Designer Tord Boontje, creator of our recycled glass vase range, this Autumn takes up the position as Professor and Head of Design Products at the Royal College of Art, the role previously held by Professor Ron Arad.
Tord Boontje himself studied for his MA in industrial design at the RCA, and returned in 2000 as tutor in Design Products.
Since then he has set up his own Studio Tord Boontje where he has designed the tranSglass range which is part of the permanenet collection at the MOMA in New York, and is available to buy here at EcoCentric. The collection of vases, carafes and glasses is made by a social cooperative in Guatemala from recycled wine bottles collected and then made into tranSglass by the skilled craftspeople.
His work often has a close relationship between craft, design and technology. Many of his designs have been described as counter minimalist in the decorativeness, such as the ‘Garland’ light he designed for Habitat. Alongside his new position at the RCA, Boontje retains his role as Director of Studio Tord Boontje and continues designing.
Feed The Birds Day, which happens this weekend, is a reminder that garden wildlife needs our help providing food and shelter in our gardens over the winter.
This weekend, Sat 24th and Sun 25th October, is allocated ‘Feed The Birds Day’ by the RSPB. Over the winter food and shelter are more scarce as the ground is colder and leaves fall from the trees, so birds, insects and mammals need a boost to their available food.
Wildlife gardening top tips:
Keep smaller birds fed - Our gardens are the ideal places to watch and conserve wildlife. Even the smallest outside space is no restriction for helping wildlife, for example; a bird feeder can be hung from the outside wall of the house on any level. Bird Ball peanut feeder - This stylish feeder is specifically designed to allow small birds to feed, yet deter larger birds and squirrels with its gravity-fed feeding slot, glossy surface and unique perch system.
It keeps nuts dry, is easy to clean, easy to fill, weather-proof, prevents damage to birds feet and beaks that can be caused by mesh and wire. Made in the UK.
Available in lime or white - £34.95
Help birds store fat reseves – Calorie rich bird food such as seeds and fat balls are perfect winter food for birds as it builds up their body fat and energy supplies. Putting out kitchen scraps such as grated cheese will help wrens and cooked/uncooked unsalted bacon will be enjoyed by blue tits.
Get the kids involved - Feed The Birds Day happens at the beginning of half term, so keep the kids occupied making bird feeders and spending time in the garden. Build your own Bird café kit – a fun craft kit which contains everything to build and decorate a wooden bird house café. A great low-energy craft kit. Perfect for kids aged 5-12. £15.00
Prepare the garden ahead - Introduce plants to the garden which will attract insects. Good insect attracting plants include native hawthorn, honeysuckle and ivy that will also provide berries in the winter for adult birds, and insects for young birds in spring.
Keep the windows clean to maximise the amount of natural light that comes into the house.
Pull back curtains and cut away vegetation that has grown up over the summer and is blocking the windows.
Have you considered tha the way you decorate can effect energy usage? Bouncing light into rooms off light coloured walls and windowsills will mean you turn the light on less than in a darker colour scheme. Paint the walls perpendicular to the window in paler shades to reflect the light.
LED’s are the lighting of the future, using an average of 3w per bulb, rather than 20w for a CFL, or 100w for a tungsten bulb. The simplest way to switch is to choose LED when buying table light s or mood lights . Switch ceiling downlighters to LED and you will probably never have to change them with their long life.
This week the temperature has suddenly dropped and heating is being switched on all over the country. Also, as the evenings are darker we are putting on the lights for longer. So it is perfect timeing that 19th - 25th October 2009 has been allocated Energy Saving Week by the Energy Saving Trust.
This years theme for energy saving week is WASTE, helping people all over the UK stop wasting their time, money and energy. As well as giving tips and advice to cut your bills, the EST website’s energy saving clock can help you calculate how you can save.
One way to keep an eye on your energy usage is with an energy meter. It is likely that these meters will be installed in homes as standard in the near future, but in the mean time you have a choice of a few different meters that will help you cut your energy usage and so have some spare pennies to make the place look good.
