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Post tags: adaptive re-use, Art, boom boxes, boomcase, Creative Re-use, Design, eco design, green design, Mr. Simo, music, recycled, up-cycling, vintage suitcases

Groopti – the website that combines crowdsourcing with bespoke manufacturing – just unveiled its latest cardboard creation, this time from designer Svetlana Kozhenova. Simply called “ECO” this modular set can be used to create tables, chairs, benches, or lounges with slim slots for storing magazines or books. These crevices give ECO blocks the appearance of a perfectly geometric fractured rock, but with the added green benefit of being crafted entirely from recycled cardboard!

Read the rest of Groopti’s Recycled Cardboard ECO Blocks Can be Stacked to Form Tables, Chairs, and Benches

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Post tags: bespoke, cardboard furniture, Chair, corrugate, craft, crowd sourcing, Eco, groopti, low volume manufacturing, recycled, Sustainable, table, website

Today Groopti expanded their fun cardboard furniture series with their brand new Urban Tree coat hanger. The design was conceived by Gerardo Belmonte and then selected for production using Groopti’s method of crowdsourcing opinions from design enthusiasts. The Urban Tree is composed of 6 legs and 5 rings that are machine cut from 90% recycled corrugated cardboard. Each piece is cut from layers of corrugated board to ensure that the coat stand is extremely sturdy, and the legs and rings can be easily assembled without screws, nails, or adhesives.

Read the rest of Urban Tree: Groopti Unveils Colorful New Recycled Cardboard Coat Rack

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Post tags: "green furniture", "sustainable furniture", cardboard furniture, coat stand, Eco, eco design, eco furniture, Gerardo Belmonte, green design, groopti, launch, product design, recycled, Sustainable, sustainable design, UV Printing

Read the rest of Top 10 Crazy Christmas Trees Made from Bottles, Bikes, Shopping Carts and More!

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Post tags: alternative, alternative christmas trees, alternative holiday trees, articfial, Christmas, crazy, crazy trees, decorations, Eco, eco christmas tree, eco trees, Holiday, man made, man made trees, projector trees, recycled, recycled material trees, recycled trees, Sustainable, Sustainable Christmas Tree, tree graphics, Trees, upcycled, winter

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Post tags: adaptive reuse, Airstream, Airstream conversion, Cape Town, eco design, exclusive pics, Grand Daddy Hotel, green design, long street, modern design, recycled, rooftop hotel, South Africa, sustainable design, trailer park hotel, urban development

Read the rest of DIY: How To Make a Beautiful Holiday Wreath in 5 Easy Steps

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Post tags: Christmas, crafts, diy christmas projects, diy easy projetcs, diy fabric wreaths, diy holiday projects, diy wreath, eco wreaths, fabric wreaths, holiday wreath, holiday wreaths, hot to make a wreath, how-to, instructions, recycled, remnant, scrap fabric, Sustainable, upcycled

We remember a time when furnishings made from salvaged materials were considered too avant-garde for mainstream businesses, but international ad agency Digitas proves that era is all in the past with their funky new Chicago headquarters! The company commissioned Torchia Architects to turn wooden pallets, a shipping container, and other salvaged materials into an inspiring space on the 11th floor of a downtown Chicago building. This colorful mixed-use office space is further enlivened with urban graffiti and color to create an environment that is ideal for manufacturing cutting-edge ideas.

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Post tags: Art, chicago, Digitas, eco design, Environment, factory of ideas, green design, green materials, recycled, Recycled Materials, shipping container, sustainable design, torchia, upcycled, upcycled materials, urban grafitti, Windy City

Read the rest of BOOK REVIEW: Salvage Secrets by Joanne Palmisano

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Post tags: book, book giveaway, book review, eco design, giveaway, Green Building, green design, green interiors, joanne palmisano, reader giveaway, Reclaimed, Reclaimed Materials, recycled, Recycled Materials, salvage secrets, Salvaged, salvaged materials, sustainable design, w.w. norton

Read the rest of A Better World by Design Expo Showcases Creative Innovation

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Post tags: 1/2 Project, 2011, a better world by design, A Better World by Design 2011, A Better World by Design conference, A Better World by Design conference 2011, brown, brown university, Competition, conference, Consumer Product Challenge, DCI Consumer Product Challenge, design for a better world, Design Global Change, Designer Journals, developing world, earth-friendly socially conscious, Easy Island, eco design, Expo, green design, I Am a To Go Box, inhabitat, product design, providence, recycled, Recycled Materials, responsible design, rhode island, rhode island school of design, risd, social entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, socially-conscious design, student conference, student expo, Sustainability, sustainable design, The Weather Skwirel, Trilife Ecotray, world design, zambikes

