Rustic chic. Allison Cecil makes these woodsy, personalized bark rings out of 100% recycled sterling silver. Depending on your ‘crunchy’ quotient they could even serve quite nicely as wedding bands.

$104 (one ring) @ themonkeysalwayslook Etsy shop

With designs that bring in the outdoors, Philadelphia-based Iannone Design makes great looking sustainable furniture. Their Waltnut St. Graphic Console provides plenty of space for hiding your cable box and DVR or media storage of any sort – with an adjustable shelf, two compartments and touch release doors.

The console is made of kirei board and features a gloss white laminate with walnut veneer. Green attributes: the piece is constructed of FSC and CARB II certified plywood, sustainable kirei board (made from salvaged sorghum stalks) and finished with an FSC certified laminate. The hand-applied wood finish consists of natural oils and waxes.

The console is also available with dandelion and hummingbird graphics.

photos by Amie Schroeder

Related: more sustainable home decor on The Alternative Consumer

Swedish designer Elin Sagen’s lovely jewelry is created from discarded china and porcelain. The nostalgia and elegance inherent in the designs and patterns of the recycled porcelain evokes feelings of things both old and new. Inspired by fond memories of family dinner gatherings, they have a nice homespun quality and appeal.

The name Sägens means “old saga” which suits this handmade line of jewelry. See more of her signature work @ sagensweden.com.

Related: more eco-friendly jewelry on The Alternative Consumer.

Brazilian designer Brunno Jahara creates much of his work from recycled materials. Brunno’s Batucada Collection of trays, lamps and vases is created from 100% recycled aluminum.

Brazil recycles over 90% of its aluminum, primarily due to the proliferation of ‘catadores’ – a culture of people who survive  on the money earned from picking through the country’s landfills and reselling what they find.

Though the objects share common shapes, each piece in the collection has its own unique surface, a combination of hammered dents and garbage dump imperfections.

Note: Batucada is the name given to the percussive beats played on drums and handmade instruments at carnivals and parties – its rhythms are reflected in the shapes, forms and unique lines of these colorful pieces.

Related: more green design on The Alternative Consumer

The House Arc is the brainchild of Bellomo Architects. The small-footprint, modular, off-grid housing solution is designed to be shipped in pieces (fabricated locally if possible) to a site and erected by the user or community. The designers envision the freestanding tiny-house as an emergency housing solution for communities located in warm weather climates struck by natural disasters — like earthquake-ravaged Haiti and hurricane-battered New Orleans. The first House Arc prototype has been built and installed on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The house has a simple layout the features large windows that provide natural light, maintain views, and funnel in ocean breezes to cool the interior. A rooftop shading trellis diffuses sunlight and limits heat infiltration. The raised structure (no foundation) allows air to flow underneath for cooling and has little impact on site terrain and ground permeability.

The House Arc’s modular construction allows for quick on-site assembly. The structure is designed to assemble like a piece of modular furniture (think iKea) with a kit of parts and an easy-to-follow, graphic installation manual.

Rooftop solar panels (see rendering above), a rainwater capture system and other customization can further enhance the design’s green quotient. In addition, several units can be combined to create a larger domicile like the one in the rendering below.

Related: House Arc and other sustainable ‘Arc’ designs can seen @  bikearc.com, which specializes in modular bike parking systems and structures.

via: designboom.com

More great eco design on The Alternative Consumer

A 2008 report by CNN points out that the greenhouse gas emissions from ocean-going ships is a far greater problem than most people realize. The shipping industry emits an astonishing 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases per year — over twice the amount of the aviation industry! The Australian company, SolarSail, may offer the industry some hope.

Recipient of the Technical Innovation Award at the Sea trade China Awards 2010, SolarSailor specializes in hybrid marine power. Their SolarSail and Hybrid Marine technologies are patented for use on tankers, cruise liners, commercial ferries, private yachts, and unmanned coast guard drones. They have it all covered.

Their website offers this description of how their solar panels function like wings, “Comprising a unique pivotally mounted airfoil and joint it is attached in such a way as to be able to angle to the sun and/or the wind to harness solar power and sail, folding away when not in use.”

• This month SolarSail launched the first of four new hybrid-powered passenger ferries for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The vessel seats up to 100 people.
• A hybrid SolarSailor ship has been running in the Sydney harbor since 2000.
• SolarSailor estimates that an 800 square meter SolarSail attached to a bulk carrier could reduce the vessel’s fuel consumption and associated emissions by 20% to 40% per year.

