One of the main principles of permaculture is that “the problem is the solution.” Problem: tons of waste cups created by attendees of the OutsideLands concert in San Francisco. Solution: a fabulous recycled cup canopy. BIOS Design Collective tapped a keg and invited their friends over for a canopy party, building a gorgeous wave of concave color at Stable Cafe just in time for Architecture and the City.

Read the rest of re:Use Canopy Upcycled from Plastic Cups by BIOS Design Collective

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: aiasf, beer keg, BIOS, Canopy, eco-art, OutsideLands, Recycled Materials

Zombie chair! Out for your wood scraps! Oozing sawdust and pure carnage! Designer Hongtao Zhou, who we found  playing with ice, decided to get Holiday on a broken, abandoned chair he found on the streets in Madison, Wisconsin. The result: chair of the undead, risen from the swamp and demanding the chance to sit in your living room looking creepy. Zhou created the drippy effect with wood scraps and sawdust (and probably some monster blood and glue). Expect this chair on your front porch Halloween night, demanding all the sweet linseed oil you can muster. Happy creepy chair night, everyone, happy monster night.

+ Hongtao Zhou

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "green furniture", environmental art, furniture design, halloween, Hongtau Zhou

Capturing the usually short-lived moments of a blooming bud, environmental artist Richard Solomon’s Seed Orbs encapsulate Goat’s Beard seed heads in glass balls. As an artist, Solomon has worked with plant materials for 20 years — attempting to highlight their beauty while expressing the mystery of nature. Solomon makes the Seed Orbs by first collecting Goat’s Beard buds around the mountains of the northern Mexico, then as they are ready to bloom, he places them in the orbs, leaving them to bloom inside. The effect of the blooming Goat’s Beard bud in the glass is soft and delicate, leaving us to admire the diffused light and wonder at its ability to elicit ideas of mysticism.

+ Richard Seed Shaman

via GreenMuze

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: blooming buds, environmental art, plant art, plant material art, plant seeds

Through the end of August, the Museum of Arts and Design is hosting a weekly evening of good drinks, food and art on Thursdays starting at 5:00 PM. Big fans of pay-as-you-wish admission to museums, the Inhabitat team went on the first night. As we wandered around the museum, we were easily enamored with the objects on display. And then we wondered — in an eco-world, are these objects responsible? What about functionality? Is creating something just for the sake of looking at it, a waste of resources? So this week, we’ve been scouring for designers who have a knack for creating objects that inspire us with great curiosity, but are created with eco-responsibility.

Designboom has us wondering how many components you can subtract from a chair and still make it structurally sound with Timothy Lile’s Less Chair.

Designsponge inspired us with the simple rustic look of these lamps by Zeke Leonard.

Atelier29 talks about a tree trunk bench that proves any tree trunk can become seating — in fact, Jurgen Bey only sells the chair backs, ready to be installed into any tree trunk.

Design Milk features the Barnacle Chair, a comfy chair perfect for small spaces, made of reclaimed industrial felt and sustainably-harvested ash.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "lighting design", Decorative Objects, furniture design, museum of art and design, Recycled Materials

Dutch artist Geke Wouters has created a stunning collection of paper-thin bowls made from carrots, peppers, beet root, leeks, tomatoes, and other vegetables. Each delicate piece of edible art is made using a proprietary drying and forming process that converts organic materials into the paper thin layers, giving you the sense of a microscopic view into their intricate cellular structure. True to their natural materials, no two of these vegetable bowls are exactly alike.

Read the rest of EDIBLE ART: Biodegradable Bowls Made From Vegetables

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Art, Biodegradable, bowls, dried, dutch design, edible, geke Wouters, Green Materials, mossi, Netherlands, vegetables

Not since the advent of the tin can telephone have we seen such an ingenious use for cast-off cans! Designer and recent graduate of Northumbria University Jack Bresnahan has created a set of nine lids that will turn any ordinary can into an industrial-chic container that looks like it came from a museum store. Made from biodegradable plastic, the sterile-looking white lids will transform a can into a vase, soap dispenser, sugar caster, tea and coffee canisters, toothbrush holder, money box, or desk organizer.

Read the rest of Clever Lids Convert Tin Cans Into Stylish Containers

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Bresnahan, can, container, graduate student, industrial, ingenuity, lids, New designers 2009, recyclable, repurposed, tin can

Inhabitat is happy to report that Dwell on Design, the west coast’s largest modern design event, featured more smart green design than ever before this year. When we walked the floor yesterday with Dwell Publisher and President Michela O’Connor Abrams (and the carpenter and designer from HGTV’s Carter Can show), it was clear to see that the majority of the companies showcasing their products and services at the three-day festival are paying a great deal more attention to sustainability than in the past. We guestimate that about 80% of the companies there were promoting some kind of green story – in a varying shades, of course. Read on for our highlights from the show!

