Industrial design lab GR recently launched a clever new product called the ‘Aqua Jar’ that transforms any plastic bottle into an easy-pour pitcher. Formed from biodegradable and recyclable plastic, the attachment perfectly fits the universal coil of any plastic bottle, creating an attractive and sturdy mount allowing for water to be served anywhere with ease. Available in orange, graphite and frost, the Aqua Jar for Balvi was launched as part of the ZOCO exhibit at last month’s Valencia Design Week. Now if only they could come up with something for the orange juice carton!
Incredible LEGO Kitchen Renovation
by Diane Pham, 10/30/09A lot of us can recall spending hours upon hours of stacking colorful Legos into shapes and sizes that tickled our imagination as children. While some of us outgrew that phase, thankfully some of us didn’t forget the charm of the little Lego man’s smile or the amazingness contained within every little block. As Parisian designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti have proved with their chromatic Munchausen Lego Kitchen: you’re never to old to play with Legos!
Pesticides. Genetic-modification. Mistreated animals. It could just about kill anyone’s appetite to hear about all the horrible news about food production. Fortunately, the emerging food revolution focuses on both health and re-establishing the connection between people and the food they eat (making it harder to abuse our food sources). Designers are both leading and answering this shift in interest. Philips Design has begun an investigation called ‘Food Probe’ that looks at current social trends and how this may affect the way that people will eat in the future — and how this will manifest in design. Their investigation includes three parts: a self-contained farm for the kitchen, a nutrition farm and a high-tech cooking device.
The Kitchen of the Future Today
by Lloyd Alter, 10/21/09The kitchen of the future was going to be so high-tech. Frigidaire’s Dream Kitchen of Tomorrow had it all; an IBM punch card recipe file, automatic dispensing and online TV ordering. And that’s not all – read on as we take a look at several extraordinary retro-futuristic kitchens to see how they’ve withstood the test of time.
Found Cutlery Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles
Spanish designer Oscar Diaz has found a new way to rescue our Earth from discarded plastic bottles. In a series called “Found” the designer has cleverly produced a range of super-light flatware cut straight from the bottle. Each fork, knife and spoon assumes the bottles’ shapely angles and curves and feature an ergonomically designed grip that makes them as easy to pick up from the table as any other cutlery.
NEWS ALERT: Sigg Water Bottles Contain BPA!
You know those SIGG aluminum water bottles that eco-geeks carry around with them as a protest against plastic bottles? Well apparently, SIGG bottles manufactured before August of last year contain …
Flow Kitchen Minimizes Waste, Maximizes Sustainability
Oregon-based Studio Gorm has created a complete kitchen in which energy is conserved and cooking waste is recycled and used to grow plants. Dubbed the flow kitchen, the design successfully integrates nature and technology into a system where drying dishes helps water plants and composting food waste helps to fertilize them.
IS IT GREEN?: Clorox Green Works
Launched in January of 2008, Clorox’s line of natural cleaning products, Green Works, currently holds more than a 40% share of the natural home cleaning market. The first year success of their product single-handedly grew the natural cleaning product market by more than 80% in one year by selling Green Works through their current distribution chain in more than 24,000 stores alongside their regular household cleaning products. However the question remains, is Green Works truly green? Critics argue that since no industry standard definitions currently exist for natural cleaners, Green Works is simply deeming itself green against its own standards – a dangerous trend to set. Read on to find out more.
Stackable Lego Fridges Thwart Thieving Roomates
Does it drive you crazy when people stand in front of the fridge with the door wide open, letting all the cold air escape while they decide whether they want soda, oj, purple stuff or Sunny D? If so, these neat and stackable Flatshare Fridges designed by Stefan Buchberger, a student at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna could provide you with some solace. Colorful and customizable in many configurations, each fridge brick is much smaller than a traditional fridge meaning that it takes less energy to cool and less cold air escapes each time you open the door. We love the lego-like look and there many other “cool” reasons that these funky appliances are smarter than the average icebox.
