Design^Sprout | Your Guide to Green Design

The Future of Trash Has Finally Hatched.

     You're a little trashy and try as you might, you can't seem to separate the whites from the yolks, let alone the plastic from the paper. No worries. The Ovetto Egg Recycling Bin smartly uses color coding to make recycling as stylish and simple as possible. Made from recycled polypropylene, this futuristic little guy is cute enough to be on full display and says to the world, "Hey, I may be wearing acid-washed jeans but at least my trash is in the right place".

Just a Little Pick-Me-Up!

   Who knew soap bottles could be so inspiring? Artist Carolyn Mason cleverly casts discarded plastic bottles in shiny porcelain and stuffs them full of brightly colored flowers to get this cheerful result! I loooooove the mass grouping on the fireplace -  such a little ray of sunshine!

Love the One You're With

    A phrase that no longer pertains solely to your beer guzzling husband. With her bespoke furniture and textile pieces, designer Zoe Murphy has turned this "making do" philosophy into a successful eco-business. Drawing inspiration from th British seaside community Margate, a rundown, former 50's beach haven, Zoe believes that with good design and loving attention all things formerly icky can be fabulous yet again. Bright colors and optimistic images are printed onto old dressers and salvaged Formica - even the silks she used for her wall hangings are hand-dyed and pieced together from vintage wedding dresses. Just goes to show that in today's green-crazed world all our old, crusty junk deserves a second look. After all, if you can learn to love his hairy back why not an old dresser?

Why Do Garage Sales Start So F-ing Early?

   Rummaging through other people's junk is one of my favorite things in the world.  The fact that I have to drag my sorry ass out of bed at the crack of dawn to do it - not so much. Cue the design stylings of Tawny Holt.  She not only finds the cool, early-bird gems I'm always missing, but remakes them into modern, couture pieces you can pretend you paid a lot of money for. Check out her Etsy shop here and go back to bed.

 

A Rainbow of Fruit Flavors

      Love letters. Shopping lists. Spit wads. All things requiring paper. You use it all the time so it may as well come from these colorful journals. New from ecojot and made from 100% recyclable, post consumer materials, these guys are a daily reminder of being green. Go ahead, spit wad to your little heart's content.

How To Match Your T-Shirt To Your Tug Boat

    Let's face it, lugging that $2K Mac around is f-ing exhausting.  Thankfully, crafty Icelandic designer Hafsteinn Juliusson answers this elitist conundrum by adding straps to recycled pillows, calling them Napbooks and taking arty photos by the docks. Cute. Next up: bedtime stories by Steve Jobs.