Henry Sofa : FSC Love

West Elm's Henry Sofa
We went to West Elm today. Great store, great furniture and decor, great prices...
and I fell in love with their Henry sofa. Simple, unassuming, and devilishly comfortable; the Henry caught our attention from a distance. Things only got better as we swarmed in a little closer. The price was a mouth dropping $699, which was appealing. The little tag on the side is what really made me excited about the little guy:
1) Solid wood frame made with FSC wood. (Forest Stewardship Council's sustainably harvested wood is one of the highest standards in the industry)
2) The springs in the couch are made with 70% recycled metals
3) The Foam in the seating and arms is made with 20% soy
4) The pillow filling is made with recycled water bottles
5) The padding/fiber on the seat is made with recycled carpeting

With a price and aesthetic like that, along with a curriculum vitae that would make Al Gore nervous, what's not to love?

Sheep Poo Paper - Sustaina-baaa!

http://www.free-cute-backgrounds.com/

Just when you thought the "paper-from-dung" blog posts were put to rest...

Creative Paper Wales (a company from, you guessed it... Wales) had to go and pull out the sustainable-card and make us take another look.

Sheep Poo Paper is exactly what it sounds like - a sheep only digests about 50% of the cellulose fibers it eats - leaving behind an unlikely starting point for beautifully textured papers. The Sheep Poo Paper products are fun and quirky, (from the I love Ewe cards to the cute black sheep version of their mascot) and they are 100% tree-free. 

Sheep Poo Paper seems to be more costly than the Elephant Poo version - who would have guessed ? I'm not really sure how one would make the stretch from timber to poop when deciding on raw materials from paper, but I am certainly glad that someone did. Repurposing ? 

Baaaaaa humbug. This is all upcycle, baby.

Learn more at http://www.sheeppoopaper.com/

First FSC Certified Mail to arrive to my new address

Of all the many papers that have arrived to my new mailbox, I haven't received mail (that wasn't paper samples) that was printed on Forest Stewardship Certified (FSC) Paper. Invoices, statements, junk mail... flyers, coupons, discount cards.... a full month of paper. Oh - all that paper. Someone finally decided to wreak less havoc on trees and send me the first FSC certified mail of the month - and the winner is.....

Don't get me wrong - I love Ecosia. (See Ecosia post.) I love the idea behind the Ecosia Search Engine Plan. I love that searches can have a positive effect on the rainforest, but not only was Google's paper FSC certified, but it also had a Data Matrix / QR Code printed on it to boot. Sustainable and tech-hip.
Ecosia:

Run Forest Run !

The only thing I could ask for from Google is that they would use FSC paper that is 100% recycled with a high percentage of post consumer waste instead of "Mixed Sources". (FSC Mixed Sources Label: fiber comes from FSC certified forests in addition to recycled fiber and/or fiber from non-FSC certified controlled sources.)