image via Yanko Design

Combining the green design communities love for the efficient use of materials with the energy savings of flatpack design, these three dimensional pieces made of a single sheet of recyclable metal are all the rage.

Here we see the Qbik steel lamp, designed by Enrico Zanolla and Andrea Di FIlippo for Miniforms Spa.  With its boxy form and heat releasing perforated top, this lamp has a very modern industrial feel.  But folded metal can also look a bit softer…

Somehow, Los Angeles based designer Brooke Woosley has taken a single sheet of aluminum, and given it lightness of form that belies its heavier nature.  Inspired by origami, the Oru table has a glossy white auto finish top, with a matte blue underside.  The folds are created using a water jet to cut perforated lines along which to bend the metal.

A similar technique of perforation was used to make the folds for the Noshi Stool by Designloop, although here the material is laser cut steel.  Unlike the previous pieces however, this one is in production and available for purchase ($243).  Cute, handy, and very, very durable, the Noshi also comes in grey and black.

Mosaic “wallpaper” by Trend USA

1.  Recycled glass takes only 50% of the energy to produce that virgin glass does.

Oceanside Glasstile

2.  Recycled glass  can be made into any form, color, or shape you can imagine.

Bedrock Industries

3.  Glass is truly recyclable, meaning it can be recycled over and over and over again without losing quality.  Paper and many metals can only be recycled a certain number of times before they become unusable (in their original form) due to contaminants or loss of structural integrity.  Plastic is even worse, as it can only be downcycled, meaning it must be converted into a lesser form from the very beginning.

Stone & Pewter

4. Recycled glass is versatile.  It can be used anywhere that ceramic tile can be used, such as walls, countertops, showers, fountains and pools.  It can even be used for flooring.

Hakatai

5.  Every ton of 50% recycled glass saves 250 tons of mining waste.  Imagine the savings when it’s 100% recycled!

Sandhill

6.  Recycled glass is inert, meaning it won’t affect indoor air quality, or add contaminants or chemicals to the interior environment.

So have I got you interested?  Good!  Now, here are a few more things you should know before you run out and replace that grubby old bathroom countertop:

• The post consumer recycled content of glass tiles can vary anywhere from 100% down to about 30%.  Most companies make the information available to you on their website or in information sheets and catalogs, but if you don’t see it anywhere, don’t hesitate to ask.
• Even though recycled glass takes a lot less energy to produce than virgin glass, there is still a significant amount of heat and energy needed to reform it.  Check with the company you’re considering to see if they have any programs in place to either reduce or offset the energy they use in production.
• Recycled glass is BEAUTIFUL.  That being said, it’s typically made using processes that allow for some flaws, bubbles and other quirks of production, so you should enjoy a little “character” in your tile.
• All of the recycled glass tile companies I have highlighted above are located in the United States, although a few of them actually manufacture in other countries.  If you are in another country and know of a good local source for recycled glass tile that you would like to share, please let us know in the comments below.  I love hearing about new sources for good things.

Judging from the colors for their EMU Re-Trouve line, I’d say so does Coalesse!  Aren’t these seats adorable?  There’s no other word for them.  With their tongue in cheek retro style, these would look at home in just about any setting.

Coalesse also has a handsome, if ghostly, take on classic living room furniture, in the EMU Ivy collection.  Created out of powder coated steel mesh, these pieces are certified SCS Indoor Advantage Gold, and use a minimum of materials in their construction.  The steel is also a minimum 31% recycled content, and is 100% recyclable.

The, ahem, “brightest” idea has to be these great EMU Ivy footstools.  They are designed with a photovoltaic panel in the top that powers 5 LEDs underneath.  With a convenient carrying strap at the side, they can be moved around anywhere you need a little light.  Brilliant!

So are you ready for Spring yet?

All images via Design Artist - Shawn Soh

Artist and furniture designer Shawn Soh has created an enchanting place to tuck away your books and other treasures.  A part of the Design Artist collective in South Korea, Shawn was inspired by childhood memories.

“I remember
That I folded narrow and long paper
And stuck it between the branches of a tree
That memory
Led me to embrace a tree
The tree with books forever chatters
Before I knew it, the books became the tree
In full blossom with sprouting leaves”

Although Shawn’s pieces are usually made of wood, she chose to make her tree bookshelf out of powder coated, recyclable metal.   She wanted to  ensure its durability under the weight of all the books and memories that would doubtless be squirreled away on it over the years.  An added bonus is that this piece is lightweight, making it easy to move around for one person.    Perhaps best of all, since it is attached at the wall there is no need for a wide base, freeing up precious floor space.

Although an adorable shelving solution for a child’s room, this bookshelf would be equally at home in a public library or a retail space.  Heck, even an adult with a fondness for the whimsical (like me!) would find it a pleasure to have around.

Handmade in the artist’s studio, each bookshelf takes a week to make, and can be shipped internationally.  Contact Shawn Soh for more information.

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”.