Bamboo and you in 2011.

Earlier this year, EcoSalon rightly predicted that bamboo would continue making waves in design. It’s not difficult to see why.

As far as materials go, bamboo is remarkable. It grows and spreads quickly without fertilizers, pesticides, or water. It’s not fussy about climate. It’s 16 percent stronger than maple, one-third lighter than oak, and naturally antimicrobial. It also releases more oxygen into the air than similarly-sized plants.

With such credentials, bamboo has cropped up as quickly in the sustainable design world as in nature. In 2012, we’ll likely be seeing even more of the grass. We can also expect more creative uses of Plyboo, a sustainable bamboo plywood already used heavily in architecture and interior design. Produced in China by Smith & Fong Co., plyboo is available in a wild array of grains, colors, and textures, including some that resemble animal prints.

But before we look forward, let’s take a step back. Here’s a look at eight of our favorite featured bamboo products from the past year.

AHeirloom’s Stateside Plyboo Cutting Boards

Pick your state.

Bamboo iPhone Case

With a carving of the iconic Leica M1, this iPhone case is a smart mash-up of high and low tech.

Bamboo Wood Cutlery

Abstract-Modern Bamboo Vase

Clever and vibrant.

Bamboo Bath Scale

A modern alternative to clunky white plastic.

Plywerk Bamboo Photo Mounts

These photo mounts from Plywerk are an elegant new way to showcase favorite snapshots and works of art. Upload your image to their website for a custom mount job, or purchase blank ones for do-it-yourself projects.

The Magistral Cabinet

Designer Sebastian Errazuriz’s Magistral Cabinet, which showed at the Cristina Grajales Gallery this spring, is actually made from bamboo skewers.

VivaTerra Patterned Bamboo Plates

With spring colors and retro-chic patterns, these bamboo plates from VivaTerra are a bright idea in bamboo design.

Image: Pjan Vandaele

The AIGA (Re)Design awards celebrate the best in sustainable design.

On Thursday night, the winners of the AIGA (Re)Design Awards, a competition celebrating the best in sustainable design, were presented at the (Re)Design Extravaganza at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. Underneath a handsome Stegosaurus specimen in the museum’s new Dinosaur Hall, guests could admire the winning work up close.

The (Re)Design Awards were started by the Colorado chapter of the AIGA in 2009, and was from the beginning, designed to be a traveling competition. This year, the L.A. chapter got their chance to represent. Stan Evenson, who co-chaired the competition with his wife Tricia, told me how far he thinks we have come: “As long as 15 years ago or so I remember speaking to our clients about sustainability practices and feeling I was considered slightly left of Communism when I would bring the subject up. Today, it’s very different since designers are more conscious than ever, understanding that our planet is headed on a collision course with nature if we continue wearing ‘design blinders.’ There is no room in our landfills to handle this oversight. It’s a great opportunity to encourage sustainability and social responsibility in our design solutions.”

The competition had two main categories: Environmental Sustainability and Social Responsibility. Within those two, each had subcategories for Individual/Agency, Student, For Profit Corporation and Non Profit Corporation.

Interestingly, two firms sweeped their categories, Method in Environmental Responsibility, For Profit, and SoftFirm Studios in Social Responsibility, For Profit. A handful of the winning entries were clients with “living” in their name (Living Principles, Living Cities, Living Buildings and Living Light), perhaps this is the new buzz word in the environmental field?

Environmental Sustainability: Individual/Agency: 1st Place: University of Hawaii, School of Architecture, Identity System by Design Workshop, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Environmental Sustainability: Individual/Agency: 2nd Place: PUMA Clever Little Bag by fuseproject.

Environmental Sustainability: Individual/Agency: 3rd Place: Living Principles Community Website by Tomorrow Partners.

Environmental Sustainability: Student: 1st Place: Chinese Character Practice Book—No Print Book by Li Xu.

Environmental Sustainability: Student: 2nd Place: Sustainability Guide by Erin Harp.

Environmental Sustainability: Student: 3rd Place: Balanza Verde: Educational Waste Management Unit for Elementary Schools by Alëna Konyk.

Environmental Sustainability: For Profit: 1st Place: Method Refills by Method Products Inc.—In-House Creative.

Environmental Sustainability: For Profit: 2nd Place: Method Greenskeeping Tool Kit by Method Products Inc.—In-House Creative.

Environmental Sustainability: For Profit: 3rd Place: Method Laundry Detergent by Method Products Inc.—In-House Creative.

