Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Apple Abandons EPEAT Standard Removes all 39 Products

Since I started SISG in 2007 I've always been fascinated by the development of green standards and certifications and have covered them extensively.  Some of the more influential ones like FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and MSC (Marine Stweardship Council) provide consumers with criteria to help evaluate the sustainablity of products they purchase.

It was a surprise when the news broke that Apple had notified EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) to pull all of its 39 certified products from the EPEAT green products list.

EPEAT like many green standards work by being accepted by consumers and adopted by manufacturers/companies. 

EPEAT is widely used by businesses, government agencies and academic institutions as factor in the purchase of new computers or electornic equipment. 

The WSJ has reported EPEAT is used as a factor in the purchase of electronic equipment by 222 of the 300 universities with the largest endowments and 70 of those 300 institutions required EPEAT certification for purchase.

Speculation online has turned to the new Apple Macbook Pro with Retina display as the product that may have prompted the move.  IFixit published a fascinating piece where they concluded the new Apple laptop is virtually impossible to deconstruct.  The ability for a product to be broken down after use for recycling is a key component of EPEAT certification.

So what exactly is going on here?  Has Apple concluded design is more important than the enviornment?

 

Provenance Reuseful gets Packaging Redeign from Jog Ltd, Wins Award

 

Provenance makes homeware products from recycled, reclaimed and renewable materials. The company has high ecological standards.  Provenance products are manufactured exclusively from ecological materials: 100% reclaimed teak (100% post consumer waste), 100% recycled glass (100% post consumer waste), 100% renewable cork (100% sustainably harvested).

 

When the company was looking at redesigning its packaging its requirements were strict, whatever packaging was used must share the same standards as its products.

 

Provenance turned to London-based Jog LTD to develop its new packaging.

 

Fiona Hamilton from Jog told SISG by email, "Strong orange is used for the boxes to draw attention to the display, the corrugated board for these boxes is 100% recycled (100% post-consumer waste), and is left unbranded to encourage reuse (but can be easily recycled). It is self-coloured to make any in-store damage less visible, reducing the need for re-boxing."

 

Branding is restricted to the paper sleeves, which are made from 80% recycled paper (80% post consumer waste with 20% eco-pulp from FSC-certified sources), with minimal ink coverage and no foil blocking to ensure they can be readily recycled. Sleeves minimize waste when adapting packaging to different languages.

 

Where products are boxed, the sleeve carries a simple line drawing to identify the contents instead of photography for a cleaner aesthetic, as the retailer will always display the physical products. Where possible, cut-outs frame the material of each product, drawing attention to it as much as to the completed product, which should only be one form the material takes in a wider journey of recycling.

 

Like the products themselves, all Provenance packaging is made from materials that are 100% recyclable.

 

Jog LTD's work on the Provenance packaging didn't go unnoticed the agency took home a Gold award at the 2012 European Design Awards.

 

Plumen 001 Designer Eco Lightbulbs Coming to U.S. Market

Eco conscious lighting has until now been almost exclusively designed for functionality and efficiency. 

Plumen has changed that with the Plumen 001 billed as the worlds first designer low energy light bulb.

Designed by Hulger and Samuel Wilkinson the bulb is a modern take on the Edison bulb with a dynamic sculptured form far different than the rather dull but functional designs of most CFL lights. 

Plumen gets its name from the word 'plume' - a bird's show feather, designed to attract attention to a bird's prowess and beauty. 

The Plumen 001 has tremendous potential for both residential and commerical / retail applications.

The Plumen 001 has been available in Europe but coming in late April it will be available in a version designed for the US market. 

The 001 draws 11 watts and produces 680 lumens with a lifespan of about eight years.

I'm excited about the Plumen 001 - anything to encourage more people to use and incorporate energy efficient lighting is a positive in my mind.  Designers will love this light.

A Plumen low-energy concept light bulb is part of the permanent collection at MoMA.

Plumen 001 @ Storm in Copenhagen

Henri Bendel Hosts Eco Exhibit: Living Perfume: the Natural Alchemy of Mandy Aftel

Check Henri Bendel on Fifth Avenue in NYC for an interesting "pop-up" exhibit, Living Perfume: the Natural Alchemy of Mandy Aftel.  The exhibit features the perfume, craft, and collections of Aftel who is often considered the world’s leading natural perfumer.  Aftel has also launched her latest perfume, Lumiere at the three week event.

The exhibit, dedicated to the sense of smell, aromatics and the art of natural perfume, features Aftel’s body of work - her perfumes and oils, research and writings and personal library of rare books, graphics, and artifacts. 

“We are thrilled to be able to bring perfumer Mandy Aftel’s art, and collection to the world. The exhibit will be a rare window into her creative process, an important educational opportunity and an unparalleled aesthetic experience,” said Julie Anixter, organizer of the event and Chief Marketing Officer of Brandimage, Desgrippes & Laga. 

“This experiential in-store exhibition is as multi-layered - literally and figuratively - as Aftel’s fine all-natural perfumes.”

Sculptural forms made from smooth, silhouetted layers of white sustainable eco-board suggest the sensuality of natural elements - trees, stone formations, a forest path - while paralleling the layers of perfume and invoking the mystery and beauty of scent. The space is designed to “impose” itself into the store environment in the way that a tree would grow on a busy urban street.

