Eco-Friendlies
A little bit Steampunk, a tad industrial loft makeover, these upcycled KOZO lamps are being produced by a 7-member collective called DEMO Design Clinic working out of Florentin (Tel Aviv’s Williamsburg doppelgänger)…
While perusing the child-centric wares of one of my favorite Tel Aviv shops, Carousella, I came across these oversized baskets by Franco-Senegalese company Europ’Africa Deco…
Our baby niece Lir is pretty much the apple of YZ’s and my eye, making it hard to resist buying her every little cute thing that we come across. But, when we stumbled upon a beautiful striped bunny by Tel Aviv label Timo in a boutique in Jaffa, we just had to add the critter to Lir’s collection of toys. Totally in line with Lir’s parent’s philosophy of hugging (not mugging) the earth, each toy is…
Your Lo’s List London correspondents have recently moved into new, unfurnished digs in Islington and, as you can imagine, we’ve had flat-pack on our minds for weeks. But while it’s all well and good to put together beds and shelves with nothing more than Allen keys and some frustrating pegs, some pieces of furniture demand more care in their selection. With all the hours we spend at our computers each day, the choice of a perfect writing desk was always going to be a difficult one. What a relief, then, that a weekend trip to the Columbia Road flower market and Brick Lane led us right to the door of Unto This Last…
Ever wonder what the Hoopoe (national bird of Israel) looks like in the creatively bursting brain of Tel Aviv-based illustrator/art director Gal Shkedi? Well, thanks to this uber-approachable ad campaign by BBDO Israel for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, you now know: scruffy and chamood (cute) but a wee bit depressed-looking too — the standard chasm that exists in so many of Shkedi’s riotous characters…
Well, it’s old news that we’re killing the planet and along with it, many of these adorable fuzzy creatures! Need some crappy stats to scare you into action? The Nonlife Zoo’s mission statement is chock full of them. How about this doozy: “more than one kind of species vanishes from earth daily”…
Despite all our efforts here at Lo’s List to bring you the best of art, design and commerce on the internet, there should be little doubt of what the world-wide-web, regretably, is really for: the sharing of sneezing pandas, short-sighted manatees and, now, these adorable, tottering baby sloths. Shot at the Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica, this video features our Folivoran friends doing what they do best: sleeping, yawning, falling over, eating, sleeping, hanging from stuff while asleep, eating stuff while apparently asleep, scratching their butts and sleeping. No other creature that we know of has evolved quite this degree of somnambulatory excellence.
If you’ve ever been an allergy sufferer or lived with one or witnessed one trying to walk from one side of a park to the other you probably know that the whole thing is just a miserable cross to bear. Although I don’t seem to be allergic to a damned thing, my little sidekick of ten years, Goobie the Cat, was pretty much deathly allergic to it all…
The Dutch really know how to pinch a penny — something I learned over and over from my mother growing up. Sometimes the philosophy doesn’t work (ie. having to sport knock-off Converse All Stars from Payless during the painful years of junior high) but other times hits it on the nose: like these adorable polka dot- and garland-clad vintage plates, pitchers and other kitchenwares by Nina Invorm. The buck doesn’t stop there: check out her brighter-than-a-rainbow blog for eye candy galore!
The sun is doing its thing and from our desk here at Lo’s List we can hear the magpies, bluejay and cardinals in the garden singing up a storm. As a city dweller, the return of these birdsongs is a sure sign that spring is here and, thus, summer around the corner! So, in honor of this warm-weather heraldry: a bright collection of our top ten birdhouses and feeders! Hang your favorite on your fire escape (or sprawling porch) and you’ll be sure to lure some local feathered friends right up to your window — a perfect reminder of the world out there beyond your computer screen / twitter stream / MyFace feed, etc…. (and a great distraction for Goobie the Cat!)
“Skate decks eventually see their life shortened by snapping, cracking and/or wearing out. Purchasing new decks is a never-ending cycle and this was evident by the tower of old decks that were reaching to the ceiling of my room. We can’t throw away these decks because they hold sentimental meanings to us. I looked at these unusable decks every day and thought there must be something I can make with these. I decided to make some accessories with the old decks and this was the birth of Harvest…”
Inspired by the glorious spring weather that we’ve been having in Brooklyn the past few days, I went sleuthing around the interwebs in search of some out-of-the-ordinary bikes and discovered Republic: a Florida-based, online bike boutique that lets you customize your two-wheeler from saddle to skirt!
What’s not to fall for? Knickers that feel good and make you feel good about your impact on Earth. The smarts, style, and social-awareness behind PACT comes as no surprise considering the brainpower fueling the brand: business partners Jason Kibbey & Jeff Denby, self-proclaimed polar-opposites:
1Eding:Post’s Picnica Bunny Bag$27
2Angharad Mclaren’s Recycled Climbing-Rope Mat£68
3Singgih Kartono Magno Sustainable Radio$200
4Freitag F74 Bob Bag$300
5Esque Studio's Recycled Glass Slump Vases$285
6Handmade Bird Calls by Sweet Bella$36
7Bamboosk8’s 100% Bamboo Skateboard Decks$45
8De Paper Bag By Jos Vandermeulen$20
9The TransNeomatic Bowl by Fernando and Humberto Campana$89
10Recycled Bike-Chain Bottle Openers by Resource Revival$14
With a planet that is drowning in trash and choked by pollution, any company that makes the effort to be greener gets the “We Are Good People” badge in my book. When that company manages to highlight the “eco” side of their products in a way that sparks the imagination and demonstrates how far one can go with ecologically-forward thinking, well, that warrants a big freaking gold star.
