Pressured to knock off your Christmas shopping? Need a uniquely sustainable gift?  Online marketplaces Etsy and Dawanda let you browse quirky, handmade items without burning any petrol, and offer a decent alternative to glitzy energy-guzzling “lifestyle centers.”

It’s a brilliant way to shop the world’s smallest businesses, often providing greener, more interesting selections at very competitive pricing.

Snowbound in Amman, Jordan,  where impassable roads and power outages have officially “closed” the city for a second business day,  I discovered ten affordable finds in 20 minutes of browsing:

1. Dictionary Print  ($8)

Hamilton House Prints creates clever designs on pages from vintage dictionaries, rescued before they reach landfills. I’m loving the 8″ x 10″ print (shown above) entitled “Bacon”, but it’s not the best pick for my vegan, kosher or Muslim friends.  Luckily they have loads more options on offer.

2. Felted Baby Shoes (22 euro)

Sunday Creations hand knits tiny slippers from unspun Icelandic wool, felts them into soft shoes for little feet, then adds embroidered embellishments. The shoes arrive in a small gift box with a card explaining their origin and washing instructions. If only they came in grown-up sizes!

3. Recycled Tetra Pak Handbag – DIY Instruction Book ($13.98)

Artist Regina Lustig pays homage to her granny’s crocodile handbags in a version crafted entirely of upcycled milk and juice cartons. Her 34-page instructions are loaded with photos to help you create fabulous bags without sewing a single stitch. The pattern booklet is emailed to you within 24 hours so, depending on how fast you drink, you could have a bag finished this week!

4. Braided baskets made from recycled cotton tees ($14)

Handiwork1 braids cotton tee-shirts then securely sews the coils into basket shapes and rugs. Baskets (4.5″ high x 12.5″ long x 4.5″ deep) start as low as $12, with vibrantly colored braided rugs starting around $30.

5. Bottle Glass Necklace

This stunningly simple pendant is handcrafted from a slice of Skyy Vodka bottle glass; its trademark cobalt blue has been given a sea glass finish and hangs from a 18-20 inch natural leather cord. Maker reVetro jewelry is always handcrafted from reclaimed glass and recycled materials; see their Tanqueray green. Glass size, shape and hue will vary due to the nature of our products, your purchase is one of a kind.

6. Armbands made from jeans – (14.50 euro)

OHHO TEXTIL sews old denim jeans into colorful bracelets, unisex styling that wraps three times around your wrist.  Single strand versions cost 8.50 euro; all feature colorful top stitching and a magnetic clasp closure.

7. Upcycled Elephant Calf ($33)

Dentdelion turns gently used sweaters and felted woolens into imaginative, earth-friendly toys. Don’t be sad if this adorable elephant is sold!  She will make new items to order, just scan through the images under her “sold” tab to see the full range of options.

 8. J. Boutique Stencils

Living in a rental with limited decorating options?  Want to avoid pricey wallpaper or vinyl decals? Then give reusable wall stencils a shot. Easier and faster than you think, stenciling is also for floors, ceilings, furniture, and fabrics!  J. Boutique makes customizable stencils too. Personalized stencils could be the greatest gift ever.

9. Kinies Gathered Waist Purse (32 euro)

The “waist purse” is a stylish upgrade on your mother’s fanny-pack, made from cotton canvas and fully lined in easy-care black microfiber. A 6-inch zipper is concealed beneath the gathered ruffle for stowing your smartphone and smaller gadgets; a separate compartment is for your keys, passport, and cosmetics. The adjustable strap gives quite a bit of variation in length.

10. Chocolat Negro Recycling ($22)

This South African designer, artist and photographer works in recycled design incorporating traditional African craftsmanship techniques. Check out the cool earrings, necklaces and wrist cuffs made of old buttons.  Ridiculously affordable for wearable art.

See what 20 minutes of your own online browsing will turn up!

All images are from the vendors’ Etsy and Dawanda shops.

