aurelie tu: felt housewares

Aurelie Tu is an Industrial Designer originally from Canada. Having earned her practical ID work experience with Hauser in L.A. and Nike in Portland, she has branched out and created her own line of modular interlocking felt homewares. The Portland designer now works together with women at the YWCA in order to create these handmade felt pieces. Her line includes a pendant light and table runners made from the same interlocking materials.

sanctuary: sustainable design magazine

Sanctuary Design Magazine focuses solely on sustainable design unlike Dwell and Azure that cover stories about sustainability occasionally. Australia's Sanctuary uses the motto "Sustainable Living with Style". The editors Verity Campbell and Michael Day have made green their mission: it is published by the non-profit Alternative Technology Association. Reminds me a little of....HauteNature! We applaud them.

john galvin: sustainable furniture design

John Galvin, a cabinetmaker and craftsman from Glasgow, designs modern sustainable furniture pieces. Galvin's designs are very recognizable, featuring color combinations with wood varieties and his signature divets. He crafts bespoke kitchens and one off commissions as well.

upcoming eco events: front range colorado

Boulder Startup Weekend April 16-18th--Got an idea for a business? Bring it here.

EarthWorks Expo May 22-23 2010 @ Denver Merchandise Mart

Sustainable Living Association--Ongoing Workshops

Crafty Ballyhoo Saturday April 17th--Craft Market across from Denver Museum of Modern Art--with call for cakes for their cakewalk!

Green Route Restaurant Tours Throughout April

Colorado Renewable Energy Society--Ongoing Events

Earth Fest Boulder April 25th Downtown

Doors Open Denver April 17-18th-an annual celebration of Denver's built environment and design.

LOHAS June 23-25th Boulder

modern sustainable rattan furniture

Eve Yun Organic Contemporary

icebreaker clothing: sustainable merino wool

Ice Breaker clothing New Zealand proves that wool can be worn in warm weather. They have released a new line of “ultra-fine” merino wool T-shirts and they offer an entire range of men’s and women’s summer clothing. Merino wool is a sustainable material, and Icebreaker is launching a garment traceability program called BAACODE that will allow consumers access to the company’s sustainable and ethical practices through-out their entire supply chain. BAACODE will also track individual garments back to the New Zealand merino station where the wool was procured. You've gotta love Icebreakers ad campaigns too!

denmark leads the world on the road to sustainability

angus hutcheson: eco lighting

Angus Hutcheson eco light shade diffusers are fabricated by hand from rattan, mulberry tree bark, silk cocoons and hand cast polymer. Bases are stainless steel. Available at Ango World.

kulae: biodegradable yoga mats

Kulae yoga mats are 100% biodegradable and four inches longer than a standard yoga mat. Constructed using closed cell technology (so germs, bacteria + odor cannot penetrate the mat surface) and weighing less than 2.5 pounds, this mat is revolutionary, and is the new eco standard for yoga mats. Kulae mats are also 100% recyclable once it has outlived its usefulness in your practice (PVC- and Latex-Free).

elder co-housing: spreading retirement concept

As baby boomers turn 60, many are beginning to plan how they will spend their golden years. Many will shun institutional facilities for a concept spreading across America "elder co-housing' experience. These co-housing villages and communities are created by residents for mutual support and environmentally conscious living. Although Cohousing Communities for Elders are somewhat rare and just now catching on in the US, they have been a staple in many European countries for decades. (Netherlands, Denmark)

The Glacier Circle Senior Community in Davis California began in 2002, With the help of co-housing designer Virginia Thigpen, eight households evolved. In Abingdon Virginia ElderSpirit Commmunity is a larger project that includes privately owned homes as well as affordable rental units. Others Elder Co-Housing communites are springing up across the country from Alaska to Florida.

