Designer's Abbott Miller and Brian Raby created an ingenious new chair for the Design for a Living World exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.  All exhibits had to use materials from endangered eco-systems.  Miller and Raby's chair is constructed from FSC certified jatoba wood found in Bolivia.  Three chairs can be made from each sheet of this sustainably grown wood.  Along with the beautiful aesthetics, what makes this a great design is that the pieces lie flat when unassembled for smaller packing.  This cuts down on packaging waste, and the gas and space needed to ship it.  The chair is designed in a way that when it arrives it is put together with out the need of any adhesives.  Simply use a rubber mallet to put this beautiful piece together.

 

While researching alternative counter tops for a kitchen remodel, I came accross a great product called Eco Top by Klip Tech.  The surface is made from a blend of bamboo fiber, and FSC certified post consumer recycled paper.  It is also bound with a 100% water based system.  Along with being sustainable, Eco Top is very durable.  It can take heat up to 360 degrees, and it can be sanded or cut without breaking or cracking.

Although it will last as long as your home, if you ever decided to replace it, it can be used for bio fuel production.  Eco Top won the 2009 Bloom award for innovative materials, and was named by Sustainable Industries Magazine one of the top ten Green building products of 2008.  Eco Top comes in a variety of colors that can make it easily blend with many design styles.  Below are some installation examples.  For more information go to www.kliptech.com/ecotop.html

 

 

I was at Target this weekend picking up a few things in the garden section and noticed this Adirondack with a big honkin FSC tag...

                        

Could it really be? Yes, in fact they even included the FSC certificate number.. I am sure Target's practices don't match up to some of the manuf. we have on our site, but I have to applaud them to bringing green mainstream and making it beautiful, affordable and easy.