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We love the creative eco design coming out of Tel Aviv. Israel faces nationwide challenges of mismanaged waste and insufficient recycling infrastructure, but from the deserts of Morocco to the streets of Tel Aviv, artists like Yotam Shifroni and Gidi Gilam are seeking solutions through creativity. Around four months ago, Shifroni and Gilam opened Studio Sfog in Tel Aviv. Sfog means “sponge” in Hebrew. And the studio lives up to that vision, soaking up influences from the city and people around it. 

“We collect disregarded things, from garden trimming to mannequin hands, working with available materials to solve a challenge through art and design,” said Gilam.

One of their recent designs, a series of chairs, drew inspiration from the Jewish legend of Golem. The chairs featured Hebrew calligraphy, images of the body, nature and death, contrasted with simple angular patterns and youthful faces.

Together, the artists have displayed their work in exhibits across Israel.

Their studio is crammed with art and junk, a maze of paintings, upcycled light fixtures and furniture and raw recyclable materials. The walls are lined with shelves, stuffed with glass jars and tools. Shifroni and Gilam herald the aesthetics of functional art, giving old materials new narratives.

“All of our materials have a certain story, a history,” said Gilam. The artists said there are numerous ways that they benefit from using trash, forgotten and recycled materials.

“We learn from the materials, learning how to make something new by taking things apart. And secondly, we can find more unique materials and interesting pieces.”

Shifroni agreed. “It feels more personal,” he said.

Images via Studio Sfog 

Read more about sustainable art:
Ali Lamu Upcycles Weathered Dhow Sails into Inspiring Art
White Trash, An Ecological Group Exhibition, Opens in Tel Aviv Next Week
Garbage Art Ideas from Mary Ellen Croteau

The post Studio Sfog in Tel Aviv Makes Recycling an Art Form appeared first on Green Prophet.

Israeli street artist Nitzan Mintz writes her poems on the streets of Tel Aviv, using disregarded materials she collects from dumpsters and public spaces. “I use only recycled materials in my art,” she said.

Nitzan is not alone. Artists across the Middle East have responded to the massive recycling crisis by upcycling trash into art. There are many benefits for artists that use waste to create, both financial and creative.

“I use birdcages, pieces of wood, anything,” said Nitzan.

“I love the connection between me and these objects I find. They inspire me to make something new. It’s like a gift from God. I need art materials and I find them.”

She composes her art according the particular site, incorporating space and environment into her designs. And unlike many street artists, Nitzan signs her real name to all her work. “I take full responsibility for my art in the streets,” she said in an interview with Times of Israel. “I never harm the environment or cause damage to people’s property.”

Here is an example of a work she made with local artists Gili Peleg and Signor Gi.

Nitzan’s Hebrew poetry murals are a great example of eco-friendly innovation, turning garbage into art. And we look forward to seeing more of her work around Israel.

Images via the artist and Urban Existenz 

Read more about sustainable art in the Middle East:
Ali Lamu Upcycles Weathered Dhow Sails into Inspiring Art
White Trash, An Ecological Group Exhibition, Opens in Tel Aviv Next Week
Dazzling Carpet of Plastic Bottles Adorns the Moroccan Desert

The post Israeli Poet Nitzan Mintz Makes Sustainable Art Stick To The Streets appeared first on Green Prophet.

With a bit of creativity and green spirit, old washing machine drums have been transformed into stunning seating by Xavier Baghdadi and Lea Kradokian

From beautifully adorned tyres to trash theatres, Lebanon is really getting creative with its rubbish. Now, two green Lebanese designers have used old washing machine drums to make intricately decorated seats with lots of storage space inside. Which is just as well as Lebanon produces 4,000 tonnes of waste a day and only 10 percent of that is recycled. Whats more, 40 percent of all garbage generated is consigned to over 700 illegal and unsafe dump sites across the tiny nation.

