As we all know, last week was a tragic one for the people of Haiti, doubtless the most devastating they have ever faced.  And we have looked on from afar with a sense of true sadness, and a driving need to do something, ANYTHING, to help.  The outpouring of donations and aid has been enormous.  But Haiti was desperately poor before this happened, and once the camera images  no longer show up on the evening news to pull our heartstrings, they will likely be that way again.  Unless we hand them lifelines to a different future.  I’d like to tell you about two of those lifelines and how you can help. Read the rest of this entry »

A major dilemma for interior designers trying to lessen their environmental impact is the need for a sample library.  Although people outside the industry might wonder why we can’t just switch to looking at things online, we designers know that is simply impossible.  Above and beyond the desire to have a tangible material in our hands, there is simply no way to render color online that is accurate.  Besides the variation in image uploading and monitor color rendition, is the simple fact that all materials reflect light in different ways, creating color perception issues.  Anyone who has seen a flat vs. a glossy paint sample of the same color can attest to that.  Add to all this the need to see samples for quality control, and the desire to pull samples together during the creative process, and you can see why designers need such large storage spaces!

From time to time I run across some innovative or creative ways to lesson the overall impact of all this sampling, and I though I would share a couple of those ideas here:

Primer from Tricycle, Inc. on Vimeo.

Read the rest of this entry »

Reduce, reuse, recycle…  Reduce, reuse, recycle…  Reduce, reuse, recycle…

When you work in the field of sustainable design, you hear that set of words so often it becomes almost meditative.  Ohm…..

But what do those words really mean when it comes to sustainable interiors?  How do they differ from some of the other “re” words, such as reclaim, or re-purpose?  Why are some more important for one product, but practically meaningless for another?

Allow us to try to help you sort it out.  The following is a list of some of the most common “re” terms used to describe sustainable materials, along with our own notes as to why and when it matters.  (All definitions are from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th ed., unless otherwise noted.)

Reduce - “to diminish in size, amount, extent or number”

There is a reason that ‘reduce’ is the first word of the holy trinity of green words.  It is, after all, the most basic and important concept.  Every time we remove something from it’s natural state of being, there is an impact on our planet.   The less we take, the more stable our planet becomes.

Although designers, by the very nature of what they do, must specify “stuff”, that stuff doesn’t have to be as resource intensive.  Imagine the difference in the amount of material used to make a simple, light weight, wall mounted shelf system, vs. a set of heavy, built-in bookshelves.  This principle applies to every imaginable product, but is often overlooked by both designers and manufacturers as an aspect of green. Read the rest of this entry »

When I first started my company, Path Design, the movie An Inconvenient Truth had not yet made an appearance, and words such as “green”, “eco-friendly” and “sustainable” were just beginning to find their way out of the hippie realm.  Design options were a lot more limited.  When I would shop for clients, and asked a vendor if they had any “green” fabrics, I was either met with blank looks, or was asked something along the lines of “do you want something perhaps in sage?”

These days “green” is everywhere.  From the bookstore to the coffee shop, everyone is trumpeting how green they are. Hundreds of books, blogs and newsletters are devoted to the word and the idea.   And what was once something of a feel good word for a particular approach to design, has now become overused to the point of being, as a friend calls it, “twee“. Read the rest of this entry »