Limited Edition Bent Wood Bracelets & Cuffs By Gustav Reyes

One of the standouts at this year's Smithsonian Craft Show (which ran from April 14-17) was the contemporary jewelry of Gustav Reyes. On the Craft Show website, they only show his rings, but it's his limited edition series of coiled, twisted and knotted wooden bracelets that really appeal to me.

The modern and elegant bracelets and cuffs by the Chicago based woodworker are formed by hand using a cold bend process and finished with natural bee's wax. The Cherry, Walnut, Maple and Rockelm woods can be rejuvenated by simply applying more natural bee's wax. Several of the styles are available in multiple wood options.

Walnut:




Cherry:



Rockelm:


Maple:




above photography by Lauren Bost

Prices range from $120 to $320. Available from Artful Home.

"My training and personal development have led me to believe that humans surpass biological processes by creating. The desire to create is the vehicle by which we, as humans, extend our minds and souls beyond the limits of our physical selves."-- Gustav Reyes

As a young man, Reyes attended the Art Institute of Chicago, where his understanding of art was greatly broadened. He also studied at the Chicago Bauhaus Academy, where he developed an understanding of the finer aspects of woodworking. His formal training and years of dedication to his craft have allowed him to find the point where nature breathes through the form.

Vac From The Sea. Electrolux Turns Marine Debris Into 5 Vacuums.

Vac from the Sea is a project initiated by home appliance maker Electrolux, aiming at raising awareness about the immediate need for the world to take better care of plastics and support the heroes that do.



From Electrolux:
The environment is a concern and responsibility of everyone and marine plastic pollution is an issue much too big to just leave to politicians. Electrolux is in the homes of millions and can help raise awareness and affect many consumers. Plastic is the main raw material when making a vacuum cleaner. From a sustainable business point of view, Electrolux relies on an increased global supply of recycled plastic.

A limited number of vacuum cleaners will be made from marine plastic debris – harvested from the Pacific and other sites where the plastic problem is immense.

Below is the "green" Ultraone vacuum by Electrolux followed by 5 of the vacuums produced with the debris garnered from the aquatic environments (individual images below courtesy of inhabitat)





Depending on the local plastic situation the gathering of plastics will vary – from diving among coral reefs, clean-ups closer to shore to scooping up plastic directly from the water surface. The vacuum cleaners that are to be produced from the material gathered will be put on display for the world, decision makers and consumers to see.



At this point, there is no plan to actually sell the units produced. Separating the plastic cocktail is a great challenge and plastics in the ocean tend to act like sponges for other toxins.


The locations where plastic will be collected are in the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

The gathering of material will be documented on their site.

www.facebook.com/electroluxappliances
www.twitter.com/vacfromthesea

The Green Garmento Is 4 Eco Friendly Bags In One.

The Green Garmento is a smart and chic reusable drycleaning bag created to reduce the 300,000,000 pounds of single use plastic bags that fill our landfills and waterways each year.


above right image by Ann Johansson for the New York Times

The eco-friendly 4-in-1 reusable garment bag that helps simplify and “green” your drycleaning routine, is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based couple Rick Siegel and Jennie Nigrosh, shown above.

Lightweight, durable and colorful, the Green Garmento is made from a recyclable, breathable, water-resistant material, making it an eco-friendly, stylish, practical and affordable alternative to single-use plastic garment bags.




4-Bags-in-1
Here’s how it works: at home it serves as a hanging laundry bag or standard hamper, on your trip to the drycleaner it functions as a duffel bag, and at pick-up your drycleaned clothes will be hanging and protected inside your Green Garmento for the trip home – without a single-use plastic bag in sight!

Features:


* Made from breathable, water-resistant material.
* Wide gussets and a side zipper help to keep everything safely in placeand allow you easy access.
* Available in multiple sizes from 40 to 72 inches, and a variety of colors, there’s a Green Garmento to suit every need and lifestyle.
* Like a reusable grocery tote for your clothes that is eco-friendly, stylish, practical, and affordable ($9.99 retail).



The Green Garmento comes in six colors; Green Grass, Black Night, Burgundy Bliss, Blue Water, Red Buttons and Orange Sunshine.

It's a simple and simplifying lifestyle change that's practical, eco-friendly, stylish, and affordable ($9.99 retail).... not to mention helping to cut down on the 300 million pounds of plastic drycleaning bags that end up in our landfills each year!

Buy them here.

Lufdesigns Brings Nature & Whimsy To Efficient & Ecological Design.

Tsunho Wang and his firm Lufdesign began as a product development company in Seoul, Korea in 2002. Wang and his designers have since moved into a conceptual approach, sustainable innovation and new ways to approach branding.


above left: Tsunho Wang of Lufdesign, and right: The infiniti headphones, a recent design concept

Nilfish, lufdesign’s brand, develops various technologcal and organizational products through collaborating with rising designers from outside.

Having received several awards for their innovations and wonderful design concepts like; the melding of a trash can and dust bin, a flying stick camera, the Saver clip which displays the amount of energy being wasted, and a wind-chime that can be programmed to emit data and nature sounds, they are now selling two of their products directly via their site.

The DustPan+Bin and Flying Stick Camera concepts:

The "Saver Clip" concept won them a 2007 Red Dot Design Award:

Concept for the Wind-Bell:


So what have they produced and how do you get them?

The Leaf Tie, a cute and effective way to add nature to the ordinarily cold concept of cable management, actually donates a portion of their proceeds to ecological conservation.



Sold in a pack of 12, the leaf ties are available in six attractive colors and look cute added to just about anything:




The leaf tie has spawned such consumer love and loyalty, there's even a flickr pool for user's photos here.


The Fork And Cream Sauce is another clever cable management design, a large portion of whose proceeds benefit Save The Children.





Both the Leaf Ties and The Fork and Cream Sauce are available directly from their site via paypal.


Lufdesign
121-835, 323, Seoul Design Studio, 3th fl,
DMC HI_TECH Industry Center, 1580, Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel 82 2 3153 7263, Mobile 82 10 2785 3807,
www.lufdesign.com