Environmental Sustainability: Non Profit: 1st Place: Living Light by The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Team Living Light.

Environmental Sustainability: Non Profit: 2nd Place: A Zero Carbon, Handmade Stationery by Luce Beaulieu.

Environmental Sustainability: Non Profit: 3rd Place: GreenBlue Brand Identity by GreenBlue In-House Creative.

The range of entries was extremely diverse, from design students to seasoned designers and agencies. Entries included everything from the design of an undersea monitoring unit that studies decaying coral reefs, to a non-printed book with die-cutting and embossing that teaches the blind Chinese characters, to underwear products and packaging that gives 10% of profit back to charities, uses 100% organic, locally farmed cotton and sources packaging entirely within a 100 mile radius. Other projects that were entered included detergent packaging, a portable and reusable homeless shelter, an identity system for the University of Hawaii School of Architecture and a website for the creative community to share and showcase best practices, tools, stories and ideas for sustainability thinking. There was a fine line dividing sustainability and social responsibility and many times it just truly blended perfectly which made the judging challenging.

“I was impressed by the range of sustainable and socially innovative strategies shown by many of the entries,” says Naomi Pearson, one of five judges faced with the task of selecting winners from a strong set of submissions. “Especially impressive were entries that tackled both environmental (and human) health and social responsibility, given that these two issues are so closely linked.”

As an active practitioner in the field of graphic design, it is indeed nice to see that designers are starting to look beyond recycled paper and water-based inks, and instead looking carefully at the bigger picture. Sometimes sustainable design can be about coming up with smarter solutions and producing less stuff for the same amount of impact. And you don’t have to work for big-name clients like Method to do great, sustainable design.

Social Responsibility: Individual/Agency: 1st Place: PACT underwear by fuseproject.

Social Responsibility: Individual/Agency: 2nd Place: HERproject Toolbuilder by Tomorrow Partners.

Social Responsibility: Individual/Agency: 3rd Place: Verbien “See Better to Learn Better” by fuseproject.

Social Responsibility: Student: 1st Place: Fresh Fest New Orleans Poster by Azu Romá.

Social Responsibility: Student: 2nd Place: Helping Hands Guides by Karen Villalba and Kelsey Anderson.

Social Responsibility: Student: 3rd Place: Cupcaked by Derek Maxfield.

Social Responsibility: For Profit: 1st Place: Living City Design Competition by SoftFirm Studios.

Social Responsibility: For Profit: 2nd Place: Cascadia Programming Guide by SoftFirm Studios.

Social Responsibility: For Profit: 3rd Place: International Living Building Institute Identity by SoftFirm Studios.

Social Responsibility: Non Profit: 1st Place: cause/affect: Make Your Mark poster by Kristen Bouvier and Arvi Raquel-Santos.

Social Responsibility: Non Profit: 2nd Place: Cardborigami, Inc. by Tina Hovsepian (who I got to assist putting up her clever cardboard shelter).

Social Responsibility: Non Profit: 3rd Place: Inner-City Arts Website by Kim Baer.

“The (Re)design Awards competition encourages inclusivity for every level of designer, from student to professional, and from non-profit organizations to for-profit corporations in all disciplines of design including Graphic and Product Design, Multi-Media, Urban Planning, Interior Design, and Architecture, and we believe our mission was successful,” says Stan Evenson. “Bringing this competition from national to worldwide, we were thrilled to have entries from 14 different countries and throughout the U.S., that featured great design thinking with purpose and substance in the categories of environmental sustainability and social responsibility.”

“I decided I wanted to do something to help the homeless,” says Tina Hovsepian about her school project Cardborigami. “It boiled down to the basic human necessity of shelter. I played with materials, ended up with cardboard, played with origami and picked this form that became the shell.” Hovsepian’s school project has since evolved to a non-profit, in the stages of funding. “I really believe that design can do a lot,” she says. “Everything we learn through our rigorous training can be used for good. Green design is definitely the way to go.”

“Thursday’s gala event was all about celebrating sustainability and social responsibility,” says Evenson. “We need to have the wiliness and conviction to make a difference on this planet by doing well, by doing good. And while doing that… take time to celebrate great design thinking for these two critical issues of our lifetime.”

Maybe design can’t save the world, but it can facilitate a great deal of important change, and that power should never be underestimated.

ColumnNatalie Chanin’s bi-weekly column, Material Witness, offers a seasoned designer’s perspective on the fashion industry, textile history and what happens when love for community trumps all.

