Green in Medusa

The Pallet Chair - Modern and Green!

We saw this super cool design that designer Nina Tolstrup - Studiomama came up with. Its a simple and elegant and sustainable design for chairs made out of wood pallets. She won Best Contribution to 100% Design for the most creative impact at 100% Design. I went to her site paid 10 Quid (approx $20) and was emailed plans by Nina for the chair. In short all you need is a wood pallet and a handful of screws and nuts. Walking the streets of New York I see discarded pallets all the time and I always think its such a waste. We've often imagined whole neighborhoods built out of the discarded waste from construction projects. Well now to the dismay of my wife I can start bringing home wood pallets! I can't wait to build some of these. They are reminiscent of Adirondack Chairs which are ubiquitous upstate. Will post some pics when I get around to making a few.

Cool Lamps we like...The Coral Pendant

We happened to walk by the Design Within Reach shop the other day and saw these lamps which are part of their eco friendly line. We fell in love right away.The Coral Pendant echo patterns found in nature, these pendants are created using the minimum amount of materials for maximum effect. David Trubridge the designer wants his footprint on earth to be like a sailboat that slips through the water but leaves no trace after it has gone. The analogy is fitting for a designer who holds a degree in naval architecture and lived on a boat for four years, sailing from Britain to New Zealand, which is now his home.  The Coral Pendant arrives unassembled to make shipping more efficient and to reduce the amount of packing materials. Instructions for simple assembly are included and no tools are required. The artist won the Green Leaf Award for his Coral  Pendant lamp, The Green Leaf Award celebrates an artist's ability to inspire and engage the public in environmental awareness and action.

If we're lucky we'll have enough money at the end of our projet to buy one.

Eco-Friendly Furniture Options

In the mean time while we wait for ALL the bids to come back we've had a chance to think about other stuff. About a month and a half ago we saw a great post at Inhabitat about Target's new line of eco-friendly furniture. Well some of it is actually very nice, after this project is over it may also be the only furniture we can afford. Target's new line is Made with FSC/Rainforest Alliance Certified SmartWood,100% formaldehyde-free with 100% nontoxic water-based glues and stains. The furniture ships flat to reduce waste and designed and made in USA!
They also seem ripe for a hack.