Read the rest of Dwell on Design Features More Brilliant Green Design Than Ever

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: dwell on design, green design, hgtv, modern design, sustainable design

Talk about bringing the outdoors in! This Chaise Lawn Chair is perfect for citydwellers who want that fresh cut grass feeling without the hassle of a full lawn. Designed by Deger Cengiz, the lounger is sure to elicit a chuckle from your friends. And if you really want to show them a good time, cart them around and take full advantage of the human transporter (wheelbarrow) functionality. Note: It is not recommended for use on stairs.

Read the rest of Living Lawn Chaise is a Grassy Human Transporter

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: best chairs on broadway, chaise lawn chair, deger, green chairs, green seating, voos, wheelbarrow chair

When we first saw this living, growing Garden Chair we quickly found ourselves captivated by its whimsical nature and perfect union between pure green design and functionality. But don’t be confused. What looks like something straight out of Narnia, is in fact the product of an ingenious method of tree shaping developed by a couple of artists at Pooktre!

Read the rest of LIVING FURNITURE: the Pooktre Tree Chair

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable furniture", garden chair, growing furniture, living furniture, Pooktre, tree chair

Grey skies got you down? Turn to Simon Enever’s very clever Ella umbrella stand to brighten your home and remedy those rainy day blues. This rather elegant new age umbrella stand uses rainwater from your umbrella to feed thirsty grass and adds a fun spot of green to your foyer.

Read the rest of Ella Umbrella Stand Grows a Garden in Stormy Weather

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: ella, rainwater, simon enever, umbrella, umbrella stand

If you’re looking for unique home accessories that are environmentally friendly and have a clean and elegant design quality, you’ll want to check out Corque’s new collection crafted with – you guessed it – cork! From the fun Rolha candle holder which allows users to turn old bottles into candelabras, to funky Topography placemats, which bring rough terrain to the table, their “Designing Living Objects” line truly showcases the versatility of cork.

Read the rest of Renewable Cork Eco-Furniture and Accessories by Corque

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "green furniture", cork furniture, corque, eco furniture, portugal, renewable furniture

Looking for the perfect hostess gift for summertime soirees? Jill-able Fill Me Up Vases are cleverly designed, eco-friendly vases that will add a magical flair to organic floral offerings. Jill-able vases are recyclable plastic bags that stand up straight when filled with water. After they have held and displayed a bouquet, they may be folded, stored flat, and re-used time and again. The convenient portability and cute design patterns of these vases are only rivaled by their affordability, at $8 each. And if you happen to be named Jill, like our fabulous Editor-in-Chief, bestowing this namesake gift becomes an even more unforgettable way to leave your mark.

+ Jill-able Fill Me Up Vases $8/each

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco-friendly vases, jill-able fill me up vases, jill-able vases, jillable vases, plastic vases

Philadelphia-based design team MIO has upped the ante for end-user creativity yet again with the introduction of their first LED light fixture. Called Trask because it can switch from being “track” or “task” lighting, the function of this ingenious flatpack lighting system is completely up to you! The modular units can form everything from desk lamps to linkable suspension lights, giving this eco-centric product the option to snake its way across your entire room.

Read the rest of Transformable LED Trask Lights from MIO

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "flat pack", "philadelphia design", "powder coated", "suspension light", "task light", customizable, icff 2009, LED lighting, trask

Would you believe that this eye-catching lamp was made for under one dollar? ‘Sleeve’ by Sara Ebert is a lampshade made from a Salvation Army sweater and a discarded apple juice bottle. Showcased as part of Pratt’s ‘Design for a Dollar’ exhibit at ICFF 2009, ‘Sleeve’ was crafted with an eye toward minimizing energy, labor, materials, and transportation costs and waste. It’s beautiful, smart, and straightforward–exactly the way good design should be.

Read the rest of Sweater ‘Sleeve’ Lamp by Sara Ebert

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: design for a dollar, desog for 1 dollar, eco design, eco lamp, economic design, found object design, green lamp, Pratt Institute, recycled design, sleeve lamp, sleeve light, sustainable design, Sweater 'Sleeve' Lamp by Sara Ebert, sweater lamp

If you’re looking for some tongue-in-cheek, slightly ironic wall decoration, look no farther than Cardboard Safari. The Charlottesville–based e-tailer draws inspiration from nature and relies on sustainable and recycled materials to bring their designs to life. Each cardboard animal is laser-cut for precision and flat-packed to make shipping easier and less wasteful. In addition to their signature ‘trophy’ heads (bison, deer, moose, and rhino), Cardboard Safari offers full-bodied animals and specialty pieces like hearts (for Mother’s Day), trees (for the holidays), and skulls (for Halloween, we hope). Each item is made from recycled cardboard and arrives with assembly instructions (part of the fun is putting together the puzzle).

READ MORE AT INHABITOTS>

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: cardboard safari, cardboard taxidermy, cruelty-free taxidermy, sustainable home decor