Design
Shipping your shelter: Amazon joins the tiny house movement
More and more families are seeking out smaller living spaces and pursuing minimalism for lower environmental impact and clarity of mind. And now, with many jurisdictions lowering the bar on building accessory dwelling units on lots zoned for single-family homes, building a small house in your Read More...
This compostable packaging for mushrooms is made out of…mushrooms
Packaging made from mushrooms, for mushrooms, is being tested in the hope that it will keep the fungi fresher longer. Christchurch mushroom grower, Meadow Mushrooms, is trialing the packaging it has developed and made from mushroom stalks, for its own products. The 50-year-old family business Read More...
Meat from Plants, Milk from Oats, and Leather from Mushrooms!
Leather has been worn for centuries and remains an iconic material for fashion today. But leather is not perfect. It requires livestock which requires many resources and the foul treatment of animals and produces millions of tons of waste per year. The word “leather” is quickly becoming Read More...
This compostable food packaging was made using wasted shellfish shells
Wrapping food in plastic does serve a purpose. A plastic-wrapped cucumber at a supermarket may seem egregious, but the vegetable lasts longer and is less likely to end up as food waste; throwing out food can have an even bigger impact on the environment than the plastic itself. But the system’s Read More...
Make your home a greener place with this terrarium table
If you want to add more greenery to your home but don’t necessarily have space, we have the perfect solution for you: BloomingTables, which has a new design that serves as both a table and planter. It’s somewhat difficult to explain this new design, but basically, it’s a terrarium that you Read More...
How a bra-maker wound up designing the Apollo spacesuits
If there’s anything to take away from Space Week, it’s an appreciation for the dizzying complexity that comes with sending humans into outer space. Exact precision must be taken every step of the way, from the endless calculations that are needed to design flight trajectory to the spacesuits Read More...
These beautiful wooden shutters move with the sun to keep homes cool
There was a time where the shutters on American homes were actually used to keep houses cool. These days, however, shutters tend to be decorations without a function. But as we look for ways to keep homes cool without blasting the air conditioning, it seems home designers are returning to more Read More...
This smart vase has a screen that shows you how your plant is feeling
Plants are like pets; they can’t talk to you, per se, but they communicate nonetheless. They droop, sprout, and grow in a nonverbal language that almost seems to communicate emotions. For anyone who’s ever wondered, “How does my plant really feel?” finding the answer could get a whole lot Read More...
Holy cow! Rotterdam is now home to the world’s first floating dairy farm
In 2018, we wrote about a Dutch firm that was planning to create a floating dairy farm that sits on the Maas river in Rotterdam. Well, now it’s actually here: a floating dairy farm where sustainably-sourced milk and dairy products are produced for locals. While the ethics of hosting a bunch of Read More...
The climate crisis has ushered in a new wave of environmentally-conscious design
The environmentally conscious design has existed for years, but this year it’s different. It’s no longer a fringe conversation. It’s no longer an “oh that’s nice” detail. It’s not just about designing the same things, but making them “eco-friendly.” Designers are responding to the Read More...