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.

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.

i wonder how the votes break down by gender.

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.

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".

Here's another "Old Faithful" story:

60 years, 1 toaster

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.

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.

Tim,

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

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

No problem, honest mistake.

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.

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.

"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.

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).