Guest poster, Abby Ray,  who used to spearhead media outreach for the Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit organization, wrote this amazing post months ago.   I just found it amongst a series of draft articles.  Time moves so quickly that Abby is now a master’s candidate in the Sustainability Management Program at Columbia University .   Go Abby! (Sorry Abby posting this article took so long.) She also writes a local NJ blog called ecoMotown.com that focuses on eco-friendly living in Morristown and the vicinity.  Welcome, Abby!

When you stop at your local coffee shop to order your large latté, do you ever stop to think about where your coffee beans come from? What about the wood patio furniture you’re lounging on? The flowers you buy for your sweetheart? If you’re like most people, why would you? Those goods are certain to have come from a long way away.

Why should you care about these everyday things? Well, the chair you’re sitting on could be illegally logged, hurting the livelihoods of legitimate foresters and potentially causing massive habitat destruction. That organic coffee you’re drinking? Sure, it might not have been grown without chemicals, but what if the farmer recently cleared a pristine rainforest to be able to grow that coffee? Often times, forests are worth more when they’re gone and farmers can use them to grow cash crops like soy and palm oil – or use them to graze cattle.

You might be thinking now – well, is anything safe? There’s no way I can possibly worry about all of these things. That’s why the Rainforest Alliance has done your homework for you; we’ve made it easy to be a responsible consumer. We’re an international nonprofit organization that works with farmers, foresters and hoteliers, typically in areas of high biodiversity, to help them manage their land and businesses in a sustainable way. We also work with companies in the U.S. and Europe to create connections to those farmers, foresters and hoteliers so that they have buyers for those sustainable goods.

Farms – whether they grow coffee, cocoa, tea, bananas, flowers or sugar — that meet strict standards on sustainability can earn the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. You, as a consumer, can look for that seal (a little green frog) when you’re out at the grocery store.

Rainforest Alliance Certified farms protect waterways, curb deforestation, promote wildlife conservation, reduce agrochemical use, protect workers rights, and provide decent wages and housing to farm workers as well as access to education for farm children.

When it comes to wood, we are the leading certifier of the Forest Stewardship Council, the gold standard of responsible forestry. When buying wood or paper goods, consumers can vote for the more sustainable option by picking something that is FSC-certified. FSC-certified wood can be traced back all the way to the forest, where local and indigenous community rights are respected, workers have safe working conditions and landowners have created a forest management plan to help conserve waterways and wildlife habitat.

And because tourism can have such a huge impact on areas of high biodiversity (like the tropics), the Rainforest Alliance has developed a sustainable tourism program. Right now our searchable database of hotels that work with us on improving their sustainability includes operations throughout Latin America, and we’ll be expanding soon.

I encourage fellow Green Talk readers to vote with your spending dollars! Each time you buy a certified sustainable product, you are showing companies and farmers that you support them for doing the right thing. If you don’t see certified products at your local retailers, be sure to request those products. Businesses respond to consumer demand for certification, which will support sustainable farming and forestry and ensure that workers and wildlife are protected.

Editor’s note:  I have spent an hour on the Rainforest Alliance website. A must read.   If you are a teacher, they have wonderful resources.  I urge you to support their fine work making it possible for generations to come to keep the Rainforest intact.

Logo courtesy of the RainForest Alliance.

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Pictures courtesy of Ellen Forsyth

Re-purpose is the first word out of my mouth when it comes to the 3Rs.  But,  what about unloved books?  Sure you can swap them, leave on a park bench for other to find or sell them.   But creating furniture out them?  Well, this concept tops my list.

Delft University of Technolog did just that.  One of their building, Bowkunde building, suffered a devasting loss by fire, which started in a coffee machine on the sixth floor.   Many of the books were salvaged and used to make the above recycled book library desk.  Why I am not surprised that architectural community at the University would not think of a way to re-use those books?  Architects are out of the book thinkers.

To see a slideshow of this wonderful library, see here.  For a little taste of the recycled book desk, check out the pictures below.

According to a recent Inhabitat article,

“The new library includes collaborative study areas, computer stations, cozy seating, and above all, an entire collection of architecture books making it the ideal haven for architecture students and staff to escape.”

