All posts filed under: Things for the Planet

Designy Things Holiday Gift Guide

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Here are some designy gift ideas for your holiday season, from a snowflake you can cuddle to pencils you can plant in the garden. Jellycat Holiday Soft Toys Jellycat arguably makes some of the most adorable plushies in the world, combining the softest materials with a small smiling face that brings personality to all types of everyday objects and animals. Designed in London, this snowflake ($30.00), Christmas Tree ($40.00), or potted Poinsettia ($48.00) can adorn a mantle or work as a festive table centerpiece. Available through the MoMA Design Store. Embroidered Holiday Ornaments Designed in London and handmade in India by a team of master embroiderers, these ethically sourced fabric holiday ornaments are made through the traditional technique of “zardosi” (sewing with gold), historically used to decorate the most luxurious of courtly finery. Ornaments in the collection include Claude Monet, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Frida Kahlo, and Vincent van Gogh. $16.95- $18.95. Available through the MoMA Design Store. Taste Collection by Paola Navone The Glass House design store offers an exclusive design collaboration …

Toff & Zürpel Beeswax Wraps

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Toff & Zürpel, a Dresden-based brand that designs natural, and reusable beeswax wraps, is now available in North America through AMEICO. An alternative to wasteful one-use products such as cling wrap and aluminum foil, Toff & Zürpel beeswax cloths bring a colorful touch to covering salads, cheeses, cut fruit, veggies and more. Toff & Zürpel beeswax cloths are made of bio-cotton, regional organic beeswax, traditional pine resin, and fair trade organic coconut oil. The wraps are water repellant and are available through AMEICO in four sizes and three color schemes. The wraps come with a natural beeswax soap bar which can be used to clean the wraps after use and as a general kitchen or hand soap. A starter kit including four different sized wraps sells for $40.00 and the soap sells for $13.00. All images courtesy of AMEICO.

LA Urban Farms Vertical Garden Growing System

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Founded in 2013, LA Urban Farms offers a vertical garden system which can grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and edible flowers, with no gardening experience necessary. These space-saving vertical gardens only require 30 inches of space and use aeroponic technology which grows plants in an air or mist environment without the use of any soil. The reservoir at the base holds nutrient-rich water, which is pumped to the top of the garden, showering the roots of all the plants along the way, without the use of any harmful chemicals. All the seeds used by LA Urban Farms are 100% organic and non-GMO. The gardens are made from FDA food grade-approved plastic, and can help earn LEED points. The gardens also use 90% less water than conventional gardening, because the water is being recirculated in the system until the plants absorb it or it evaporates, and they use 90% less space because they are growing vertically. LA Urban Farms offers gardens in a variety of sizes, from smaller sizes perfect for growing fresh produce at home, to …

Kickstarter Things: RE.BIN Recycling Bin

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Paper bags are so versatile. They can either be the arts and crafts project or the thing you put under the arts and crafts project. They can be reused several times before ripping, are easily recycled, and when folded up properly don’t take up that much space. Unless you go shopping every week, which people tend to do. Then they start accumulating in an unmanageable pile, (which is particularly troublesome in small apartments) and you just want to switch to plastic (but you really don’t). So isn’t it brilliant when someone develops a new way to use up those paper bags while also recycling other garbage as well? Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, RE.BIN is a paper grocery bag shaped bin designed to hold your paper bag as a liner so that you can easily carry out the trash when it’s full. Made in the U.S.A. of 100% recycled plastic, RE.BIN is designed specifically to help save space in smaller, urban apartments. Recycling garbage in recycled bags supported by a bin made of recycled garbage – kind of the ideal sustainable product. Images …

Dopper Reusable Water Bottle

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Dopper founder and CEO Merijn Everaarts felt compelled to develop a new type of reusable water bottle after watching a documentary about the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” that is roughly twice the size of the U.S. After holding a design competition to find the perfect reusable bottle for drinking water, Everaarts selected a design by Delft Univeristy of Technology alumnus Rinke van Remortel. The bottle comes apart to be easily cleaned and features a built-in cup that also doubles as a stand. The original version of the Cradle to Cradle-certified water bottle is made of polyproplyene (for the bottle and the cap), ABS plastic for the white cup, TPE for the sealing rings in the cap and the cup, and Bisphenol A, a plasticizer that may leach from its material and enter the food chain. A steel version of the bottle, which will be available in a few months, replaces the polypropylene with steel and does not contain any Bisphenol A. The bottle is produced in Holland with a net zero carbon footprint. 5% of …

Banana! Nendo Designs Packaging Design for Minion’s Favorite Snack

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Nendo was recently asked to design the packaging for Shiawase bananas, high-quality bananas grown on a plantation in a national park located in the north-central region of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Grown using only organic fertilizers and adhering to the strict restriction on the use of pesticides, the produce became the first bananas to be awarded with 2 Stars at the International Taste and Quality Institute (iTQi) Superior Taste Awards in Belgium. To keep things as simple as a banana’s natural packaging, the Japanese design firm decided to steer clear of boxes or packing material, and instead applied stickers to the surface of the banana peel. The double layered sticker has a top layer that replicates the textural feel and colors of the banana peel, even down to the lifelike bruises and discoloration. When this top layer is peeled off, the second sticker reveals a description of the banana’s origins upon a background the color of banana flesh. Nendo also designed a paper carrier bag designed so that when the string handle is removed you can easily pick out the …