention is that the car this seat came out of was 15 years old and had 285,000 miles on it! Now that's where the Old Faithful comes from for me. Thanks for the positive remarks about recycling and the materials I saved by doing so.

jump to top Tony says:

"Eco doesn't have to mean old, or ugly."

Hmm… isn't this the Old Faithful contest. So eco probably does have to mean old in this case.

jump to top mitchell says:

I think each of the entries represents a different part of the concept of "old faithful". Creative reuse, understanding the value of objects beyod their utility, and maintenance over buying new are all things that we can do ourselves.
I'm saddened to see the negativity on this topic. I didn't expect anyone to attack the entries (comments that my living room set is "ugly" or "generic" have prevented me from sending this on to my mother-in-law, who originally commissioned it).

jump to top Kari says:
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