In the Treehugger article, a commenter stated that the books were brand new, which would be very disturbing since I am sure there are numerous old books that could be use.   Just ask schools, especially universities, since it seems their books are outdated every year.  Oh, there are law books from court house libraries that are no longer being used due to the shift to computer generated use.

Yes, sadly, I know of one library that got rid of all their books and threw them in the garbage because they couldn’t find a use for them. No one wanted them. I know. Why not shred them or give them to Corvus Recycling who could shred, de-bind them and ultimately recycle them?

Back to the commenter claiming that the books were new.  To be honest, this makes sense, since I can’t imagine any books would remain after a devastating fire.  I hope that this is not true, but the recycled book desk above  still shows the possibility of  what you could do with your once loved old books.

For more used book related art and furniture, see here.

Images by Ellen Forsyth via Inhabitat and Recylart. Tip via Treehugger.

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I looked at my own unused living room and dining room and think I can live with less space.  A smaller footprint. How many of you use your dining room a couple times of year? How many use your living room at all?

With less space comes challenges.  What do you do when you need the large family dining room table?  Or need extra space to sit when you really don’t want to watch Sponge Bob with your kids?  I literally tripped over  Resource Furniture, the US distributor of the space saving furniture made by Clei as well as a dealer for  iMultifunzione,  both Italian companies, while “surfing” the web the other day.

A new dawn. Check out their hip and functional spacing saving furniture. See how the table went from coffee table to dining table?  This is only the beginning, boys and girls.

Take a look at the below video as the actress unfolds a coffee table to become a large eating table, or when she opens the Murphy bed which is attached to a three person desk.

Each rearrange, pull down, or unfold left me with my mouth wide open with amazement.  I needed to know more about this carbon reducing footprint ala space saving furniture.

Can you customize?

How green is the product?

Who thought up this ingenious idea?

And so on and so on.  Readers, you know me. Lots of questions.

My emails landed in the hands of Ron Barth of Resource Furniture. Let’s start at the beginning.  Think engineer meets furniture designer with furniture. Who else is going to design such practical yet functional and hip space saving furniture?

Rigorous Testing First.

Rigorous testing is done to make sure the furniture is just right. Just to give you an example,  Barth explains,

“[t]he bed systems themselves take a year or more of testing and prototyping and manufacturing and remanufacturing.  The engineering is done but the hardware then needs to be figured out as well. There is a manufacturing process to the hardware and the cabinetry.  It all has to be figured out in concert with one another and all in conjunction with the aesthetics.

It is very, very difficult to appreciate the amount of detail and back to the drawing board there is in making one of these systems.  You design it but the hardware won’t make the grade so you redesign it but the bulk is off as the hardware dominates the design, the hardware is redone and the cabinetry and fittings have to be redone and back and forth it goes.  Dozens and dozens of samples are required until it is really right.

Then it has to be tested and tested for thousands of repetitions.  If it doesn’t work after 2,000 repetitions then that needs to be solved as that is only 6 years of daily use and the life expectancy for the product is much longer than that.  It takes different types of analyses and then more prototypes sometimes, etc. etc. there are products that came out this year that were 2 years in prototyping.”

So how does a couch become a bunk bed. Watch and learn. You remember the orange couch above?

To final product. Tada! Bunk Beds! I told you that this furniture was the ultimate in space saving furniture.

What about warranties on the furniture? Barth states, “[t]hey all come with a lifetime warranty on the mechanisms and 15 year warranty on our mattresses.”

Customization

I wondered if you could customize the furniture for your needs.  Barth explained that you can customize the closets, the paneling, and shelve size and detail.  There are three different wood veneers and twenty five lacquer colors.  Got a custom color. No problem. However, you can’t customize a bed’s mechanism.

So, how much is this convenience going to cost me?

I asked prices for some of my favorite pieces.  Believe me, it was hard to narrow it down to only a few pieces.

Here is the pricing for the Ulisse with desk or dining table or without and with the sofa as well.  The Ulisse basic system is $3,250 in white laminate.  In wood veneer and/or any of the 25 lacquer colors, the unit is priced at $3,950.

If you wish to add the desk or dining table option to the Ulisse, add $950 to the price.
If you wish to add the sofa option , add an additional $2,250 to the cost provide you choose a category 1 fabric.  Note, as you choose different grades of fabric, the price increases.

The headboards costs  $550 in any of our fabrics and the mattresses (starting from $1,250 for memory foam) are sold separately.
There are more mattress options such as a Latex mattress for $1,450 as well as a custom innerspring mattress priced at $1,950.

So how green is it?

I peppered Barth with my usual “what about formaldehyde, FSC woods, nontoxic finishes” banter.  He replied that you can request water based lacquers; however, the chipboard core is E1 not E0, which is contains no added formaldehyde. The wood is farmed, but is not certified. He explained that full certification is an issue with Italian manufacturers.

As for using E1 vs E0, Barth stated,

“E0 material is not readily available in Europe, according to the factory and they were going to have to import it from the US.  The cost was prohibitive and impractical and the overall benefit globally was suspect as transporting a container 4,000 miles wasn’t the most ecological thing to do to obtain E0 material.”

As for being green, Barth made one statement that really resonated with me

“Honestly, my knowledge of the real causes of pollution planet-wide gives me the understanding that buildings and not transportation are the principal sources of pollution globally and macro-ecologically.  So, utilizing less space would be a priority over anything else.”

Why not be kinder to the Earth with a little less space with fully function and very hip furniture?

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I have to admit I am a total sucker for any product made with recycled materials especially the ones made out of products that I thought you could never recycle. Take Green Mountain Ski Furniture, for example, that turns old skis and snowboards into furniture.  Adirondack chairs, coffee tables and coat racks.

Get out of town, Anna.  Old Skis and snowboards?  How about my old snow boots?

Furniture with a Ski Purpose?

Everyone calm down.  Yeah, outdoor furniture made out of old skis.  How exciting is this? In fact, if you have your own skis and want to create a custom chair to remember those days of being on the slopes without a care in the world, and those nights in the hot tub…Maybe I should stop at the care-free snow days?, Anyhoo, the Company can make you a custom chair for your skis to lean back and remember those vintage memories.

Better yet, how about a love seat for the two of you?  Just send them your skis.  Not only will you be saving the Earth, you get 20% off your order for providing the materials.  Where can you get a discount like that for giving someone your old equipment?

As I mentioned above, the Company can make quite a few items from olds skis and snowboards. Don’t have skis or snowboards, but love the concept?  The Company sells may different furniture and household products incorporating old ski equipment.  The base price of the Alpine Ski chair at the beginning of the article is $329.00.

So what products did I like? See the pictures below:

This bench’s list price is $499, but it is on sale at $399.

Check out this can opener with cap catcher! Doesn’t this scream MAN CAVE?  Priced at $39.00.

The coffee table above is priced at $399.

Is it Comfortable?

Actually, this was my first question when I read about their chairs.  I get it if the chair is only for the “cool factor,” or “I love my skis and can’t part with them factor.” (Or I wish I was young, daring, and had all my hair factor or maybe, not sagging to my knees factor…Take your pick.) According to the site,

“Yes…We think so!  Chairs and benches have been designed to not only be an interesting conversation piece, but functional and comfortable as well.  What is the point of an uncomfortable chair?  Our chairs and benches have contoured seats and backs, and we have spent time getting the proportions and sizing dialed in to produce an exceedingly comfortable and professionally built product.  Don’t take our word for it though, find out  for yourself! Stop by the shop, visit us at a show, or order one up and take advantage of the comfort guarantee.  You will be amazed!”

Wow.  A comfort guarantee.  But, But.  What happens if I am too tall or can I leave the furniture outsides?  Gosh, you all are starting to sound like me with so many questions. The Company has an FAQ with lots of answers for us inquisitive, won’t buy unless we research the hell out it types.

Can I make one myself?

