Trim The Waste: Zero-Waste Design

Here’s a quick Q&A: 1. Do you eat organic food?

2. Do you bring cloth bags with you when you go shopping?

3. Do you recycle?

4. Do you compost?

5. Do you buy clothes that are made from leftover scraps of fabric?

If you checked the first four in the affirmative, and puzzled over why you are even answering number 5, you’re not alone. The question never even entered my eco-radar either. What's it all about?

“Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it’s a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Apparel industry professionals say that about 15 to 20 percent of the fabric used to produce clothing winds up in the nation’s landfills because it’s cheaper to dump the scraps than to recycle them.”

Want to find out if zero-waste fashion is coming to a store near you? CLICK HERE FOR MORE

3 Things I Want to Say About The Clinton Wedding

While I was on vacation, Chelsea Clinton got married in my hometown. I watched from afar and observed my beautiful village getting swept up in the media frenzy. My generally calm, cool and collected friends were awash with celeb-fever. Maybe I would have been too if I wasn’t so removed (thankfully) from all the action.

Here are 3 things I want to say about the wedding:

1. They got married in a remarkable estate that I have had the privilege to visit. I was invited for a meeting at Astor Courts this past spring and took these photos. I was awestruck by its majestic beauty. Many homes along the Hudson River are steeped in rich history and well preserved. Most have been updated in period styles laden with heavy decorative detailing. The current owner has taken the genteel roots of this home and paid homage to both its architecture and spectacular surroundings. Without being bland or overly muted, the space is saturated in neutrals. There is a dynamic juxtaposition of contrasting textures, fabrics, and shapes that is anything but stagnant. It’s a perfect backdrop for a wedding.

clinton-wedding2

This New York Timesarticle describes how the estate, designed by architect Stanford White, was brought back to life.

2. For whatever reason (and there is much speculation about Chelsea’s gluten-free, meet-free diet), the menu was vegan and the wedding claimed to be green. Wedding menus can run the gamut from roast beef to raw, but a vegan menu encompasses a lifestyle choice that obviously works for Chelsea and her new husband. Some may have found it limiting, but the couple's decision was respected. You've gotta love that.

3. I wish them all the best, and thank them for choosing my little town on the Hudson while I am far, far away from the hoopla (and paparazzi), enjoying the gifts of my own family, the sun and the sea.

Rock, Paper…Table

Brazilian designer Domingos Tótora's table appears to be balanced on large stones. Right? On closer inspection, the Agua Table is easy to move, eco-friendly, and no stones were harmed in the making of it. The table is created from recycled cardboard. Check out these amazing photos of the artisan's process behind making the Agua Table via Contemporist:

Close To The Nest

I recently published an article, For Every Bird An Empty Nest: A Knitted Nest To Make with the knitting pattern for the nest above, and a peek into my feelings about my own empty nest. While in the process of creating that post, I came across so many vibrant images of nests, both real and imagined. Here are a few:

Andy Goldsworthy Nest

Leftover Yarn Nest via Flickr

Knitted/Felted Nest

Felted Nesting Bowls (pattern)

Lotus Nesting Bowls

Lucinne Day Vintage Fabric Nest

Nils-Udo Nest

What's happening in your nest?

Making Stuff From Stuff

It’s one of those eerily beautiful, rainy days here in the Hudson Valley. We’ve hardly had any rain to balance the assault of crazy hot, humid stickiness that’s enveloped the area. The summery mood and dimly-filtered lighting is just delightful for creating projects that may have been put on the back burner because it was just too damn hot. I love creating stuff from found stuff. It is especially sweet when the stuff is free, the directions are self-explanatory and the materials are mostly natural

I’ve seen this project done before, but this morning I followed the links around the globe to find the source of the images of this simple project. My pointing and clicking started in the Netherlands at the Stylefiles (a fabulously creative site for interior design inspiration), which took me to Poppytalk from Vancouver. It’s a design blog that collects inspiration from emerging design talent. One such talent hails over at the totally awe-inspiring, aqui pelo campo blog from Portugal, which is the source of these photos.

No DIY directions needed for this one. Just create this rustic and functional coat rack from a few sturdy branches, a piece of nicely weathered leftover wood and some nails. Then relish in the satisfaction of making stuff from stuff.