“Henri Bendel is such a vibrant and ‘complete’ environment that the challenge we faced was how to ‘disrupt’ the environment in a way that would draw people to the third floor and into the exhibit from that glorious atrium, and then enthrall them with Mandy’s art and the journey inside,” says Jeremy Dawkins, Executive Creative Director of Brandimage, Desgrippes & Laga.

Eco Design & Packaging

The Living Perfume exhibit was developed and installed using the responsible design principles of sustainable materials and eco-friendly sourcing. Sculptural forms made from silhouetted layers of white sustainable eco-board create natural elements — trees, stone formations, and a forest path. The exhibit is constructed of Xanita recycled post-consumer and 100% re-pulpable materials, E-Core Plus (EC+) structured light weight boards, and contains no formaldehyde, toxins or wax. After the event, most of the fixtures will remain in their current space, converting into Bendel bookstore fixtures as well as for the retailer to use for future exhibit rentals.

Packaging giant MeadWestvaco's Personal & Beauty Care team developed an exclusive gift package for the launch of Lumiere.  Only 12 of the special gift sets were developed for the event each was signed by Aftel and available at the debut.  MeadWestvaco designed and produced the paperboard-based packaging which hold all of the Aftelier perfumes, including the new Lumiere.

Where:  Henri Bendel Fifth Avenue New York - 3rd Floor through May 11th.

Hammarby: Swedish Eco-Suburb of the Future

BY ALEXANDER HOGAN

Good design can change the world. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the community of Hammarby, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. Once an industrial wasteland claimed by gangs as their territory, good design and careful planning have transformed this urban blight into an up and coming global model for eco-minded change. 

Change. No other word or motto seems more vital and timely today. And what’s so appealing and interesting about the Hammarby model is the complete transformation that it embodies. Every building has been designed to meet the goals of reducing waste, specifically CO2 emissions. Roofs conceal solar panels, hand rails also hold solar strips to fuel the energy needs of this community. 

The design community, guided by the demands and desires of the citizenry and planners has created a fully integrated eco-city. A trip to the city website offers you a chance to investigate more of the philosophy and goals behind this rising suburban community. Don’t worry if your Swedish is rusty, an English language site is available and fully functional. The site notes

“The core of the environmental and infrastructural planning can be summarized in an eco-cycle model. The model for the handling of energy, waste and water is known as the Hammarby Model. It has been developed by Fortum, Stockholm Water Company and the Stockholm Waste Management Administration.”

In other words the community of Hammarby Sjostad hopes to emit half the CO2 of other new housing areas. They propose to do this by reforming water and sewage technology, recycling, reforming design to keep healthy, environmentally sound materials in mind, and developing buildings which use renewable fuels.  Consumers are drawn to the area because of an active choice to live in an area in which the very buildings themselves embody their values. 

So are the Swedish some group of super eco-logical thinkers? No, they simply made the choice to organize and plan out collectively their goals. We have the same opportunity now in the United States. If we organize as consumers and as communities and lay out a set of objectives we can accomplish them through design and responsible consumerism in the same way that the citizens and planners of Hammarby accomplished their dream city. Collective action and dialogue is just as important for social change in this century as it has been in every century past. Sure, let Hammarby be a model, but let our own intellects guide our way. 

Having traveled extensively on three continents, Alexander Hogan has seen the impact of environmental degradation and unreflective consumerism in many different societies. He is a professor of political science and author of the blog The Happy Gentleman where he documents his life as a foodie, amateur photographer and advocate of responsible consumerism. Contact him at letsemailalexander@gmail.com

Hearst Tower

On Friday I had the opportunity to tour Hearst Tower with Hearst Senior V.P. for Integrated Media, Jeff Hamill.

Hearst Tower is Norman Foster's magnificent creation on 57th & 8th Avenue in NYC and is the new home to the Hearst Corporation. 

Foster preserved six stories of Joseph Urban's original Hearst Building to serve as a base for his new tower design.  Using the original building's outer structure creates a wonderful open atrium at the base of the new Hearst Tower. 

Hearst Tower is the first office building in NYC to receive a Gold LEED rating from the US Green Building Council.

The atrium includes the Icefall sculpture, a two-story structure of 595 separate hand cast glass blocks with constantly varying computer controlled water flowing.   The Icefall cascading waterfall is fueled by rainwater collected on the roof of the building.  The sculpture provides a wonderful welcome to visitors as well as serving to humidify the atrium. 

Icefall serves as a base for Richard Long's enormous Riverlines fresco which is the primary focal point in the atrium. 

Hearst Tower is a marvel of design and efficiency.  It is supported by a steel diagrid and twelve angled mega columns.  From the exterior the building looks like a series of four story triangular frames. 

The building layout is just amazing.  The 44th floor offers spectacular views of the city and offers conference and meeting facilities for staff.  Hallways on the 43 and 44th floors are lined with spectacular art from the Hearst collection including several pieces from Chinese installation and pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang. 

I had the opportunity to see the Good Housekeeping test labs on the 29th floor of Hearst Tower.  Here Good Housekeeping Magazine tests and evaluates a wide range of products and awards the Good Housekeeping Seal.  The Good Housekeeping lab was designed by the New York firm C& R Partners in conjunction with Foster & Partners.

I was impressed by the Hearst Tower and the company's setup in their new home.  Its a dramatic improvement for the company and its employees.

photos: Foster + Partners