Oh Mexico I'd sure like to go

When I think of Mexico I think of chilis, margaritas, beer - all the wonderful, edible delights that come from a vast country of culinary styles. I do not think of contemporary, sustainable furniture design - at least not until now.

According to the website, Pirwi is a Mexico-based home furniture brand committed to high quality, green manufacturing and good design. Founded by industrial designers, Emiliano Godoy and Alejandro Castro in 2007, today's collection includes over 70 objects by 12 designers and features cutting-edge pieces as well as award-winning designs now considered classics of contemporary Mexican design. 

With a set of Cubos modular bookcases (flash site *sigh* go to Pirwi and click the product selection) made of Birch plywood who needs a closet at all? I'm seeing a sustainable display case for my shoes!

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew

Forget the closet. Get a Green Home

Who knew? Philadelphia seems to be the East Coast hub for eco-friendly homes. According to an article by Patrick Pullen in the March/April edition of Arrive magazine, Philadelphia's Greenworks program is an ambitious plan to transform the city into the greenest city in the US by 2015. 

Goals of the program include:
- Lowering city government energy consumption by 30%

- Reducing citywide building energy consumption by 10%

- Retrofitting 15% of homes with insulation, air sealing and cool roofs.

- Purchasing and generating 20% of the electricity used in Philadelphia from alternate sources.

Several companies are helping. Postgreen purchases 18' x 60' infill lots in the city and creates the 100K house, a 1000 square foot, 2 story, 2 bed/1 bath home built on a budget under $100,000. Greenable is a purveyor of eco-friendly building materials. With a design studio in Old City since 2006, Greenable recently expanded into a 3,500 square foot space in Northern Liberties stocking eco-firendly cleaning products, composters, worm bins, paints, countertops, backsplashes, flooring, denim insulation, bamboo plywood, windows, lighting and more. BluPath Design is an architectural firm that has been designing green buildings since 2003 and works in partnership with GreenSteps eco-consultancy.

These are just a few of the companies proving going green is good business.

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew

Are emails green?

A new school year means tons of email and the dreaded email attachments.

In a recent Mother Jones article by Keira Butler posted on August 9, 2010, the author discovered, "...that sending an email attachment of 4.7 megabytes—the equivalent of about 4 photos taken on a point-and-shoot digital camera—creates as much greenhouse gas as boiling your tea kettle 17.5 times." 

The basic issue involves the sending and storing of data in email attachments. 'Steve Duplessie says, the important lesson is, "Data is physical. When you have a million copies of the same thing, that's a big problem."' We are sending & storing so much data that the servers are sucking massive amounts of energy.

The good news is we have less need for attachments with virtual sharing through sites like Flickr and YouTube, servers are more efficient and newer technologies allow servers to share the workload.

Keep your emails green. Think about every attachment you send. If it isn't absolutely necessary, don't do it. Post the info once and share the link.

Happy new school Year!

--till next week Restore, Recycle Refresh & Renew

Broken Brolly Follies

I've always considered the start of school the start of a new year so I like to have a good closet clean out at the end of the summer. This year I've found a plethora of broke brollys (umbrellas luv). I've been thinking about how to reuse them and I have had a pretty interesting idea which I had hoped to get to for my Etsy shop this summer, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I'm not going to tell you what it is so you will have to stay tuned;)

Featured in Springwise Newsletter on May 12, 2010, I did find an excellent umbrella re-use project and it is even local to me! Recycling Zychal is a Philadelphia based company that gives broken brollys new life as doggie rain or bad weather coats, kitty catnip toys or human hoods. According to her site, Taryn Zychal hand makes each item and donates $1 to the Morris Animal Refuge for each broken brolly she receives as a donation to her company. 

Environmentally friendly and animal responsible what more could you ask from the brolly that gave her life for you to save that Burberry trench;)

--till next week Restore, Recycle Refresh & Renew

Asos Green Lounge

UK online fashion retailer Asos launched an eco-driven section on their website on February 19th. Asos features the latest trends and celebrity looks - a bit more sophisticated and mature Forever 21.It is one of my favorite sources for that bit of something different. Sign up for their email newsletter and enjoy a real treat. They sell internationally so don't fret if you don't live in the UK.

According to their blog: "...THE GREEN ROOM will fill you in on all the latest stories from the real people behind your favourite finds on ASOS.com. We'll be asking the brands who sell in THE GREEN ROOM and anyone who plays a key roll in bringing you the latest fashion that support people and the planet.

SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTALLY AWARE BRANDS – features amazing labels that promote people and planet, from Swedish Hasbeens much-feted ecologically prepared, natural grain leather footwear to the hotly anticipated Emma Watson for People Tree collaboration.

ASOS.COM OWN LABEL – We launched our first Fairtrade cotton jersey pieces back in December, here you'll find an ever increasing number of own brand creations designed inhouse by our super designers and suppliers - there will be some basics but well be dropping a few styles with a twist on site - search 'FAIRTRADE' onsite now - don't miss out! (check out the fab Chrissie Abbott designed tee). The Fairtrade status of these products ensures that the cotton farmers have been paid a fair price for their crop. Each farming community also receives a social premium that they invest in social projects such as building schools and hospitals (see one of our next blogs for commentary directly from the Fairtrade Foundation)

BEAUTY– a range of products that pamper without using any ingredients that are damaging to the environment - and of course your skin! Includes well-known brands such as Cowshed, This Works and Neal’s Yard. Lush!"

Ahh another reason to practice retail therapy online and feel good about your choices.

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew.

New Year, New Decade, New Green

According to "16 Eco-Fashion Predictions for 2010" by Jasmin Malik Chua, posted 01/04/10 on ecouterre we will see continuing interest in Sustainable and Green Fashion products.

From Manufacturers analyzing supply-chain impacts to become more efficient and increase profit margins, to Designers using increasingly better sustainable raw materials and processes, to Consumers doing more with less - voting with their dollars for more sustainable products, purchasing less quantity and more quality and reusing, repairing and recycling more, all players in the Fashion Cycle will be furthering "going green".

Leaders in the movement will keep a strict eye on social responsibility as well - monitoring working conditions in 3rd world countries, purchasing fair-trade goods, maintaining ethical business practices, etc. will be an integral part of each business or personal decision.

My prediction? 2010 will see "Green" trickle further into our culture. The business side of the industry will continue to find greener processes for dealing with raw materials, waste, production and transportation. As we have discussed in the past, going green is good business with a positive impact on the bottom line. More exposure to 'Green' in the media and popular culture will continue to push individuals to embrace green thinking into their daily decision making process on the consumer side.

New Year, New Decade - A fresh start that is BRIGHT & SHINY Green!

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew