I really just want to rename the entire day itself.  How about “Future Day” – since that is what we are really hoping this day will give us.  Or perhaps “Cool It Day”, because cooling the planet down a degree or two could give us a longer future.  There are all sorts of possibilities – “No Impact Day”, “Get Off Your Butt and Make a Difference Day”, “Sustainability Day”, “Do More Day”, “Do Less Day”…  Heck, we could call it “iGreen Day”, which messes with at least two trademarks.  That would get some publicity!

What do you think?  Should we rename it or just rethink it?  What would your name be for today?

Architecture for Humanity

Although a 7.0 earthquake is not insignificant, there is no doubt that the damage and loss of life would have been much, much lower had even the most basic of building standards been met.  Instead, in a country where deforestation and poverty reign, buildings were made out of the cheapest concrete available, with inadequate reinforcement.  Sadly, there is no reason to think this won’t be the way things are rebuilt.  That is, unless organizations like Architecture for Humanity are able to lend their considerable energy and talent to the issue.  To learn more about their plans for assisting Haiti, or to make a donation, please click here.

Stray Dog Designs Haitian Relief Fund

Last week, I received an email from one of my favorite companies, Stray Dog Designs.  It said in part…

As you know, we went to Haiti five years ago for the purpose of bringing work to that impoverished nation. There is no better relief from poverty than a chance for gainful employment at a meaningful wage, both of which we were happy to be able to provide.

In the wake of the recent tragic earthquake we, like the rest of the world, await more information and news of our workers and friends in Haiti. We know that there is a high probability that the building where our artisans worked was damaged, thereby taking their place of work away. We pray that was the worst of it,…

We have set up the Stray Dog Designs Haitian Worker Relief Fund. The money we collect will be used to directly help our workers and friends of Stray Dog Designs in Haiti to rebuild their lives, whatever that means -donating blankets or clothing, acquiring medical assistance, rebuilding homes, or  maybe help relocating to another area.

Those who donate to our Fund will receive detailed information as to how their money is used. Whatever the need, we wish to continue to help the very people we went to help in the first place. In addition, Stray Dog Designs will match $.50 on every dollar raised up to $10,000.00.

What a wonderful opportunity for the design community to have such a direct impact on the lives of those in Haiti.  Please click here to make a donation.

Thank you.

Rachel

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.

Product development company Tricycle tackled this problem by creating Tryk, a process for high resolution, color accurate flat samples, to be used for preliminary design work.  This system cuts down enormously on the amount of material and space needed for samples by carpet companies such as Tandus, Interface, and Shaw.  In the initial design stage, these samples can be used for color and pattern, and can be applied easily to mood boards.  Later in the design stage, an actual sample of the desired carpet can be requested for final approval.

Here is a different way of approaching the sampling problem.  The other day my sales rep for The Woven Company stopped by with their new sample set.  While their actual format hasn’t changed, the box definitely has.  And what a great sample box it is!   Not only is this woven grass container attractive to look at and easy to use, it has the potential for a truly useful life long after The Woven Company has moved on to other things.  A picnic basket, a child’s overnight case, perhaps a place to store yarn for knitting?  I have half a mind to call them up and ask if I could buy a few more!

When the rep dropped it off, it really got me to thinking about how wasteful all those sleek, logo encrusted sample kits manufacturers regularly send me are.  Once the product line is no longer valid, what do I do with the container, much less the actual samples?  I’ve donated many to local design schools, but they will still wind up in the landfill someday.  Wouldn’t it be nice if all these samples came in something useful?

If you have any ideas for great ways manufacturers could provide samples to lessen their impact, or another fun sample container idea, please feel free to share it in the comments below!

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.

Reuse – “to use again, esp. in a different way or after reclaiming or reprocessing”

There is the old, WWII adage – “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!”  To reuse materials and furnishings in design projects can take a bit of ingenuity, but it can be done.  Most often it is either building material, such as lumber, or furnishings that work for reuse.

Recycle - “to process in order to regain material for human use”

There is no word in the world of green design that gets more use and creates more confusion than “recycled”.  Essentially, there are two types of recycled material: pre-consumer and post consumer.

