Chic organic designs coupled with cheap Target-style prices? Did you ever think that this was possible? It is now that the king of cheap-chic, Target, has teamed up with celeb eco fashion designer Rogan (of Loomstate and Edun), to produce a new line of 100% organic clothes that are as easy on the wallet as they are on the eye. With cute safari-inspired prints, and prices starting as low as $16.99 for tops, we don’t want to hear any more bitching and moaning about how expensive eco fashion is…Now you have no excuse not to totally greenify your wardrobe.

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Named after one of the world’s most treasured natural wonders, Argington’s new Ayres Twin Bed tucks in your little treasures with the sleek signature style of this next generation minded furniture maker. We’ve featured many of Argington’s modern children’s pieces, but are particularly pleased by this sweet, sustainable, timber trundle bed. Presenting at BKLYN Designs this weekend, the Ayres Twin Bed upholds this sustainably-grounded company’s commitment to beautifully crafted children’s furniture made with the earth in mind.

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We’ve long been fans of Brooklyn green furniture team Uhuru Design. Every year at BKLYN Designs we eagerly look forward to seeing Uhuru’s latest work, from the beautiful recycled scrap wood Stoolen series that we spotted in 2006, to the clever Cutoffs Table from 2007, both of which utilize reclaimed wood as the main design concept. In fact, Uhuru’s most recognizable style seems to be their unique sensibility in finding innovative ways to turn old wood scraps into stunning pieces of contemporary furniture. So, what are we keeping an eye on for 2008? The answer is Bourbon Barrel Furniture. Uhuru will be launching a brand new line of furniture at BKLYN Designs 2008, featuring a chair, bench, table and stool, all made from reclaimed bourbon barrels.

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Tags: furniture, BKLYN, Designs, Brooklyn, NYC, sustainable, design, recycled, materials

Love the idea of wind power, but can’t imagine that a wind turbine on your property could ever be quiet or unobtrusive? Personal wind turbines are the next big thing in wind power technology, and the Swift Wind Turbine is sure to make a splash with its quiet and unobtrusive design. Coming to rooftops in July 2008, this unique design uses an outer ring to diffuse air flow from five blades, minimizing noise to a minute 35 decibels - less noise than generated by whisper conversation. With the capability to generate up to 2,000 kWh annually, Swift is making small scale wind power more aesthetically and acoustically appealing.

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Energy company Sunrgi recently announced an astounding new solar system that will break our grids free from the fossil fuel lockdown. Their Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics promise a low-cost, high-efficiency system with an incredible projected energy pricing of 5 cents per kilowatt. This breakthrough puts solar on par with the cost of coal, natural gas, and other non-renewable energy sources.

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HEY NYC INHABITAT READERS!

Any of you looking for something fun and designy to do this Sunday? Wanna meet the faces behind the Inhabitat blog, and check out some hot green furniture design in the process? This Sunday, at 2pm, in honor of Mothers Day, Jill and Abigail from Inhabitat will be leading a Green Design walking tour at the BKLYN Designs furniture fair - and it is sure to be a lot of fun.

We’re taking a limited number of people on the tour, so if you are interested in signing up, please email us at inhabitat at gmail.com.

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New sustainable furniture company EcoSystems creates cute, family-friendly furniture that is as thoughtful of the environment as it is to the owner. Starting with renewable materials, EcoSystems follows an earth-minded agenda from start to finish, including taking responsibility for their designs at end of its (first) lifecycle, by taking back and recycling their furniture when you are done with it. Did we mention this stuff is super cute and durable - coming in a variety of primary colors and innovation seating/table configurations? Ecosystems will be showing at BKLYN Designs this weekend, and you can be sure that Abigail and Jill will be stopping at this booth during Sunday’s Mother’s Day Green Design Walking Tour >

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Tags: bamboo, furniture, ecosystems, BKLYN, Designs, Brooklyn, green, eco-friendly, zero-waste, design

Wind power holds much promise but often meets obstacles in small-scale application. Enter Engineers Without Borders. Volunteers from this humanitarian group, including Malcolm Knapp and Heather Fleming pictured above, have developed a small wind turbine design that has the capacity to bring much needed electrical power to remote villages in Guatemala and provide an alternative to hazardous kerosene lighting.