I found a letter that I wrote some years ago.  It starts like this:

First, I will start with my apology: I am really a terrible friend. I have been ‘absent.’ I have made many people feel as though I did not care. I am sorry; however, if I am really honest, it is not so much that I am sorry as much as I have missed you and missed so many important things in my life.
It has been FULL time. And it will be hard for me to begin to tell all of the laughter, tears, frustrations, joys, moments, days, weeks, years that have happened. I try to find the beginning and the only thing I find is my wish to have you here with me in this moment…

Isn’t that just how life is?  It gets all full and messy and good at the same time.
And isn’t that the story of a really good friend – one who is willing to wait for the story to unfold?

Southerners are renowned storytellers. I don’t know if that is because it gets so hot that we have to slow down and consequently hear more, or if the porch just provides the best venue for recounting tales. Perhaps we’ve just lived so close to the land for so many generations that the stories naturally grew. Whatever the reason, there are libraries filled with sections with titles that cover a “Southern Sense of Place,” “Southern Gothic,” and “Southern Short Story.”

And while many of us are born storytellers, our stories do take time to unfold. We are slow, methodical, practiced in our pace. My father and my son – following in his grandfather’s very slow footsteps – are masters in this art. They take the right breaths, they slowly move from one part of the room to the other. My father can take three days to answer a particular question. I will unexpectedly get a call and find my father simply replying to a question asked days earlier. Sometimes, I have to stop and think back to what actually prompted the question. This was infuriating as a child, “Daddy, can I go to the movie this afternoon with my friends?”

Silence.  It would be like he didn’t even hear me. Perhaps an hour later, he would call me in from outside, “Are you ready to go to the movie?” My heart would skip and it was like a present, wrapped up in a slowly unfolding package that had just been delivered. I would grab my things and go savor the movie.

The writer George Dawes Green provided the best storytelling platform EVER with the founding of The Moth. He started The Moth because he “wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of sultry summer evenings on his native St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, where he and a small circle of friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales on his friend Wanda’s porch.”

I once wrote a blog post about his story “The House that Sherman Didn’t Burn.” This is one of the best Southern Gothic tales I have ever heard. (Keep in mind that all the stories told at The Moth are true.)

My friend, writer, and folklorist, Fred Fussell loved this story but thinks that the audience laughs in all the wrong places – which made me laugh as well. But the thing about stories is this, they are personal: personal for the teller and personal for listener as we are constantly searching for our own humanity within the story. We need that connection from teller to self.  We need to FEEL our friend’s life in and around their words. The beauty of The Moth is that each storyteller feels like a friend once their story is told.  And in the telling, like my father, they take their time. Their stories are not told, they unfold. Yes, good stories – like good friends take time.

Shouldn’t this be the same with good design? In a world that seems to spin faster and faster out of control, shouldn’t we be looking for products that take time to unfold? Or products whose usefulness we savor? Shouldn’t we demand products that have stories to tell? Like good wine, a good design needs time to be a part of our lives, time to reach its full maturity. If we could stop the ever spinning merry-go-round of fashion to see the consequences of our fast fashion choices, we might begin to appreciate the tales that our garments tell. Some items would tell tales of sorrow; others would tell beautiful tales of how they found their way to the wearer. I think that we would start to breathe and listen to the stories of our clothes and their makers – because there are great people out there telling beautiful stories.

American designer Sister Parish said, “Even the simplest wicker basket can become priceless when it is loved and cared for through the generations of a family.” The next time we purchase a single item, perhaps we should exercise patience and think back to this idea. Can this product I am about to buy be cared for and loved through the generations? What story does this item tell? Isn’t buying a product with a long life the same as exercising patience for a good story?

Patience has never been at the top of my list of virtues. I have been told that I have a calm, patient appearance on the outside, but my inner life is much less composed. You might even go so far as to say that my inner life and outer life were disconnected in my youth. This was the cause of much consternation and drama in my earlier days. But what I understand today is that I needed time. I needed time to grow up and to grow into my own story. If I can give my daughter one piece of advice, I will tell her to slow down, be calm, and wait.

Good things – like good design – take time and good friends are worth waiting for.

Natalie Chanin is owner and designer of the American couture line Alabama Chanin and author of three books including Alabama Stitch Book  (2008), Alabama Studio Style (2010) and the upcoming Alabama Studio Sewing + Design which comes out spring 2012. Look for her bi-weekly column, Material Witness here and follow her on Facebook and her own blog at Alabama Chanin.