Pre-consumer means the materials recycled are obtained before the end user ever lays a hand on them.  Most commonly it is waste product from the manufacturing process.  An example would be where a glass manufacturer collects all the broken glass from their facility, and then recycles it into new product.  This can often lead a manufacturer to tout their green creed by saying their product has recycled content.  However, many manufacturers already reclaim this waste in order to control raw material costs, so take the time to look at the pre-consumer content percentages for other manufacturers of similar product.  If you see that almost all are the same, then you can judge whether or not the manufacturer claiming to be green is really making any unusual effort in that direction.

Post consumer is what most of us think of when it comes to recycled products.  This is what happens to all those beer bottles you put in the recycling bin after the party.  In fact, glass is a great candidate as it can be almost endlessly recycled.  Not so for plastic, which has a very limited number of times it can be recycled before it becomes too degraded to make additional product from.  Metals, such as aluminum, fall somewhere in between as far as how many cycles they can go through and still maintain functional integrity.  Paper also has a limited lifespan in the recycling world, but it has the advantage of being biodegradable at the end of its lifecycle.

Recyclable – “material which can be recycled”*

Approach with caution!  “Recyclable” is a favorite word amongst greenwashers.  How often have you seen a company touting themselves as being green just because their product is made of recyclable materials?  The word is rendered virtually meaningless because, if given enough time and labor, most things can be recycled in at least some sense of the word.  However, it’s unlikely that most of these things will wind up in any place other than a landfill, or shipped over seas where the labor pool is cheap enough to allow for disassembly.   An exception is when a manufacturer will go to extra lengths to design a product, such as an office chair, to be easily taken apart for recycling purposes.   Still, it is best if products do not require new raw materials in their manufacture, but instead rely on recycled.

Repurpose – “to give a new purpose or use to”

Wine barrels made into flooring, wrought iron gates turned into coffee tables, vintage tea towels turned into curtains,…  The list goes on and on.  One of the main advantages to re-purposing items, other than conserving raw materials, is the significant savings in energy.  It takes a lot less energy to make a vase by cutting off the top of an old wine bottle, than it would to take that wine bottle, melt it down, and then blow it in to a vase.  It is a very simple, efficient method of material use, although labor costs can factor in a bit higher.

Reclaim – “to rescue from an undesirable state”

In the world of interior design, this is most often seen in descriptions of wood products.  So what makes the wood “reclaimed”.  Most of it has been used in structures such as barns or old homes.  Sometimes it comes from railroad ties or packing crates.  Whatever its source though, it is all decades, if not centuries, old and therefore does not require the cutting down of existing forests.  Initially one would expect that this wood would less expensive, since it is salvaged material.  However, there is quite a bit of labor involved in removing nails and other foreign matter from the wood, so that lovely grain you get from reclaimed lumber often comes with a bit of a price tag.

Rethink – “to think about again”

In their ground breaking book “Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things”, William McDonough and Michael Braungart posited that it was possible to rethink the way we make things so that they become the solution rather than the problem.  One of my favorite examples from the book is the idea for a pair of shoes with wildflower seeds embedded in the biodegradable sole.  Over time, as a person walked, they would deposit hundreds of seeds along the way, creating beauty everywhere they went.

Like any profession, interior designers can get into a rut.  We do things because that is the way they have always been done.  Perhaps if we take a moment to look at the problem anew, we can come up with exciting and sustainable ideas that create their own beauty.

Please feel free to offer additional insight in the comments!

* Our own definition, as the dictionary did not provide a separate entry from “recycle”.

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“.

In interior design, more than just about anywhere else, the word also presents a problem.  We are a profession obsessed with color.  In fact, other than fashion, there probably isn’t another discipline that comes close to being as crazed about hues, shades and tones as we are.  So for me at least, the use of the word green for anything other than color becomes a bit tiring.

So what to call this approach to design?  Well, my favorite choice would be simply “good”, or maybe the even more positive “great”.  After all, design should focus on more than just looks and basic function.  Efficient use of materials, non-toxicity, durability and quality should all be things that make for the best design. But we’re not there yet.  Not everyone has embraced these ideas as necessary to “good design”.

“Eco-friendly” really doesn’t cut it either.  It certainly describes a very important aspect of design.  We are doing what we can to “save the world” after all.  But it’s somewhat limiting in it’s scope, and can still bring visions of granola and patchouli to the minds of the general public.

So, for the purposes of this blog at least, I will generally be referring to what I do and discuss as “sustainable design”.  Although not as popular, short and cute as “green”, sustainability is what sets this type of design apart from what our industry has practiced for so long.  It is the conversation we need to have.