The Re-bag

If I had to pick the "IT" bag for 2007, I'd have to go with the re-usable canvas shopping tote.

Once the territory of only the most dedicated environmentalists, the Earth-friendly canvas bag has had a fashionista make-over several times over (remember the lines for the "I'm not a plastic bag" bag?).

The latest incarnation is a series of canvas bags designed by 15 of the UK's hottest designers. Check out more at NotCot.

While We're Talking about Bags...

Check out this fabulous post from Elsewares that touches on the pointlessness of fancy baggies, true design innovation, and eco-responsibility . It's amazing what a Todd Oldham zipper bag can inspire.

Via AT Los Angeles.

Ultimate Gaming Chair: Recycled Playstation

Technology keeps changing. You can't blink without opening your eyes to find your latest gadget obsolete. But don't feel bad for your out-dated Playstation. It may be resetting itself as a sleek, modern chair.

The "Reese" is made from recycled Playstation consoles and looks surprisingly chic. It will be available for purchase this fall at PLI and Sprout.


Via BuzzFeed.

Tiny Houses

The craze to build ever-larger new homes is dwindling. Maybe it's the new media focus on green living. Maybe we're all just sick of cleaning. Whatever the case, the tiny home is hip. You don't even have to live in a studio in the city to live small. Tiny houses are popping up all over the country.

When I was a kid, I used to go out to the backyard and pretend I had to survive there. I figured out which weeds I could eat. I would build a lean-to out of the scrap wood my dad kept behind the garden. I even made a bow and arrow with some small branches, fishing line, and a few feathers.

In the same way that "surviving" the backyard offered adventurous appeal in the safety of my suburban yard, there's a romantic appeal in the thought of a tiny house. The stature lends a story-book quality to a necessity. You're making the choice to accept the inherent challenge of in living in a small space and making it beautiful.

If you also wax poetic about tiny homes, dwelling on memories of dollhouses and tree-forts, check out Tinyhouses.net. The site offers a gallery of tiny houses straight out of our childhood play-house dreams.

Via Black. White. Bliss.

Fight Back Against Smoking-Belching Vehicles

The next time you are stuck in a Texas traffic jam behind a cloud of stinking black smoke with a car attached to it, you can fight back.

To report a vehicle with dirty smoke coming from its exhaust, write down the license number, date, time, and location where you saw the smoking vehicle. Then call 1-800-453-SMOG or go to the TCEQ site to report the vehicle within 30 days. The vehicle must have a Texas license plate and must emit black smoke for more than 10 consecutive seconds.

Table-less Dining Done Right

The picnic season is fast approaching and dining outdoors is getting a little bit easier thanks to designer Wolf Udo Wagner. Urbana, his light-weight dining set for urban eating al-fresco, is a wonderful alternative to wasteful paper plates or toting around your good china.

Each plate comes with a multi-use utensil which functions not only as fork, knife, and spoon, but also as an integrated handle which turns the plate into a tray. The plates can be turned facing one another and locked with a screw, holding the accompanying cups and utensils inside.

Urbana products are for sale at Simplicitas.com, a Swedish design site; however, when I clicked the “buy” button, I got an “under construction” error. It sounds as though the product will be officially available starting this May.

Via the David Report.

More Creative Recycling

These are repurposed barrels from the Stanker Collection by Motxo Design. They were designed by Francois Royer as a reaction to the culture of relentless consumption. All pieces are handcrafted and range in price from $400-$650.

I love the table second from the left. Those traditional legs look great in blue.

Via Alternative Consumer.

Domino Mag's Green List is Online

Domino Magazine and Treehugger.com have compiled a great list of 125 companies who are making a name for themselves as eco-pioneers. Links below:

furniture
fabric
walls
rugs
renovating
tile
clothing
transportation
traveling
beauty products
bedding and towels
cleaning products
foods

Green Living Goes Mainstream?

This month's Domino and Ready Made have both gone green, and I don't mean Emerald or Kelly green, I mean eco-friendly. Is this the year that green practices and products will finally go mainstream? I hope so and publications like Business Week seem to think so. I've heard so much buzz about the topic, I just had to post on it, even if it's slightly outside of my normal domain.

Green going mainstream certainly a pleasant proposition. Who wouldn't want non-toxic paint on their walls and grapes that have never been sprayed with pesticide? Who wouldn't feel like a slightly better citizen of this planet after choosing a flooring made from sustainable materials? Here's the catch: most of those things cost so much more than the regular, toxic, poison-drenched, unsustainable stuff.

The fact is that organic produce costs more to produce. There's a somewhat limited market for organic cotton yarn and milk paint (i.e. no economies of scale = higher cost per unit). Despite gas prices that have been at historical highs, a hybrid car's additional sticker price costs the average car owner more than the additional gas they would have used with a conventional car (click here if you want to see why). Furniture and building products that use recycled or reclaimed materials often cost a good deal more than conventionally produced products (reclaimed wood vs. new-cut wood flooring). The people who buy these products don't buy them because they are competitively priced or easy to find, they buy them because they care.

But how can we hope to get more people on board with saving the planet if doing so is well out of price-range for the average person? It's a catch 22. As long as the earth-friendly products are significantly more expensive than conventional, there will be low demand for earth-friendly products. As long as there is low demand for earth-friendly products, earth-friendly products will be more expensive to produce.

Green is becoming a hot topic this year because companies like DuPont and G.E. are pushing the U.S. government to implement green regulations. Sure, they're serving their own objectives to some extent, but the end result may be cleaner air and water. And this is one of those few times when a government should intervene in a free-market economy. With subsidies and tax breaks (some of which do exist now) we can encourage the development and production of eco-friendly technology and products that are affordable for everyone.

PHOTOS (clockwise from the top left):
Modutiles cork flooring, $180 for 12.
Ikea's Sparsam energy saving light bulbs, $9.99 for 2
Entwined Root Stool, $149 at Vivaterra.com