This Company has thought of everything.  Want to try your hand at making your own old skis chair?  The Company can send you a DIY kit complete with wood pieces and steel hardware so not only can you reminisce but you can brag about your “I did it myself” chair. (Bragging is perfectly allowed. However, raunchy reminiscing ski trips stories?  Well,  keep them to yourself.)

Just Want to Recycle?

Don’t want a chair and just want to clean out the old basement. Recycle the old blades.  If you are located in Vermont, the Company will pick up your equipment for free. You can either donate it or sell it for a cheap price depending on the condition and age.

Not in Vermont?

If you live in  New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or Connecticut, call them to see if you can arrange a pick-up.  If none of these scenarios works for you, consider, mailing them without the bindings, since the bindings add weight and bulk to the cost of shipping.  As the Company states, “consider it the cost of recycling.”

Oh about those old ski boots, maybe your could make book ends out of the boots?

Readers, do you have any old ski equipment? Would you make a chair or coffee table out of your old skis?

Tip from Charlotte at the Burlington Free Press. I encourage you to read Charlotte’s wonderful article about this Company.  Much more in depth than my story.

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Okay. Before you jump all over me about the use of salmon to make fabric, hear me out.  This product created by ES Salmon Leather is made from discarded salmon skins. When I saw it for the first time, I was salmon struck. It was (and still is) absolutely beautiful.

The idea was spawned (sorry about the pun) from a government grant to find uses for the discarded parts of salmons.  The Company invented salmon leather to re-purpose the salmon skins into usable exotic leather similar to snake skin without the ethical animal treatment issues.

What’s it Feel Like?

This is not your grandmother’s pleather.  Wait!  Was pleather around back then?  Okay, well you got my drift here.   I touched it, and I can honestly say talk about butter.  It simmers, has amazing depth, beautiful feel, and is a must have for those who want the skin-look without the eco-guilt.  (Yes, people call your designers.  Don’t stop at go and collect your $200, just call.  If you don’t have an eco-designer in New Jersey, then call mine.)

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Stiven Kerestegian, CEO of the Company, at the Architectural Digest Home Show  in the Spring.  You can listen to the ES Salmon podcast here or click on the podcast at the beginning of the article.

The podcast is short and sweet but full of juicy details about this product.  (Remember, I love green design  just as much as I love eco-friendly sub-floors.  Both make me swoon at the knees.  If you remembered my piece on the Twin Maples Showhouse and its fab designers  you know how much I admire good design.  Go have a look see after you read this article. Gorgeous designs.)

Are they Killing the Fish for the Skins, Anna?

No.  This is not your fur industry meets fish industry. Nor is the Little Mermaid poising nude on behalf of the fish.  According  to the Company,

“ES Salmon Leather is a noble and versatile material, made by re-purposing salmon skin which was previously discarded by the commercial salmon industry. The leather has some truly unique aesthetic and physical qualities, not only is it tough, it is very flexible.”

The Company has two lines.  One that is tanned with regular tannins which includes chrome and another eco-line which is tanned with plant extracts. However, the eco-line leather line is more earthy in color since the use of chrome creates brighter colors.  Again, a shades of green dilemma.

In both cases, the line is made from re-purposed fish skins, but one uses eco-friendly tanning methods and the other line does not. Stiven indicated during our conversation that he hopes one day that the Company’s entire line will be created using eco-friendly chemicals.

I bet you are wondering what can I do with this exotic leather? The Company show the salmon skins in their picture gallery as place mats, shoes (clogs, yet),  fabric for chairs, and pillows.   Check it out.  The possibilities are endless.

How Tough is this Product?

As Stiven explained, salmons are tough animals.  Look what they have to go through? They are naturally resilient.   If you had to spend that much time in the water, your skin would be tough too.   In fact, Stiven stated salmon skin is tougher than other commercial leathers available.

So, what is this going to cost me (says my husband…?)

How many of you have the same discussion?  You absolutely love something and need it (so you think.) And then comes the question, “how much is this going to cost me?”

Salmon by its nature does not have full width skins.  They must be pieced together.  See here for technical information about how the skins are made into fabric.  When all is said and done, each linear yard is about $100 depending upon which treatments you request.  (For example, if you ask for lacquer to be applied, the price may be higher.)