Eco-friendly prefab homes have enjoyed a grassy place in the sun (as in green) for the past decade. Here’s what’s on the horizon. Our vote: pretty fabulous. 

The prefab process (building modulated prefabricated homes offsite in an industrial facility), is simple and deceptively cheap. Deceptively so because the term is so often associated with McMansions, suburban Taj Mahals built on the cheap with massive mortgages attached. Nowadays, prefab is equated with the new eco chic, a modernist aesthetic and sustainable design.

The prefabs of the future are all about smart design, responsible sourcing, affordability and, above all else, style. We venture to say that these pretty fabulous prefabs actually fit the bill. Here’s why:

A prefab is built with recycled and renewable materials. Bamboo is the most common, while a sturdy base of steel, wood and cement can withstand even the most arctic of conditions. If it’s a really fab prefab, it mixes natural light with passive heating and cooling. This prefab from Seattle-based Stillwater Dwellings also features  low-VOC paints, micro-strip birch hardwoods, Marmoleum floors, wool carpeting, recycled-content quartz slab countertops, ultra-high efficiency heating and hot water systems, and high-efficiency windows with argon and low-E film.

If it’s pretty fabulous, it uses interior spaces wisely and is designed with longevity in mind. Danish studio Onen and Swedish company Add-A-Room co-designed this rustic cottage/additional living space called the One+ house. When the future calls for more space, simply add another module.

A pretty prefab must feature large windows and multi-use functional spaces. The Week’nder by Lazor Office was installed via a ferry trip across Lake Superior. They had us at the front window.

A fabulous prefab is non-invasive, meaning it doesn’t infringe on the natural world. On the contrary, it blends into it like the FlatPak house.

Really fabulous are prefabs built with economic stability in mind. Mass customization means they are an ideal solution for low-income communities and in places that are prone to natural disaster. The FLOAT House from the Make It Right Foundation is scalable, adaptable and mass-produced. It’s an affordable, sustainable prefab that generates its own power, collects its own water and limits resource consumption.

Making Pitt fairly fab, too.

As architects continue to heed the call of clean design and aesthetic simplicity, the prefab will continue have a home with eco-conscious homeowners. We like it.

Image: jenosale

Does design have the power to change the world? AIGA, the premiere organization for professional and student designers, believes that yes, it can.

AIGA is hosting its second annual (Re)design Awards to prove that design is both a strategic tool and cultural force for transforming the way we function in the world. With the mission of “igniting change,” they’re looking for submissions in two categories: Environmental Sustainability and Social Responsibility. Stan Evenson, founder and CEO of Evenson Design Group and co-chair of the event, explains that those two categories can include anything from multimedia, interactive design, packaging and product design to brand identity, environmental design, permaculture and urban planning.

“If one’s design submission is using sustainable materials and/or promoting environmental sustainability or socially responsible actions to benefit people, it’s eligible.”

The competition runs through July 22, 2011 and is open to the international design community. Thus far, entries have come in from Greece, Australia, Canada and across the United States. All submissions will be judged by design luminaries Eric Benson, Rachel Martin, Naomi Pearson, Tim McNeil and Brain Dougherty. The winner will be honored at a special Gala event on October 27, 2011.

Design, Ever-Evolving

While infringements and frustrations abound, our collective consciousness is awakening, particularly when it comes to awareness about what we wear, how we eat, and what we buy. Design is elemental, both subtly and integrally, to the choices that we make (and have) as consumers.

“[My wife and co-chair] Tricia and I have had our design business, EDG, for over 35 years. And many of those years we were wearing blinders, encouraging our clients to print more and use more, and not stepping back for one moment to admit that we were definitely a part of an enormous problem.”

Three children later, they were “awakened” one day in 2005 with the realization that they wanted to be part of the solution. They, like so many of their colleagues, set out to revolutionize the field with sustainability in mind.

“How can we be enlightened through design,” Evenson wonders. “The (Re)design Awards are about rethinking, reengaging, reconnecting, repurposing our design. It’s about more than just creating something beautiful for a client. It’s about doing something bigger for this world. For designers, it’s a responsibility and an opportunity.”

We tried very hard to get the inside scoop on potential frontrunners and projects to watch, but to no avail. Like everyone else, we’ll have to wait. All you have to do, in the meantime, is enter.