You can obtain more information for yourself or a family member at:
Plan B Retirement
Aging in Community
Culture Change Now
CoHousing Association of US.
Aging Today

eco source: sustainable fiber containers

Eco Source manufacturers sustainable fiber containers named: GreenPots, Coir & Grēnware. Grēnware for everday tableware is made primarily with renewable plant fibers of bamboo, straw and rice hulls. The gorgeous earthy colors would look fabulous in any table setting. GreenPots are environmentally friendly garden containers made from rice hulls (a sustainable by product from edible crops). GreenPots break down naturally in landfills, but while in use are strong, durable and lightweight. The pots come in a range of colors from bright pinks to earth tones. Coir pots are larger profile gardening containers made from coconut fibers. Coir depletes no natural resources and have an amazing spongey texture which aids in water drainage.

flat pack prototype chicken coop

The University of Colorado, Boulder has created an Urban Chicken Coop Project to focus on the current backyard chicken raising trend happening in Boulder County. The city has seen an upsurge in its community garden project and 360,000 visitors to the Boulder County Farmers' Market each year. Many local restaurants incorporate the locavore movement so the local food movement and production is a huge priority. The citizens of Boulder are propelled to natural living, outdoor activities such as, biking, hiking, skiing and now gardening and farming have become the latest path to follow. A nationwide dialogue has begun proving that a chicken coop can be maintained in a backyard urban environment.

Two University of Colorado professors-Richard Saxton in the Art and Art History department and Rob Pyatt in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning have challenged their students to revisit the age old debate; can urban exist in the rural and can the rural exist in the urban. The "Chicken Shack Village" installation explores rural aesthetics and farming in an urban environment.

College of Architecture and Urban Planning instructor Rob Pyatt's design and build class to complete the first model for the easy-to-build chicken coop kit for homeowners. The most successful seems to be Jeff Troutman's flat pack chicken coop design (in black). Jeff's affordable design is an easy to assemble coop utilizing digital fabrication methods to cut FSC certified plywood sheeting with minimal hardware into 4'X4' sections, ultimately housing up to 6 chickens when constructed. The design includes a chicken run and is meant to be set up next to a backyard fence, still allowing for easy access to collect eggs.

Currently, in Boulder, there is an exhibit of Troutman and others designs for the chicken coops at the BMOCA Museum.

In addition to "Chicken Shack Village," symposiums have been set up to allow speakers such as the Urban Hens organization to address topics of collaborative art, raising chickens in the urban setting, environmental responsibility, healthy living, building and maintaining coops, as well as local farming and gardening.

More information available on this project at CO &
AB.

oficinaethos: sustainable furniture

Oficinaethos
Brazilian design house Oficinaethos primarily uses certificated woods or lumber from demolition areas for their beautiful furniture and artwork. The pink accents are amazing.

Design Milk

tom bihn: cork fabric bags

Tom Bihn

reclaimed furniture: krd

Killer Robot Design makes a resourceful suitcase coffee table and patchwork dining table.

studio nola eco furniture

Smart bamboo bookshelf by Studio Nola, from recycled powder coated steel & bamboo plywood.

boulder colorado favorites

Check out my list, Haute's Favorite Places in Boulder, Colorado. (You must click to link at top left.) There is one for Denver too.

Boulder will be the first smart grid city, thanks to Xcel Energy which will use (V2G) technology and plug thousands of PHEVs and different energy sources, such as solar and wind, into the grid and made them work together. The reasoning behind Boulder being the first city to try this system is it houses the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST is involved in the project, and several other federal agencies. I cannot wait for the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle stations!

emiliano godoy table

I could surely find space in my dining room for this new 'Drip' table made from sustainable teak saplings by Emiliano Godoy.

rishi tea: organic iced teas

Rishi Teas has launched a new line of 8 new organic iced teas. This line also features eco-friendly packaging. Founder Joshua Kaiser explains, " In our continuing efforts to minimize our environmental footprint, we use paper maufactured with 100% renewable wind energy and 80% post consumer waste-- that is chlorine free and 100% recyclable. The packaging is also Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and printed with soy ink. Rishi Teas are fair trade, socially responsible and very delicious! My personal favorites are the caffeine free flavors, Tropical Crimson and Blueberry Red. (Tropical Crimson has just won Best Flavored Herbal Iced Tea– (Organic/Fair Trade)!!

Competing among 41 different companies in Las Vegas for the World Tea Championships, Rishi, who submitted nearly 300 teas, took home an unprecedented 28 awards, including a stunning victory of 11 First Place winners. The World
Tea Championship, organized by the World Tea Expo, is an independent competition judged by professional cuppers and
buyers to distinguish the highest quality and best tasting teas available in North America. For the second year in a row, Rishi Tea took home more than double the awards received by their closest competitors. These consecutive accomplishments have established Rishi Tea as a leader of the industry and provided a strong validation of their
passion for quality.