HauteGREEN Sneak Peek: Adapt Design's Fresh Look
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 05.17.06
We've given lots of love to Adapt Design before, for their various classic bamboo designs like the Spring Chair and similarly-styled side table. They were even featured as one of The Best of TreeHugger Designers, so we're glad to see they're getting some outside recognition for their fantastic work. The Spring Chair's single bamboo part form minimizes weight and material waste, and its ergonomic design is contoured to the body. The strength and flexibility of bamboo create a gentle rocking action in this sensuous chair. We hear they've got something special up their sleeve for this TreeHugger classic; we'll all just have to show up to see what Adapt might pull out of their hat to improve this chair. ::HauteGREEN and ::Adapt Design
Check out the rest of the Sneak Peek Series for a glimpse at the best in sustainable home design.
OK, OK, I give. Can anyone point me to a blog that gives good pointers to interesting green news & stuff without the love affair with uber-expensive cutting edge designers? I generally try to avoid lusting after stuff I'll never be able to afford in his lifetime.
Ailsa,
Therein lies the problem. It's hard to make new 'green' products cheaply if you obey all the rules.
1) try to make things locally, with workers who make a living wage (can afford to feed and educate their children).
2) try to use recycled and/or renewable materials that are as durable as conventional materials.
3) Try to eliminate toxins and off-gassing.
These are constraints that the mainstream manufacturers don't worry about, because they use cheap foreign labor, use cheap, toxic materials, and make a million items at a time. They have to, because the retailers demand it. Trying to meet green constraints, and make a reasonable profit at big-box store prices is nearly impossible.
Only a few companies such as IKEA, which designs and manufactures their own products, have had some reasonable success at this.
I design, make and sell 'green' products, and I've had to go the route of 'Designer Product', because an everyday product would never sell at the prices I'm forced to set them at. There is nothing I would love more than to be able to sell these at K-mart prices, but I'm trying to obey the rules, and I don't have the demand nor the funds to do multi-million unit production runs.