“The deadline is impending,” Evenson warns.

(Re)designAwards 2011 from AIGA | Los Angeles on Vimeo.

We’ve written about FIT Professor and author of Eco Fashion, Sass Brown, before on EcoSalon and are privileged to offer a Q&A with her tomorrow from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern, Tuesday, March 22nd on our Facebook page. Brown, who is currently Resident Director for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s study abroad program in Florence, Italy is a true fashion industry resource, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to ask her questions you might have regarding sustainable design and all aspects of the fashion industry.

Laurence King Publishing writes of her work: “This book shows the range of companies making a difference in the area of sustainable design in fashion, exploding the myth that sustainable design is bad design, or at best basic design, by highlighting the range of companies producing desirable and well-designed apparel and accessories with a conscience. It not only demonstrates the range of products available around the globe, but explains the stories behind them and the communities they support, as well as showing how and where they make a difference.”

Honestly, there are times when I too feel like taking a happy pill to get away from it all but the only way to be a part of it is to be educated. So don’t stop now.

These 15 books will take you down many interesting roads on your journey. Be open to it.

1. Eco Fashion

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Eco Fashion by Sass Brown

“This book shows the range of companies making a difference in the area of sustainable design in fashion, exploding the myth that sustainable design is bad design, or at best basic design, by highlighting the range of companies producing desirable and well-designed apparel and accessories with a conscience. It not only demonstrates the range of products available around the globe, but explains the stories behind them and the communities they support, as well as showing how and where they make a difference.” – Laurence King Publishing

2. Future Fashion White Papers

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Future Fashion White Papers by Earth Pledge

“A collection of 30 compelling essays by scientists, retailers, farmers, dyers, models and others in the industry, including Diane von Furstenberg, Julie Gilhart, and Shalom Harlow. FutureFashion White Papers take an in-depth look at the fashion industry and provides a thoughtful, wide-ranging analysis of how a transition to sustainability can be achieved. Diane von Furstenberg notes: ‘FutureFashion White Papers is an exploration that signifies movement towards a more sustainable fashion industry. It is an opportunity to think about and evaluate the fashion industry as it stands today’.” – Earth Pledge

3. The Eco-chick Guide to Life

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The Eco-chick Guide To Life by Starre Vartan

“Every now and then, someone comes along who shows the rest of us how much we take for granted the freedoms of our daily lives. The eco-journalist, blogger and all-around green genie Starre Vartan is one such person. In The Eco Chick Guide to Life, her earth-first program for glamorous but environmentally conscious living, she mines new lodes of guilt, finding gems of awareness and providing detailed eco-wise shopping guides for the body, the closet, the home and the larder.” – The New York Times

4. DIY Fashion

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DIY Fashion by Selena Francis-Bryden

“DIY Fashion is a cool, quirky, and creative guide to making and customizing your own clothes, bags, and accessories. It contains more than 40 thrifty, sustainable, and stylish projects, none of which require prior skill or a sewing machine. From customized hand-me-downs to elegant evening wear, the book is packed with ideas that the reader can adapt to their own taste.” – Amazon

5. Eco-Chic, The Fashion Paradox

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Eco-Chic, The Fashion Paradox by Sandy Black

“Sandy Black has divided the book into four chapters: The Greening of the Fashion Industry, Re-Designing Fashion, Fibre to Fabric and Fabric to Fashion. In the first chapter she has profiled six of the most influential players in the UK ethical fashion industry: the inimitable Lynda Grose, the pioneering Fair Trade label People Tree, the mainstream advocates Marks and Spencer, the long-term campaigner Katharine Hamnett and the style leader Sarah Ratty of Ciel. By choosing these six profiles to feature at the beginning of the book Sandy Black has very quickly laid out the complex territory on which the battle for ethical fashion must be fought.” – Treehugger

6. Green Is The New Black

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Green Is The New Black-How To Change The World With Style by Tamsin Blanchard

“Tamsin Blanchard is a journalist and writer. Since 2005, she has been the Telegraph Magazine’s style director. Before that she wrote about fashion and interiors for The Observer, and spent three years as The Independent‘s fashion editor. She is contributing fashion editor to the V&A Magazine, and a sometime contributing editor to 10 Magazine. She has also written for Vogue, Marie Claire, US Harper’s Bazaar, and The Daily Rubbish. In the late Nineties, she co-founded “˜it’ a luxury boxed magazine for fashion, art and design. She has taught fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins and University of Westminster and is currently an external assessor at London College of Fashion.”

