Trends

Trend Watch: Eco Ethos

Going sustainable doesn't mean sacrificing quality.

By Julia Dilworth /

With one eye on the climate crisis, brands and designers are focusing on handmade originals crafted from wood and ceramic, and a cradle-to-cradle product cycle: ingenious solutions and timeless investment pieces that can be reupholstered again and again as they move through the generations.

€œBuying responsibly and knowing where your pieces come from, who made them, what the materials are and what their impact is on the environment is not only eco-friendly,€ says designer Francesca Albertazzi of Rudy Winston Design, €œit also fills your home with even more stories than your personal ones.€

In Fashion

Discarded scraps from French fashion houses find their way into the Moroccan chiffon Marrakesh stool ($979), handmade and made to order. simons.ca

To the Cloud

Made in Vancouver from sustainable materials, the Mimoko Cloud self-watering porcelain planter ($130) with lichen-glaze crackling will buoy any indoor succulent. orlingandwu.com

On and On

From Barber and Osgerby for Emeco comes the On and On chair ($390) made from 70-percent waste plastic (from bottles that would otherwise end up in a landfill), 10 percent non-toxic pigment and 20-percent glass fibre. kitinteriorobjects.com

Primary Concern

Bamboo requires not a drop of fertilizer to reach great heights, and self-regenerates from its own roots. Here it is, all sustainable and cute, as the material for Poketo's primary colour bamboo dinner plates (set of four, $58). shop.vanspecial.com

Hide and Sleep

Turn an office into a guest room with the Nuovoliola 10 transforming wall bed sofa in rusty mustard velvet (from $12,555). Its Smart Green mattress is made with 100-percent biodegradable materials, including an organic cotton fibre cover and eco-green foam core layer for sweet dreams. resourcefurniture.com

Bright Idea

U.K.-based Tala believes in €œconservation through beauty€ and makes decorative LED bulbs retrofitted for other lamps, from the two-watt Candle bulb ($16) to the large Voronoi III bulb ($595). lightform.ca

Sk8er Boi

EWB bench ($2,250). adrianmartinus.com

€œI'm a huge fan of AdrianMartinus. They€™re a Calgary-based company that has been producing goods made out of recycled skateboards.€€“Kevin Mitchell, Mitchell Design House

Big Entertainers

Square paddle charcuterie board ($210). steelwooddesign.com

€œSteelwood Design is a small local company that makes stunning handmade wooden cutting boards. Each piece is crafted from repurposed wood and has a story. A perfect example of when beauty and sustainability meet. €“Erin Chow, The Haven Collective 

Julia Dilworth

Julia Dilworth