Read the rest of Oracle Beater: Bike-Powered Paper Mill Turns Invasive Plants Into Paper in Ghana

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", a better world by design, A Better World by Design conference, bicycle powered, bike powered, brown, brown university, Competition, conference, design for a better world, developing world, eco design, Expo, fine art paper, fine paper, Ghana, green design, handmade paper, inhabitat, Kumasi, Lee McDonald, Mary Hark, mulberry plant, Oracle Beater, paper-making, pedal power, pedal powered, product design, recycled, Recycled Materials, recycled textiles, responsible design, rhode island school of design, risd, social design, social entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, socially conscious, socially-conscious design, student conference, Sustainability, sustainable design, Sustainable Materials, textile scraps, world design

These recycled rubber roof shingles from Euroshield are an economic as well as environmentally responsible green building material. Made from 75% recycled materials, they’re designed to replicate classic thick chiselled-edge slate shingles. They’re also extremely durable, making them a dependable investment for any homeowner.

Read the rest of Euroshield Eco-Friendly Roof Shingles Made from Recycled Tires

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Post tags: Architecture, eco design, eco-friendly, Euroshield, green building materials" title="Euroshield Recycled Rubber Shingles, green design, recycled, Recycled Materials, roof, Roofing, rubber, Shingle, sustainable design, tiles

Read the rest of PHOTOS: Artists Transform Trash Into Eco-Art at NYC Exhibit

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Post tags: al wadzinski, Art, environmental protection agency, green artist, kim holleman, michael kareken, new york city, ny studio gallery, recycled, Recycled Materials, recycling, stephen mallon, trash art, zeina assaf

Only FOUR DAYS left to win a TRIP FOR SIX to Napa Valley!

We here at Inhabitat have a penchant for multi-tasking items, but we especially love when we discover a whole new use for something we thought to be underwhelming and ordinary! This month HP is on the hunt for your exciting stories of inspired reuse in their Reimagine ROI contest (disclosure: HP is an Inhabitat advertiser), where they’re asking you to share how you creatively reused something in an unexpected way. Whether you’re like Ecouterre editor Jasmin who discovered that ice cube trays were the perfect way to store leftovers, or like Inhabitat founder Jill who started using her solar backpack as a conversation starter – we want to hear your stories!

Submissions will be accepted up until October 31st, so you have just FOUR more days to enter on HP’s site. And if what you’ve got to share is especially ingenious, you could walk away with one of HP’s amazing prizes, including: sweet new HP Probooks, smart phones, and the GRAND PRIZE: an amazing trip for six to Northern California’s Napa Wine Valley!

ENTER YOUR STORY HERE>

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Post tags: giveaway, green design, hp, laptop case, laptop sleeve, multiuse products, napa valley, recycled, reimagining roi, return on investment, reused, shipping envelope, using technology to get a date, voltaic solar backpack, win a trip to napa valley, wireless router

Swedish design collective Oddbirds has produced a beautiful range of interior objects, accessories and textiles by creatively combining old, new and recycled materials. This series of unique lamps is made from lost and found, rediscovered, and inherited tableware. Each lamp is made of pieces from various coffee and tea sets, and the designers are not shy of combining the chunky and rustic with the delicate and dear, which may be the secret to their success.

Read the rest of Oddbirds: Unique Lamps Made From Lost and Found Tableware

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Post tags: green design, lamps, Oddbirds, porcelain, recycled, recycled material, reused materials, sustainable design, Swedish design, tableware, teacup lamps, upcycled

We love the mantra “recycle, reduce, reuse” – but what about reusing something in an unexpected way? This month HP is looking for your stories of inspired creative reuse in their HP Reimagine ROI contest (disclosure: HP is an Inhabitat advertiser). Whether you’re like Ecouterre editor Jasmin who discovered that ice cube trays were the perfect way to save leftovers, or like Inhabitat editor Yuka who turned a simple Fedex bubble envelope into a crafty laptop case, we want to know how you found a surprising new use for a mundane object! Submissions will be accepted up until October 31st, and the best of the bunch will be featured on the HP ROI for all to share. And if a chance to spread your newfound knowledge isn’t enough for you, HP is also giving a bounty of goodies to their favorite entrants; including sweet new HP Probooks, smart phones, and the grand prize: an amazing trip for six to Northern California’s Napa Wine Valley!