EcoSavers meter
The simplest version of the energy meter, the EcoSaver shows you the usage of individual appliances. Plug an appliance in and see its power, volatage and current - it will then work out how much it is costing you - just programme it with your electricity price.
£14.95
Efergy energy saving meter
See your overall usage as the Efergy is attatched to your electricity system, and also take the wireless hand-held device around the house as you switch appliances off and on, seeing the difference this makes to your overall usage and bills. The memory can store information for up to two years so will chart your usage and cycles over this period.
£39.95
Wattson energy meter
Wattson is the sleek & stylish James Bond of the eco gadget world. As well as working in real time to show your energy consumption,the light under Wattson glows to give you a visial sign of your usage - blue for low use, purple for average and red for a high usage warning. To change the numerical display on the top of the meter from watts to £, simply tip it…how cool is that! The award winning Wattson comes with a downloadable programme for your PC to chart your data and track your usage over time, helping you reduce your consumption.
£94.99
Keep checking in for more energy saving tips over the week…
Following the backlash from the plastic bag with Anya Hinmarch’s version, there have been other disposable products that have had their identities developed to be more long-lasting.
The disposable cup has had a few options…
- Save-a-cup collects the disposable cups from offices and organisations which sign up to their scheme and make them into clocks.
- ‘I’m not a paper cup’ is a ceramic version of the ’starbucks’ coffee cup - but wait a minute - isn’t ceramic just as bad as it takes a massive amount of energy to fire, and once fired it is forever in that shape, with no degrading in landfill or otherwise…
Best Everyday Design
The people at KeepCup think they have cup up with the solution: a similar shaped cup which is made from polypropylene - a recyclable plastic. Currently only available in Oz, the company will soon be adding a production plant in the UK to reduce those air miles…
The range is available in a whole number of colourways and two sizes, so if you know you always have a ‘regular’ then get the 12oz cup. Not only will you get 10p off each drink for using your own cup, but Starbucks have now switched all their espresso based products to FairTrade - bonus points!!
There was some great idea exploration on show at Tent, with products that challenge how we view our lifestyle or situation.
But my choice for Best Concept is for a product that is sysnonymous with the increasing sustainable lifestyle and helps us to live in healthier homes.
Best Concept:
You would be forgiven for not immediately recognising that the wallcoverings from Chloe Albert are actually a warning system for toxins in the home.
‘Filter the filth’ is an environmentally responsive wallpaper which explores a new and innovative warning system for VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) in the home. Moving modules on the wallpaper signal the high levels of the VOC’s and make the invisible visible (think carbon monoxide detector, but in a much more beautiful way) But not only that, these 3D elements of the design are also a carbon filter which removes these gases from the air.
Toxic VOC’s are off gassed by such things as the paint we cover our walls with, and we take these in as we are sleeping or just living inside, agravating headaches, breathing problems or allergies. Chloe suggests that we are actually under attack from 10% more pollution inside our homes than outside.so this concept sounds like a great thing to have in the home - especially as it is such a beautiful wallcovering on its own anyway.
To reduce the amount of VOC’s and chemicals in your home in the first place, paint your walls with claybased paint and buy organic fabrics for your bedlinen and soft furnishings as these are all made without the use of toxic chemicals…
Also worth a mention:
Juyoung Kim has designed the ‘Frame Bin’ challenging the consumer to think about their waste and what they are throwing away - is it really valueless? The bin communicates with the users perception as reframing the meaning of rubbish and reinforces the responsibility we have with our waste.
London Design Week is always a highlight of the design year, especially as our base on Brick Lane is right in the hub of all the action in East London.
The last couple of days the streets around our office have been filled with people carrying the bright blue bags of TENT. And being the jealous types we went along to grab one for ourselves…and of course to check out the new talent.