Marieke Staps Soil Clock is powered by DIRT!
Did you know you can power a clock with dirt? Dutch designer Marieke Staps has figured out a way to grow time, instead of killing it. Her soil-powered bio-clock (is that like a biological clock?), showcased at Dutch Design Week in 2008 and most recently at Dwell on Design’s Kitchen Ecology Show last week, keeps time by plugging into mud!
Dwell on Design Features More Brilliant Green Design Than Ever
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!
Sizzling Summer Shop Picks for Eco-Friendly Celebrating
BBQs, frosty drinks, swimming pools and bikinis – these are what summer dreams are made of. With all of the excitement, planning a summer that is both unforgettable and eco-conscious can seem daunting, but Independence Day (that’s next week!) is the perfect time to celebrate and commemorate all of the progress towards a less wasteful life you’ve made so far. Here are a few easy ways to make your summer sustainably stylish – right in time for the Fourth!
Form Meets Function With the Color Changing “One” Teapot
In the market for a new teapot or kettle? This new vessel may be the perfect solution if you’re looking for a functional tea kettle that looks pretty enough to serve from. Vessel Ideation is the creator of this fashionable concept tea kettle, which was designed with both boiling and serving in mind. We love the modern look, the advanced technology, but mostly the fact that it blooms beautiful blue patterns when the water is hot enough. It’s like hypercolor for tea.
Terra Keramik Sustainably Produced Swiss Tableware
Terra Keramik is a Swiss ceramic company that has partnered with glassmaker Glasi, and German handmade espresso accessories company Café Kultur to export their lines of sustainably produced tableware and home décor to the North American market. Their products tend to be pricey, it’s true, but their comprehensive devotion to greening their manufacture is very admirable.
Whirlpool & Elmar Debut Green Living Kitchen
The rules of kitchen design have just changed. Whirlpool and Elmar recently debuted the kitchen of the future at the Milan Furniture Fair, and it’s energy efficient, eco-friendly, and interconnected. Their Green Living kitchen brings together contemporary cabinetry, advanced appliances and systems that work together in a culinary-centered symbiotic relationship.
Glassware Made from Recycled Wine Bottles
Drink and be merry – the bottles you leave behind have a new life ahead of them. The Green Glass Company of Wisconsin takes used and unwanted bottles from wineries and has created a diverse collection of glassware that’s fun and chic. The tops of bottles are twisted off to form goblets while their lower halves are transformed into matching tumblers. No glass is wasted and the process is done with the environment in mind.
Orange Dish Rack Grows a Green Herb Garden
One of fifteen finalists in our Spring Greening DIY Design Contest, Nibha Jain and Srikanth Jalasutram’s “Orange” dish drying rack puts wet dishes to work by using their droplets to water a mini herb garden. Clothes pins attached to one side hold flatware and smaller items while the built in rack is suitable for anything you can throw at it (but the kitchen sink!). The tray has an inclined base which funnels water drips towards a small plant of your choosing, making this an ingenious invention for keeping cooking herbs close at hand. If you agree, be sure to vote for it in our Spring Greening Contest!
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EGGLING: Grow Your Own Herbs!
The adjective cute doesn’t usually cross our minds when it comes to kitchen gardening — but that certainly changed when we saw these egg-shaped containers sprouting green leafy specimens. Called an eggling for the shape of its container, each little ceramic egg is shipped whole — requiring its owner to lightly crack open the top to create an opening for the plant to grow …
VegaWatt: Powering Restaurants WIth Deep Fried Fuel
While there’s still some guilt to be had when indulging in a deep-fried take-out, if the restaurant is equipped with a VegaWatt oil converter you can claim you’re only doing it to help the environment. A VegaWatt machine turns used vegetable oil into clean heat and energy for restaurants, eliminating the dirty and costly mess of oil disposal while producing 10-25% of the electricity needed to run a small restaurant.