ENTER YOUR STORY HERE>

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Post tags: Creative Reuse, giveaway, green design, green reuse, hewlett packard, hp, HP Roi, laptop case, laptop sleeve, multiuse products, napa valley, recycled, reimagine roi, reimagining roi, return on investment, reused, shipping envelope, using technology to get a date, voltaic solar backpack, win a trip to napa valley, wireless router

Here at Inhabitat we hate the word ‘waste’, so we get really excited when we discover products that can do double (or even triple) duty beyond their intended use. This month, some of our Inhabitat team shared their stories of finding surprising returns in mundane objects on the HP Reimagine ROI website (disclosure: HP is an Inhabitat advertiser); marketing guru Kevin shared how his wireless modem landed him a date, Ecouterre editor Jasmin talked about how ice cube trays were the perfect way to save leftovers, Inhabitat editor Yuka shared how to turn a Fedex bubble envelope into a crafty laptop case, and our very own Editor-in-Chief Jill shared her story on how she made new friends with her solar-powered backpack. But what we really want to know is: do you have a story of inspired creative reuse like this? Share it with us and you could win an all-expenses-paid trip in scenic Napa Valley, California!

Submissions will be accepted up until October 31st, and the best stories of surprising ROI discoveries will be featured on the HP website for all to share. HP is also giving a bounty of goodies to their favorite entrants; including sweet new HP Probooks, smart phones, and the grand prize: an amazing trip for six to Northern California’s Napa Wine Valley, where one can breathe in the fresh air, unwind and reboot.

ENTER YOUR STORY HERE>

Disclosure: HP is an Inhabitat advertiser, and this post is sponsored by HP

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Post tags: Creative Reuse, green design, green reuse, hewlett packard, hp, HP Roi, laptop case, laptop sleeve, multiuse products, recycled, reimagine roi, reimagining roi, return on investment, reused, shipping envelope, using technology to get a date, wireless router

This modern bench/lounger was created by San Diego-based Crawford Creative Studio using sustainable, up-cycled materials. Unable to find any pre-made outdoor furniture to fit their small urban patio space, the designers chose the ubiquitous Ikea “Lack” coffee table as a building block. “They’re available used for about $4-6 a piece,” said Charles Crawford, “they’re strong, uniform and colorful, and in areas around Ikea stores, they’re basically a readily available resource. They’re like the wood of the Ikea tree.” The studio has also used the tables to make other furnishings such as clocks and lamps, and also as canvasses for artwork.

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Post tags: "green furniture", bench, charles crawford, crawford creative studio, green design, green products, ikea, lounger, Reclaimed, recycled, upcycled

This month HP is asking for individuals to submit stories about how they found a surprising alternative use for an everyday object. One of our writers Kevin Dalias wasn’t shy about sharing his story about how his Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL router got him a date — and no, we’re not talking about how Kevin used his new internet connection to sign up for eHarmony. Read ahead for his hilarious story about how a network ID flame war in his apartment building garnered him some new friends and lovely evening with one lucky lady. And if you’re feeling especially inspired you can tell us about your own surprising uses for commonplace items here!

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Post tags: giveaway, giveaways, green design, hp, Kevin dalias, multiuse products, napa valley, recycled, reimagining roi, return on investment, reused, using technology to get a date, win a trip to napa valley, wireless router

This awesomely quirky and colorful chest of drawers that we spotted at this year’s London Design Festival is like a furniture Frankenstein – and we mean that in the best way possible. Designer Zoe Murphy takes old pieces that have fallen from favor and combines them to make a totally new creation. The beautiful patterns and imagery that adorn the front of the drawers are inspired by her hometown of Margate.

+ Zoe Murphy

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Post tags: "green furniture", "sustainable furniture", Chest, Drawers, eco design, eco furniture, green design, ldf, London Design Festival, recycled, upcycled, Zoe Murphy

Did you ever buy something for one purpose and then discover a totally unexpected new use for it? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me when I bought a simple overnight shipping envelope and found out it was the perfect shape and size to be a new (free) laptop sleeve. Check out the whole funny story and tell us about your own surprising uses for things you purchased here!

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Post tags: green design, hp, laptop case, laptop sleeve, recycled, reimagining roi, return on investment, reused, shipping envelope