Oliver Heath, Designer, TV presenter and founder of EcoCentric, was along there yesterday for the launch day. He has chosen his pick of the best and we’ll start with Furniture.
Wow! Their furniture is the best! If I had a million quid I’d have it all! Beautiful and right on trend with vintage furniture recovered in ethnic patchwork fabrics.
It may not be the most innovative collection, but it certainly is beautiful and well made. Quirico is a collection of unusual artisan-made products from around the world. This particular strand, Bokja, blurs the line between art and design. Made in Beirut, the artisans reinvent pieces of furniture from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, covering them with a mixture of vintage silk road and modern fabrics. Each piece comes with it’s own story, with the background of the various fabrics used.
This chaise longue retails for around £3400, obviously not a problem for Matthew Williamson and Christian Louboutin who have selected Bokja pieces for their stores worldwide.
I love her furniture. I have actually seen Zoe’s stuff a few times before and am including it in the Eco Home exhibition I am curating at the Geffrye museum from October. Zoe’s background is in printed textile and she used this to apply graphic imagery, colour and a sense of fun into mid 20th century furniture, breathing new life into preciously unloved pieces. Be aware that, being from Margate, Zoe’s love for the place pops up time and again in imagery of the balance of urban and coast.
EcoCentric have launched a new range of grow your own gardens suitable to plant in September and October ready for the Winter months as part of organic fortnight.
Try using these with our new planters made from recycled tyres.�
When you make the choice to buy organic, you could actually be saving lives!
The production of non-organic textiles kills approximately 20,000 people in developing countries each year. This is a result from the huge amount of pesticides used in growing the plant. This inturn forces the farmers to invest more in chemical fertilisers as their soil becomes damaged from the overuse of pesticides. As they increase further into debt they can no longer afford to pay for school or health care for them or their children.
Organic cotton farmers use natural methods to protect their cotton batch enabling them to grow their own food in a safe environment and spend their income on health care and schooling.
Non-organic cotton gets subjected to at least 8,000 chemicals from the washing to the printing stage of the production cycle, many of which are dangerous. The Soil Association Organic Standards prohibits the use of such chemicals, guaranteeing a safer and healthier production process.
We are all looking for the dream beauty product to wipe away those bags, give us vibrant smoother and younger looking skin…we are all suckers to good advertising! When we take those products off the shelves we have absolutely no idea what we are putting on our skin and the long term effects this could have.
Our skin is the largest part of our body and is covered with pores that absorb these toiletries. The additives in beauty products end up in our water systems and are connected to a growing amount of health related issues.�
If you want to take care of your skin while caring for the environment, try opting for the organic beauty products rather than the high street brands. At EcoCentric we sell a range of organic cosmetics from organic Vitamin E cream to nourish and heal your skin to box sets of handmade soaps made from natural ingredients and the finest essential oils, which look good enough to eat.
Designer Tord Boontje, creator of our recycled glass vase range, this Autumn takes up the position as Professor and Head of Design Products at the Royal College of Art, the role previously held by Professor Ron Arad.
His work often has a close relationship between craft, design and technology. Many of his designs have been described as counter minimalist in the decorativeness, such as the ‘Garland’ light he designed for Habitat. Alongside his new position at the RCA, Boontje retains his role as Director of Studio Tord Boontje and continues designing.
Keep smaller birds fed - Our gardens are the ideal places to watch and conserve wildlife. Even the smallest outside space is no restriction for helping wildlife, for example; a bird feeder can be hung from the outside wall of the house on any level.
Get the kids involved - Feed The Birds Day happens at the beginning of half term, so keep the kids occupied making bird feeders and spending time in the garden.
Keep the windows clean to maximise the amount of natural light that comes into the house.
EcoSavers meter
Efergy energy saving meter
Wattson energy meter
Best Concept:
Also worth a mention: 
I love her furniture. I have actually seen Zoe’s stuff a few times before and am including it in the 