Upcoming for ES Salmon?

Who needs un-eco leather skirts when discarded salmon skins can be used instead?   The Company would like to venture into the clothing biz.  Before you know it, Gisele Bundchen may be dressed up in salmon walking down the runway.  Discarded skins…

In fact, Stiven  forgot to mention in my interview that  ES Salmon fabric was used in Isaac Mizrahi’s Design for a Living World exhibit at the Cooper-Hewlitt this past year!  Hmm. I think this is a pretty big deal, don’t you?

See Mizrahi talking about his design exhibit in the below video.

So,  move over pleather, here comes salmon leather!

Join the Conversation:

• Would you drape your chair in salmon leather?
• Adorn your bed with one of their salmon/wool pillows?
• How about wear a salmon skirt?

Photos courtesy of ES Salmon.

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Whenever I see anything in twitter about gardening, it is an instant click. P. Allen Smith, gardener extraordinare of the P. Allen Garden Home tweeted about the above vertical wall grid offered by CB2.

And

I love vertical gardens and have a nice brick wall to install this baby.  It is 22.5″sq.x3.5″D and made of steel. Priced at $129  No plastic for this Garden Girl.

Want multiple grids for an amazing look.  See the picture below.

So, now you are thinking, got the grids, so how do I install the vertical garden?  CB2 has you covered. See instructions here.  All you need is a rain barrel and you are set to go.

Tip from Design Milk.

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I can clearly say that I am a airplane brat.  My Dad loved to take us kids to the airport hanger where his airplane was kept. He loves planes.  Personally, I loved the yellow one that had a bathroom in it so I never had to hold my you know what.  (Little kids have small blatters.)  But, what happens to all the decommission planes that no longer fly?

MotoArt uses them to make functional, beautiful pieces that anyone would enjoy–especially my Dad.   According to an article in Singular Los Angeles, for the last eight years, Brad Hall and Donovan Fell, have been creating gleaming aviation artwork furniture from such pieces as propeller blades, engine covers, and MK-84 tail fans. The article further states that these piece range from $100 to $60,000. Watch this video of about the Company and its products.

So tell me these pieces don’t make you fly. I especially like the desk.  How cool are these pieces?

Tip from the Thread Post. (This article is more comprehensive and worth a read.)  So,Readers, do you love airplane pieces?  Check out the dozen or so pieces on MotoArt’s site.Similar Posts:

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Are you forever asking people to bring a casserole plus a chair or two?  Or do you have the proverbial stack of metal or plastic chairs in your basement?  Guilty on both accounts.

FlexibleLove furniture, a honeycomb, accordion structure-type furniture, is not only eco-friendly, it will save your aching back from lugging those chairs up from the basement every time you have a party.   The furniture is made of  readily accessible recycled  materials such as  wood waste and paper and accommodates a variety of different configurations as well as seating for a number of people.

The product line consists of  the Earth 8 and the Earth 16, which seats upwards of 8 and 16 people respectively.  Simply tug at the end to create your own custom configuration.  (See the demonstration video above.)  Come on, Anna. cardboard furniture that can hold the body weight of many people?  According to the Company, the Earth 16 can support weight up to 4233 pounds, whereas the Earth 8 can support weight up to 2116 pounds.  The Earth 8 is priced at $390 and the Earth 16 is priced at $580.

For more information about the designer, Chishen Chiu, see here.

The furniture  can be purchased at the following:

France – Available online at Myfab France
Germany - Available online at Myfab Germany
Italy – Available online at FlexibleLove Italia
Spain - Available online at FlexibleLove Espana
Portugal - Available online at FlexibleLove Portugal
Taiwan – Purchase in-store from CNSense or online via Nordic Design
UK - Available online at FlexibleLove UK
US-please email the company at intl at flexiblelove.com.

The 2010 lineup will include FlexibleLove Virgin 20, FlexibleLove Earth 16, and FlexibleLove Earth 8. FlexibleLove White 16 coming soon.

So forget the plastic and metal chairs and go cardboard.  Eco-friendly, smart and definite a conversation piece.

Readers, would you consider the above product for your next party?

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