With a foreword by Lily Cole, and lots of contributions from designers and eco experts, it is an entertaining, inspiring guide on how to be fashionably green. – www.tamsin blanchard.com

7. Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys

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Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys by Kate Fletcher

“Kate Fletcher is a practitioner and academic who has been working in the field of sustainable fashion for the last 15 years: she has recently become Reader in Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion. Her consultancy within the fashion industry, coupled with her educational experience, makes her uniquely well qualified to write this much-needed text. Fletcher, who has helped to develop the concept of “˜slow fashion’, is at the center of research in this area and calls upon both established texts such as McDonough and Braungart’s Cradle to Cradle and recent research from a wide variety of sources, including her own, to support her writing. The quality of research is high.” – Oxford Art Journal

8. Eco Chic: The Savvy Shoppers Guide to Ethical Fashion

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Eco Chic: The Savvy Shoppers Guide to Ethical Fashion by Matilda Lee

“The hottest trend on the catwalk is ethical clothing. Top fashion designers and spokes models including Katharine Hamnett, Stella McCartney and Bono’s wife Ali Hewson are all voicing the benefits of eco chic. But what is this new fad, and what difference can it make to the world? “Eco Chic” gives you the full story on this fashion phenomenon, from which fabrics are harmful to the environment, to how you can create your own eco-friendly fashions through recycling and savvy shopping. You will discover how to spot and avoid garments produced in sweatshops and why supermarket ‘fast clothes’ make both you and the planet sick. This book will allow you to look great but also feel good about your impact on other people and the planet as a whole.” – Amazon

9. Designers, Visionaries and Other Stories: A Collection of Sustainable Design Essays

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Designers, Visionaries and Other Stories: A Collection of Sustainable Design Essays by Jonathan Chapman and Nick Gant

“Designers, Visionaries and Other Stories boldly presents alternative understandings of sustainable design, to curate a challenging, sometimes uncomfortable and always provocative, collection of essays by some of the world’s leading sustainable design thinkers. The result is an authoritative anthology that reinvigorates the culture of critique that in previous years has empowered design with the qualities of social, environmental and economic revolution.” – Earthscan

10. The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy

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The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade by Pietra Rivoli

-¦a readable and evenhanded treatment of the complexities of world trade”¦ As Rivoli repeatedly makes clear, there is absolutely nothing free about free trade except the slogan.” – San Francisco Chronicle

11. Threads of Labour

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Threads of Labour: Garment Industry Supply Chains from the Worker’s Perspective by Angela Hale and Jane Wills

“This book gives valuable insights for decision-makers in international clothing brands. Read it and learn how garment workers worldwide are affected by the sub-contracted manufacturing that characterizes this industry.” – Dan Rees, Director of the Ethical Trading Initiative

12. Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles

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Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles by India Flint

“The essence of plants bursts forth in magnificent hues and surprising palettes. Using dyes of the leaves, roots, and flowers to color your cloth and yarn can be an amazing journey into botanical alchemy. In Eco Colour, artistic dyer and colorist India Flint teaches you how to cull and use this gentle and ecologically sustainable alternative to synthetic dyes.

India explores the fascinating and infinitely variable world of plant color using a wide variety of techniques and recipes. From whole-dyed cloth and applied color to prints and layered dye techniques, India describes only ecologically sustainable plant-dye methods. She uses renewable resources and shows how to do the least possible harm to the dyer, the end user of the object, and the environment. Recipes include a number of entirely new processes developed by India, as well as guidelines for plant collection, directions for the distillation of nontoxic mordants, and methodologies for applying plant dyes.” – Amazon

13. Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style

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Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style by Christie Matheson

“Matheson slyly steers us toward consumer goods and services that minimize our earth-stomping human footprint. She’s brave enough to say ‘buy less of everything,’ and even the politically fraught ‘buy nothing.’ Matheson’s genius is to make this seem not only doable, but fun.” – Elizabeth Royte, author of Garbage Land and Bottlemania

14. Sustainable Fashion: Why Now?

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Sustainable Fashion: Why Now? A Conversation Exploring Issues, Practices and Possibilities by Janet Hethorn and Connie Ulasewicz

“Sustainable Fashion: Why Now? is a critical read for anyone with ties to the fashion industry: designers, marketers, product developers, retailers, teachers, students, and consumers that want to become involved with balancing the fashion desires of the individual with the need to be a steward of our environment.” – Fashion Practice