‘Is it solar powered?’ Imagine if this question became the new, ‘does it have meat in it?’ Something considered so possible. What if one day you had the option to take a cruise on a solar powered vessel? How amazing would it be if your favorite restaurant received its seafood and produce from a vessel powered by SolarSailor technology?

“Solar Sailor technology can be applied to everything from unmanned ocean vehicles up to ocean liners: In fifty years time people will look back at the ships of the 20th Century and ask where are the wings?” – Dr Robert Dane, CEO SolarSail.

Andrea Williams of Bound Earth is devoted to nature in all aspects of her life, from collecting seedpods on her frequent outdoor hikes to using only non-mined materials in her work and encouraging other jewelers to do the same. Her goal is to share her sense of wonder and reverence for the earth, and to help develop a communal sensitivity and respect for the gifts that it provides. Her pieces bear that message beautifully…bold balanced designs, gently uniting person to place.

Andrea seamlessly unites her playful creativity and her love of nature with her holistic work ethic. She uses metals from reclaimed and recycled sources, and she never uses mined gems…instead she chooses alternative materials such as smooth cool beach pebbles. Her New England home was designed by a green architect and is powered by renewable energy. Her studio was built in a renovated barn alongside her beloved bees, chickens and organic garden, and it too uses renewable energy. In her practice she opts for organic solutions such as citric acid in place of the harsh chemicals often found in the metalsmithing process. Her message to other craftspeople is to do the same…question the process, educate yourself and change what you can to better align your work with the natural world.

Andrea’s commitment to truly ethic-driven craftsmanship is inspiring, and her talent for elegantly harmonious designs is remarkable. In fact in 2011 she won a well-deserved First Place in the 11th annual Saul Bell Design Competition, which recognizes artists for exceptionally innovative designs. Hopefully more artists will follow in her footsteps and commit to creating a world in balance.

This post was contributed by Nik, self-described metalsmith-gemologist-designer and artist. For more of Nik’s insights and perspectives visit her blog, moonswordchamber.blogspot.com.

Related: more eco fashion finds on The Alternative Consumer

ecobee Inc., makers of the award-winning Smart thermostat and Energy Management System unveiled their latest product, the Smart Si thermostat, at this week’s 2012 AHR Expo in Chicago. Designed for the residential market, the Smart Si offers remote connectivity anytime from anywhere via your computer, iPhone, Smart Phone or tablet and includes a high resolution color display, an intuitive user interface, sleek buttons and live weather –  features designed to help you reduce your home’s heating and cooling expense and save energy.

The Wi-Fi enabled Smart Si allows you to make adjustments to your thermostat program on the go from your tablet, computer, iPhone or Smart Phone. The thermostat has a built-in live weather function and uses advanced algorithms so you can be sure your thermostat is always saving the most energy possible. Other features: a high resolution color display, sleek buttons, and an intuitive user interface makes it easy to quickly set a personalized program, make setting adjustments and create new vacation events. Automatic alerts and reminders notify you when your HVAC equipment is due for service, if there is an equipment malfunction or when it’s time to change your filter.

You can pre-order the Si @ ecobee.com

Related: more green tips from The Alternative Consumer

Trevor Elliott specializes in creating home decor items from reclaimed and vintage woods. Trevor’s most unique creation may be his re|Surface table which is composed of modular reversible slats that can be seamlessly re-arranged in seconds, creating a new look.  The reclaimed wood slats can be flipped, or re-ordered, by releasing them with a gentle upward push and re-ordering them into a new configuration.

The re-arrangeable tabletop of each re|Surface table is composed of 16 magnetically-held modular slats. Each slat is reversible, with 2 distinctly different sides made from reclaimed & re-purposed woods. These 32 different sides allow thousands of potential combinations.

The vintage woods comprising this particular table include:  salvaged solid acacia wood, salvaged oak, salvaged rustic pallet woods with distressed color finish, and vintage wood crates (featuring fragments of original branding and/or typography).

You can find the table @ the magnetgrain Etsy shop

Related: more eco home decor discoveries on The Alternative Consumer

The product has vast, global potential, particularly in developing countries where there is an urgent need for water purification. It will be interesting to see how Philips plans to market its product worldwide.

Related: more green gadgets featured on The Alternative Consumer