Wednesday 21 March 2012

ECO FASHION - ECO FRIENDLY PU BOOTS

I have been hankering after some over the knee boots for some time now. I spotted these and thought I would share them as they are vegan and cruelty free and super stylish.  Made from eco friendly PU which is non-toxic raw materials that don't off gas toxic VOCs over their life cycle and better still are biodegradable. DesignerEco eat your heart out!

Check out these ecoCLOSET boot now on a pre-launch sale with 90% off. Quick! Sold in colors grey and black and unfortunately the cream are all sold out! :(  BONUS GIFT though - Click the link to see the full selection and find out more about their free gift for the first 50 purchase -  Exuberance  Beauty's Vitamin C Facial Serum (1 oz deluxe sample value $64)!




They seem to have all the sizing available from 6-11. I'm getting mine now but you better act fast to avoid disappointment!

Sunday 18 March 2012

ECO DESIGN HOTEL - 25HOURS HOTEL HAFENCITY

This Hamburg hotel uses old import/export crates and timber planks to recreate the old world of a shipping warehouse!

Friday 16 March 2012

SOURCING SUSTAINABLY.... 'THOROUGHLY GREEN'

Green Sourcing

We were thrilled to stumble across this Thoroughly Green article by Fabrice Knoll, co-founder, DFKnoll, Paris, explaining his take on what it means to be truly sustainable. His views coincide with ours on balancing the entire story behind the product: the lifespan, the end waste, the maintenance, the logistics as well as the material


Ever since he started working as an architect he has approached “green” sourcing the same way he would for a conventional project.

"After you’ve selected a product that meets your specifications, give it a background check. Ask the pre-selected suppliers where the product is made and assembled, where the primary materials to manufacture it are coming from, how everything is transported, what is done with the waste, etc."

He also notes the importance of having the correct contractors fit sustainable products with the right glues and finishing. We quite agree.

"In the end, sustainability is a holistic process. Green is not just a matter of the final product or material being green, but it is a continuous state-of-mind in the whole process of transporting, manufacturing, treating employees, and at the end of the chain, respecting the client. It all goes together. And, as you respect your product, your employees, and your clients, you have then the satisfaction of being able to respect yourself."

This 'respect' follows right through to the workers who manufacture the product which is why ethical sourcing is so important.

Hear Hear.

For more information or if you would like assistance with sustainable sourcing please call Anna 858 480 6837 or visit www.DesignerEco.com

Tuesday 6 March 2012

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN LAMPSHADES

The great thing about DIY lampshades is that you can pick any fabric or wallpaper or wrapping paper or photos and totally customize.



Here I picked some old vintage children's dress fabric and that I knew would work well in a mixed blue palette bedroom.

So to start, get all your equipment ready!


Cut out the special reflective lampshade paper to the circumference of the shade plus 1/2 inch.

Iron your fabric.

Peel back the protective paper and stick the lampshade paper to the fabric - be careful not to have any bubbles.

Place the tape on the shade and the fabric.

Cut the fabric to the tape.

Peel off the tape backing, add the rings and roll the shade.

Peel off the remainder of the tape backing and fold around the rings.


 Voila! Custom lampshade using remnant piece of fabric.


For other eco lighting options visit www.designereco.com.  Eco recycled fabric/paper lampshades will be for sale on the site soon.

Saturday 3 March 2012

ECO WALLS - WALL TILE

Well there is wallpaper, and there is WALL TILE!  We are always on the lookout for innovative ways to bring texture and character to a room. As a designer I love and feel entirely comfortable with large scale prints and wild colors on my wall but these are an amazing alternative for creating that extra dimension in a sophisticated and controlled manner. As an eco designer I embrace all things stylish, creative and sustainable.  These wall tiles are molded from bagasse one of the world's most renewable resources, bagasse is a bi-product of sugarcane processing and would otherwise be destined for landfill.




I love the fact that you can paint them ANY color.



The wall tiles  work together through an automatic pattern repeat to create large-scale three-dimensional walls of any size and shape.

This is why DesignerEco loves them - they are sustainable and biodegradable and important from a practical standpoint, they are durable.

So how to use them? They can be installed, trimmed and painted with commonly available products and tools. Scraps are biodegradable so they can be recycled with other paper products or even composted in your back garden. They pack economically for efficient and lower cost shipping too.


Paint with natural toxin free Bioshield paints to create a truly healthy and beautiful environment.
 

Visit inhabitliving.com to purchase these wall tiles direct.

Email us for any design suggestions hello@designereco.com.












By the way this blog is independent and we are not paid to promote this - just in case you were wondering. We just get very excited about certain products.



Green-Tree