From cars to artwork, clothes to radios, everything and anything is starting to become eco friendly, and now baby feeding chairs are no exception. The Australian design company, Belkiz, has just released the ‘Feedaway’, a baby feeding chair made solely of cardboard. Feedaway is portable, light, easy to fold up and eco friendly – it’s made from Visy cardboard and is 100% recyclable. With a three point harness for added safety and conforming to the Australian Safety Standard Framework developed by the Infant and Nursery Product Association of Australia, we are predicting all homes will be out with the plastic chairs and in with the cardboard Feedaways very soon!
picture source: www.inhabitots.com
content source: www.inhabitots.com
With now over four billion people earning under $1,500 per year, US design company HOMErgent has decided it’s time to design a home with the poor’s needs in mind. This has come in the form of a transportable, pop-up hard walled tent called the Flexayurt, which provides users with water, power, lighting and sanitation needs. The tent is also so environmentally friendly with a function that automatically harvests water and energy resources. HOMErgent are hoping that Government Aid Agencies and NGOs may take the Flexayurt on board in the near future. To find out more, visit www.homergent.com
picture source: www.homergent.com
content source: www.homergent.com
If you really want to clean up your act regarding your excessive water usage, then Trendspotting has found the perfect innovation for you, in the form of a bathroom mirror that is ever so in your face. Designer Jin Kim’s Earth Mirror is lit with LEDs powered by the flow of water in the sink pipes. The mirror acts like a chart, and as you use the taps, it breaks down your water consumption into daily, monthly and annual use. If dark colours appear around the rim of the mirror, you have exceeded the reasonable amount of water consumption for the day. If this isn’t enough to guilt you into changing your water ways, pictures of polar bears and ecosystems pop up around the mirror, and other things that are affected by our water misuse. Yet not only does this invention tell you if you are a water waster, it allows one to act on this problem – the Earth Mirror has a control installed that lets you choose the amount of water that’s allowed to come out of the tap every day. Perfect!
Picture source: www.picocool.com, www.yankodesign.com
Content source: www.picocool.com, www.yankodesign.com
It’s time to really rethink the way we recycle plastic bottles. Although there are all those wonderful recycling bins, we can now go one step further, in a way that not only helps the environment, but helps our ironed shirts. The Rethink, conceived by US designer Xuan Yu, is a hook with two threads – and here’s the catch, one must do a bit of work to use it – drink two bottles of water (which is healthy anyway). These empty bottles are then screwed into the threads and there you have it – your own environmentally friendly-ish hanger. “By the concept that reuses empty plastic bottles, I try to present to consumers a realistic idea to address environmental realities and encourage the reuse of already ‘consumed’ items to form a functional product,” Xuan Yu says. And we’ve found a big bonus- Rethink hangers are a lot more effective than the flimsy wire coat hook in keeping your clothes’ shape!
Picture source:www.rethinkconcepts.com, www.likecool.com
Content source: www.rethinkconcepts.com
If we were asked to make a cup out of one piece of paper, we’d say it cannot be done. Yet not so fast everyone, Shamrock Cups are in the post production phase of creating an extremely effective eco-friendly cup, and yes, they are created from only one piece of paper. Made from renewable and recycled bioplastics, the cups are biodegradable, unlike their fellow plastic pals which dominate the cup world at present.
The best part – there’s no separate lid, and so there’s no top to fall off and therefore no liquid flying everywhere. However what we love most is that the Shamrock Cups are made using the art of Origami, through folding the top part of the cup together, forming the secure ‘lid.’ And with a sipping hole at the fold rim for coffee as well as a punch out straw hole, who knew this ancient Japanese tradition could be so useful in saving the environment?
For more information, visit www.shamrockcups.com
Image source: www.shamrockcups.com
Content source: www.shamrockcups.com
It seems many have started latching onto the need to create a more ecologically sustainable environment – and this includes the design and manufacturing business, Impecca. The US based company, which specialises in Audio Video products have thrown away man-made materials in this case for one of their new designs – recently releasing a keyboard, mouse and a set of headphones all made from bamboo. However not only do these Impecca products provide a more eco friendly way to type and click, it’s also without a doubt aesthetically pleasing – a nice sight compared to the plastic office phone, folders and chairs surrounding your work cubicle. Just watch out that no hungry pandas are about...
Click here to find out where to buy Impecca Bamboo products.
Picture source: www.treehugger.com
Content source: www.treehugger.com, www.impeccausa.com
We’ve all been there – running frantically around from café to café trying to find a power point before the laptop dies. Never fear. Take a look outside, German innovator, Julene Aguirre-Bielschowsky has created our new best friend, the Sun Station. This extremely helpful and ecologically friendly innovation uses solar power to create energy, which in turn charges any electronic device. And the best part? It’s free for the public to use – so don’t need to buy that unwanted sandwich or coffee at the café just to use a power point! Soon, The Sun Station will be popping up in public areas – parks, train stations, bus stops and town centres, just to name a few. Your mobile and laptop will never die!
Made of concrete and teak wood, this ingenious piece of furniture is powered purely by solar energy, so use the Sun Station to charge your favourite technology the greener way.
Picture source: www.julene.de, www.ecofriend.org
Content source: www.ecofriend.org, www.renewablepowernews.com
In a time where society is becoming more and more conscious of the need to become actively eco-friendly, so too are many designers. This includes the Spanish design studio Bel & Bel. “Recycling is no doubt our starting point,” the team says, who are now combining “reused materials… to make objects such as furniture, lighting, appliances… and other utilities to build sustainable housing.” This is evident in the studio’s handmade leather chairs, which are created by combining parts of old Vespas – primarily the bike’s front and leg shields. The beautiful little Italian bike, known for its negative impact on the environment, is now being recycled- converted into furniture and art. Call it what you will, Bel & Bel’s Vespa chairs are contemporary, comfortable, and keeps the environment in mind.
Source: www.ecoshopper.net