La Mediterranea 100% Recycled Glass Tableware
Housewares retailer Owen Lawrence recently made way for La Mediterranea, a line of table top items made from 100% recycled glass. La Mediterranea converts 5 million kilos (11 million pounds!) of glass each year salvaged from Spain’s urban recycling bins into glasses, goblets, vases, plates, and more in a dozen patterns and 15 delightful hues. Designed and crafted in Valencia, Spain since 1975, the process combines computerized manufacturing with artisan glassblowing techniques.
MELAMINE IN DISHWARE: Should we be concerned?
There’s been a lot of talk about Melamine in the news over the past year, with the pet-food poisoning scandal, and more recently, the baby formula poisoning scandal in China. We’ve all read about this, but did you realize …
Beautiful Bambu Outside-In Bowls
We’re big fans of eco-friendly bamboo kitchenware company Bambu, and we’re excited to see that they have recently released a beautiful new line of organic bamboo bowls that are perfect for adding a dose of color to grey winter days. Dubbed Outside-In Bowls, each brilliant little vessel is made from 100% organically grown bamboo that has been coiled and shaped by hand. We love how …
IS IT GREEN?: Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whiskey
These days it’s important to consider the environmental impact of our actions when we buy certain things – gasoline, for example. There will come a time when people realize that everything we consume has an environmental impact, but for now, certain goods fly under the radar. Who knew, for example, that Maker’s Mark is blazing the trail for ecologically friendly distilleries? We caught up with Master Distiller Kevin Smith to get the scoop on the company’s sustainable initiatives.
GREEN GIFT GUIDE: Gifts That Give Back
It’s easy to get “wrapped up” in the holiday giving spirit, but why not think bigger than just your immediate family, and consider giving back to humanity and the planet. It’s a big world out there and there are plenty of people and environments in need. Whether you’re supporting global development by purchasing artisan crafts or restoring damaged habitats by planting trees or saving endangered species, these gifts that give back will make the world a better place.
GREEN GIFT GUIDE: Cheap Gifts Under $20
We’re all feeling the pinch of the economic downturn these days, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still enjoy a little green holiday shopping without spending too much green. Despite what some people think, ‘Eco’ can still be ECOnomical. For many of us here at Inhabitat, this is our first holiday season in a recession and boy do we love a challenge. If you liked last year’s $50 and Under Gift Guide, you’ll be delighted to see we’ve lowered the ante. At less than $20, these gifts are designed for maximum usability and minimal impact on both the environment and your wallet.
OVETTO RECYCLED RECYCLING BIN
Taking the idea of recycling to its logical conclusion, Italian architect, designer and art director Gianluca Soldi presented the Ovetto Recycling Bin, a recycled recycling center, last week at the London Design Festival. Made from recycled polypropylene (the same material used in ropes and carpeting), the bin offers three separate receptacles to make recycling easier and more organized while taking it a stylish step up from those standard blue bins.
London Design Festival: Eco Cooler by DeWeNe
A beautiful and functional piece of kitchen ware, the ‘Eco Cooler’ by DeWeNe (Designs We Need) was introduced at the London Design Festival earlier last week. Cressida Granger, founder of DeWeNe gave a short presentation at London Design Festival’s sustainability hub, Greengaged. In addition to their inspiring Hook & Go trolley, Cressida showed their most recent project, this hand-made terracotta fruit bowl and root vegetable storage pot.
Crackery Crockery: Joana Meroz’ Revitalized Tableware
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure when it comes to Joana Meroz’s beautiful service tableware. Beginning with cracked porcelain ware, the Brazilian/Israeli designer fills each crack with gold luster and then embellishes each piece with decorative self-made transfers, resulting in elegant, re-invented tableware. This creative method of celebrating imperfections and revitalizing “damaged” goods is being featured at the Gr3en Design Reduce-Reuse- Recycle Exhibition which features Finnish, Belgian and Dutch designers. A worthy addition, Joana Meroz’s tableware offers the sophistication of fine dining ware while gaining green cred by keeping cracked tableware out of the dumpster.