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Rain barrels, garbage cans, corrugated tanks… most water collection systems have a problem: they’ve got ugly written into their DNA. An unfortunate evolution, granted that rainwater storage has been practiced for more than 2,000 years. One would have hoped for a more elegant design by now! David l’Hôte’s Rainpod prototype rises to the occasion, pledging to better your battered cans with a simple, sleek design that uses only one operating principle: gravity.

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We have a passion for following future-forward architecture that pushes the envelope of environmental design. Imagine our excitement when we saw these recently released photos of Taiwan’s Next Gene 20! The project challenges 20 acclaimed architects to design 20 villas along the north-east coast of Taiwan. The selected architects include big international names such as MVRDV, Graft, Kengo Kuma, and Julien De Smedt as well as 10 up and coming Taiwanese architects. The designs showcase an impressive array of styles ranging from minimalist modules to elaborate biomorphisms, yet they are all united around the common goal of integrating seamlessly with their environment. These results are the fruit of an exciting cultural exchange, and they provide some cutting edge concepts for the future of architecture.

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Forget Habby and Inhabipuppy, and get ready for the next round of eco-cuteness! Lotta Jansdotter’s adorable sustainable soft toys are the latest eco-apples of our eye with their beautiful color palette, smoothly shaped designs and environmentally friendly composition. The line consists of a blissful green whale, a sagacious herringbone owl, and a vibrant vermillion giraffe, each lovingly crafted by Scandinavian born Lotta Anderson. Her store, Lotta Jansdotter, is named after her daughter Jan, and carries a stunning selection of warm wool knits, playful prints, and pristine stationary. We love Lotta’s modern, natural aesthetic that stems from her childhood spent on the island of Åland (between Sweden and Finland) and her travels throughout the globe. We’ll be getting our hands on these sweet, sustainable toys at BKLYN Designs this weekend, and you can be sure that Abigail and Jill will be hitting this booth in the upcoming Mother’s Day Green Design Walking Tour on Sunday.

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We get all revved up whenever we hear new developments on the fabulously sexy electric Tesla Roadster. We were floored when we caught our first glimpse of this ultra-sleek sports car, and beside ourselves when this amazing electric vehicle started into production. You can be sure that the latest news announcing that Tesla has just opened its first dealership in Los Angeles has got our green vehicle radar on overdrive. Built close to the 405 freeway (11163 Santa Monica Blvd. for those of you living in Los Angeles), the Tesla Store is the first of five stores currently planned to open up in the United States.

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If you have a bike, and have always wanted to ride it to work, get ready to give it a go. The League of American Cyclists is gearing up for Bike-to-Work week, which is running from May 12 to the 16th - just one of many events celebrating May as Bike Month. If cities were designed to have more people using a bike, then perhaps, we wouldn’t have as many problems with congestion and air quality as we have right now. And this initiative is a great way to prove it!

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GREETINGS FROM DESIGNERS & AGENTS!

For the past couple days the NY Inhabitat team has been camping out in the eco-friendly ‘Green Room’ at Designers & Agents, the premiere fashion tradeshow in New York City. Being the fans of eco fashion that we are, Inhabitat teamed up with Designers & Agents this year to help curate the furniture and decor of the ‘Green Room’ - a gallery space dedicated to environmental design, showcasing eco fashion collections as well as green furniture, books and products. The Designers & Agents show is only going on for one more day, so if you are interested in checking out the hottest emerging eco-fashion and design, be sure to stop by. If you can’t make it, be sure to check out our live coverage of the show here on Inhabitat, and our ever expanding gallery of photos from the event >

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We are perennial fans of Brooklyn-based Brave Space Design, and not just because their pieces helped turn the Inhabitat-curated Green Room at Designers & Agents into a sustainable style eco-haven this week. We adore Brave Space for their fresh, fun, multi-functional eco designs that are driven by a “think global, design local” philosophy.

We’ve just discovered Brave Space’s new Light Block lamps, which will debut at BKLYN Designs this weekend. Made from FSC-certified walnut and 3 Form EcoResin, these modern lighting fixtures are definitely on our must see list in Brooklyn this year.

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