15. Fugitive Denim

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Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade by Rachel Louise Snyder

“Smart and ambitious, cosmopolite journalist Snyder maps the global garment industry, beginning in a New York loft where designers plot a line of ultra-pricey, socially responsible jeans that would ensure a fair wage for workers and not cause excessive environmental degradation. From there she visits cotton growers in Azerbaijan, denim specialists in Italy and factories in Cambodia and China. An excellent reporter, Snyder talks comfortably to both sophisticated designers and factory workers, conveying their very different motives as she paints a picture of an industry far more tangled than most consumers imagine. She notes that economic and employment shifts are felt globally, describing Italy mourning the loss of manufacturing to cheaper factories in Asia, where low-paying jobs represent unprecedented opportunity to many workers. If the prose occasionally verges on cuteness, it’s preferable to the jargon of quotas and NGOs ubiquitous in most discussions of global trade. Snyder’s investigation is an essential read for those curious about fashion or the globe-spanning business that produces their clothes.” – Publisher’s Weekly

Photo credit: Book pages by Horia Varlan on Flickr, licensed for commercial use under Creative Commons.

For the perfect parable of how current fashion mores have come into alignment with sustainable design concepts, take a look at Los Angeles-based jeweler, Jeffrey Levin, and his eco-minded, stacking rings.

The locally manufactured rings, in recycled silver, gold and rose gold, exemplify the unexpected richness of fashion’s current mix and match style. Along with their white, black, and chocolate diamonds sourced and certified conflict-free, the rings land a solid eco blow. Instead of head-to-toe designer looks, the current fashion ethos favors a melding of mass market with thrift store and vintage with high-end designer to create a look that feels modern. And while you might have thought it was all Kate Moss’ idea, this concept of modularity is informing design across all disciplines.

The eco benefit of all this modularity for the jewelry-lover is there’s no waste. Unlike the days where ladies wore pearls with pastels during the day and gold with black in the evening, there now isn’t really a need to have extra jewelry waiting for the right occasion. Jewelry consumers are embracing mixing metals and hanging convention.

Inspired by his recent engagement, Levin’s stacking rings represent a metaphor for the relationship and the varied levels as they build one on another – from coming together, to the engagement, to the wedding and on to the milestones yet realized. So, while the true inspiration of this story is discovering an eco-modern classic that masterfully melds diverse elements - if for no other reason, invest for love’s sake.

Available online at jeffreylevin.com.

Much of sustainable design is focused on producing new products in line with the cradle-to-cradle concept but, with so much clothing in landfills, the most compelling applications are those that reclaim and reexamine found materials. San Francisco’s latest eco-fashion launch, Piece x Piece, illustrates how a new response to climate change can be the catalyst for truly smart and innovative design. Created from discarded fabric swatches, the finished limited-edition garments are at once fresh and timeless, a testament to the beauty and possibility inherent in embracing change. We talked to Piece X Piece founder, Elizabeth Brunner, about her new line and what the future holds for responsible fashion lovers.

What are your views on the current state of the eco-fashion movement?

“I think the eco-fashion movement is headed in a good direction in terms of availability and getting more attention. On the West Coast and, in SF in particular, I think more people have eco-fashion in their wardrobes and it’s slowly becoming the norm, which is great. Fast fashion is a hard habit to break because everyone loves a great deal, myself included! But at the same time, I think some people are finding the sparkle of fast fashion fading because it’s generally not original – by any means – and people are craving individuality and want something that’s made well, which usually equates to spending a little more money.”

What about the so-called eco-fashion paradox – when we have so much already, how can buying more create a profound engagement with clothing that can transform and inspire change?

“That’s a tough question but one that I actually thought a lot about when I was studying fashion because I have such a love/hate relationship with the industry. Fashion is a form of expression and it’s really the only way to communicate without saying a word – that’s what I love about it – it’s very creative. It can also be frivolous and superficial but that’s not something you can change peoples minds about. It has to be an observation you make on your own. Then it becomes less about “stuff” and more about substance.”

What do you think the “mantra” of the woman looking to dress more sustainably should be?

“Quality not quantity. If you buy clothes that are well designed, fit you well, and are made well, whether it’s made of organic cotton or not, if it stays in your closet for years over - that’s a form of sustainability that I can get behind.”

Who do you imagine as your customer?

“I hate to give any description of my “customer” because I think it’s very limiting. All I’ll really say is that I make clothes that I love and I hope others love it too.”