Acorn House: London’s First Sustainable Restaurant
In the mood for a night out in the UK capital? Why not try out one of the premiere sustainable restaurants in London! Acorn House is pitched as London’s first truly eco-friendly training restaurant and describes itself as “set to alter the image of the restaurant industry as well as transform the way in which people eat out.” The innovative restaurant employs an excellent set of sustainable strategies including composting and recycling all of its waste, sourcing local and seasonal ingredients, and training generations of young chefs in the finer points of eco-friendly cuisine. These features have led UK Newspaper The Times to describe Acorn House as “the most important restaurant to open in London in the past 200 years.”
Bright Ideas from Buenos Aires: Minimahuella
We all recognize the light bulb as the universal symbol for a bright idea, but we could do without its dismal degree of energy efficiency. Buenos Aires-based sustainable design studio Minimahuella gives the simple bulb a second chance at life as a subtle (but pretty) reminder of what a difference small household choices can make. Their innovative line of sustainable goods is full of a creative gestures that are both brilliant in their simplicity and ripe with meaning.
WASTE NOT lamps made from recycled plastic utensils
The best work on display at New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair this year came from student designers. BVD Collective, a student project from Appalachian State University, proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt by debuting a stunning collection of lighting fixtures made from recycled plastic utensils. Made from 100% post-consumer plastic utensils (yes, that means dirty forks collected from waste-bins), the ‘Waste Not’ line of lamps highlights just how elegant and inspired recycled design can be. The gorgeous Go Go Ghost table lamp (shown above), by Corey Daniels, is made from 121 recycled plastic knives collected over the course of countless BVD group lunches from a fried chicken restaurant.
Reclaimed Wood Housewares by Domestic Aesthetic
It takes more than renewable materials to turn the head of seasoned sustainable design fans. This is why our gaze fell so admirably on the line of housewares from Domestic Aesthetic while making our way through the ICFF this past week. Domestic Aesthetic’s motto “live well, live right” extends beyond their product line into the surrounding community, with social responsibility high on their list of priorities. With a beautiful line of handcrafted pieces, this truly green-minded company is out to make eco-friendly easier for both buyers and manufacturers, and we have to admit that the results are beautiful.
ICFF SNEAK PEEK: Bazzèo Gorgeous Green Kitchens
The kitchen is truly the heart (and soul) of any home so we are always on the look out for future-forward brands that fuse a sleek modern aesthetic together with sustainable materials and advanced technology. To date, European design has led the field, but newcomer Bazzèo by NY Lofts is the first US contender to convincingly woo American homeowners over to the green side. Debuting this year at ICFF, Bazzèo is definitely worth a second look. Even if you’re not in the market for a new kitchen, these mean green sexy cuisines will make you wish you were.
VERTERRA: Dishware Made From Fallen Leaves
While nothing beats reusable dishware for your festive events, these biodegradable plates from VerTerra are a great alternative to yucky paper or plastic dishes. VerTerra (true to the Earth) plates are made from organically-grown palm tree leaves from India. The fallen leaves, which would traditionally have been burned on the roadside, are collected, sterilized, steamed and pressed into plates. The process uses no chemicals, glues or bonding agents, and over 80% of the water used during the steaming and pressing process is recaptured and recycled. Best of all, VerTerra’s plates are 100% natural and biodegradable!
HUSQUE: Recycled Macadamia Nut Bowls by Marc Harrison
We are nuts about Mark Harrison’s Husque homewares made from recycled macadamia nut shells. The inspired form of these fun pieces reflect the material’s origins, and take advantage of an often discarded resource. Harrison developed a special compound that combines the shells with injection molding to create colorful bowls inspired by nature and place. Using nuts, pods and other organic shapes as inspiration, each piece carries with it a natural history of Australia.
LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!










































































