Describe your personal style?

“I dress very simply when I’m working because it doesn’t make sense to wear stiletto boots and mini skirts while I’m digging through boxes or cutting out patterns. I have a very easy sense of style and don’t like anything super fussy, so I tend to wear darker tones and accentuate with color. I kick it up a notch or two when I’m out socially, and I hope I’m expressing confidence with ease.”

Tell us about some of your favorite pieces from the line.

“The Cubic Crop is one of my first designs where I knew I was on to something. I created it on one of those days when nothing was coming out the way I wanted it to and I just took a break stepped back and I realized I was trying too hard. I wanted to make something fun and different that was easy to wear and I think I did. I wore this recently with a white tank top underneath, a blazer over it with jeans and boots and I felt really pulled together.”

“The Local Sparrow dress was the first hybrid design in my collection because I use a new fabric on top and pieced the entire bottom. I thought this would make the dress easier to wear but still be eye catching. I love this dress because it’s youthful without being age specific. Pair this dress with some simple black platforms and you’re done!”

“The Skylark wrap is my “pièce de résistance” because it truly was a labor of love to complete the first one! This skirt is completely pieced and is cut on the bias for fullness and to give it a nice drape. Everyone who has seen this skirt in person loves it because you can really appreciate all that went into it. I also hand stitch some of the swatches to make it even more special. It’s a wrap skirt also, with a high waist, which accentuates the smallest part of your figure. It’s a great look for Fall/Winter! I wear this with a simple tank top or v-neck t-shirt. You don’t want anything to compete with this skirt so it’s best to keep it simple.”

Where can we find your pieces?

“They are carried exclusively at Wear Something Rare in San Francisco.”

Isn’t she lovely? There’s not much to not like about the Tac Tea Pot (image above) designed by Walter Gropius, architect and founder of the Bauhaus. In fact, it’s been called “the most beautiful tea service ever produced”. Simple, minimal, functional. What else is there? Enduring, that’s what.

Gropius (1883-1969) was a genius designer of the modernist period, but his concepts continue to influence artists and designers today. He explained the Bauhaus philosophy like this:

“Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.”

Basically, there’s stuff we need so why not make it attractive? And design that is timeless and enduring is the epitome of sustainable. Don’t you agree?

Although it might not suit every one’s style palette, I’m partial to this idea that less is more. And I’m crazy about all of the following simply ceramic creations that seem to follow in Gropius’ footsteps.

This milk jug and sugar bowl designed by Ditte Fischer (image above) has an exquisite, refined air about it, but also stands firm in its function. The black version is just as seductive. Danish ceramics are simply some of the best. Period.

Eva Gevaert is a young designer whose influence can already be felt with one look at her kp107f-tableware (image of bowls above). I want to reach out and eat off its smooth, silky surface.

These ceramic plates (image above) almost appear to be paper, which makes them even more extraordinary. Unusual but actually quite ordinary. Designed by Annett Janowiak.

Vincent Van Duysen created these ceramic containers (image above) that seem almost too plain to be pretty, yet need I even say it…? Pretty. And I’m inspired to include this quote describing his work because it’s pretty too:

“[Van Duysen's] work is characterized by an interest in reinterpreting classical forms. His search for order and clarity produces designs which are both contemporary and innovative, but which have the force of perfect inevitability, setting off resonances that feel like memories: always new, but reminding us of things we have known.”

Continuing on the kitchen theme, this pepper/flour/salt set (image above) is adorable. LightenUp Designs by Lisa Goldberg is to blame for creating such a simple, ceramic and useful piece of art.

Speaking of useful, this cream Oval Baker (image above) is part of the ceramic tableware collection found only at terrain. Leaning more toward rugged than ritzy, I’m fond of its smooth, clean lines. This dish could definitely go the distance in the kitchen.

These cups and bowls (image above) are part of Sarah Cihat’s ‘Dirt’ collection. Most of her porcelain designs are covered in delightful decals with an edge, but these precious pieces are plain, and simply her best. In my humble opinion.

Last but absolutely not least, is Latvian designer Mara Skujeniece and her incredible array of hand-made objects. I can’t pick a favorite so I encourage you to peruse her pieces on your own. But for the sake of staying in the kitchen, I’m showcasing her ‘Vegetableware’ bowls (image above). Exquisitely pure and simple…

…just like Walter Gropius used to make.

Images: Daily icon and Design Shimmer