According to Jennifer Hattam over at TreeHugger, Baghdadi and Kradokian first tried upcycling when they were invited by gallery owner Rania Choueiri to take part in a recycled art and design exhibition earlier this summer at L’Atelier Fanfreluche in Beirut’s Mar Mikhail neighbourhood. The exhibit, “Trashy Treasures,” featured furniture, accessories, sculpture, and art works by 18 different artists.

Scouring junkyards, Baghdadi and Kradokian used old washing machine drums for the latest designs which makes the most of traditional designs and modern, upcycling principles. Together the two designers form the collective ‘Junk Munkez’ which also sells a collection of playful planters made from scrapped car parts and kitchen utensils. Lea Kradokian in an email to Jennifer Hattam at TreeHugger said: “As a team we design with a green conscience, giving life to the lifeless heaps of Beirut’s rising metal mountains, in hopes of pushing other Lebanese designers to think green as well.”

::TreeHugger. Hat tip to Louise Sheridan.

Images via Xavier Baghdadi / Lea Kradokian

For more on recycling in Lebanon see:
Burning Tires the Bokja Way – A colourful protest against Beirut Pollution
Lebanon’s Trash Theatre (INTERVIEW)
Pop Art Jewellry Shakes Up Lebanese Fashionistas

The post Lebanon Green Designers Transform Washing Machines Into Beautiful Seats appeared first on Green Prophet.

Ilan Suisa, a father of four from Akko (Acre), aspires to make his ancient hometown the environmental activism capital of Israel. According to news reports he has even changed his name to “Ilan Green-Suisa.”

Over time, Green-Suisa convinced the Akko municipality to place forty recycling bins throughout the city: “Akko won the first place in Israel for recycling,” he said.

With a band of over forty volunteers of diverse ages, ethnicities and religions, Green-Suisa has spearheaded multiple community art projects. One such project collected ceramic shards illegally disposed of by building companies into the port. The grassroots project used these shards to create a mosaic at a local school.
“Recycling old waste can always be turned into art,” he said.

Sustainable design in all the rage across Israel, from last year’s public sukkot shelter made from recycled cans to decorative works by professional eco-artists like Inbal Limor.

In a country with a weak recycling infrastructure, every day citizens are rising up and taking action without the aid of funding, slogans or directors. I know a college student in Tel Aviv who personally requested a recycling bin from the municipality. He now quietly takes the whole building’s recyclable trash to the plant every week, for no reason other than he thinks it’s the right thing to do. And there are many more like him and Green-Suisa.

Israel barely recycles paper, metals or plastics and has no efficient national system for separating organic waste. The nation holds sustainable innovation in one hand and a tradition of chaos in the other. But the creativity of its citizens is a boundless resource. And in a country so small the little things are adding up.

When looking to future, Green-Suisa said he hopes to collaborate with the “Zalul” association to battle the factories that are polluting local streams.

::Ynet

Image of Akko from Rostislav Glinsky, Shutterstock

Read more about recycling in Israel:
Israel’s Shumis Pizza Joint Features Row Upon Row of Recycled Tomato Cans
Ten Sustainable Israeli Designers Who Reduce, Reuse &
Paper Made From Sewage Rolls off Israeli Shelves

The post Acre Father Aims to Make His Capital Green appeared first on Green Prophet.

Handmade and packaged in recycled boxes generally used for fast food or take-away, Deda Design’s kitchen products look delicious.

Fast food usually gets a bad rep: it’s fatty, bad for you, and wastes a lot of packaging and resources.  But what if fast food style packaging was put to more sustainable use?

Packaging has been used in eco-friendly ways by designers before, either by upcycling plastic packaging or making a product’s outer packaging multi-functional. 

Now Deda Designs, a boutique design label based in Israel, is finding ways to use recycled fast food packaging to house its limited edition, handmade fabric products.  Thereby making it easier for the fish-themed kitchen towel (pictured above) to masquerade as a tuna fish sandwich.

All of Deda Design’s products are handmade with great attention to detail.  “We believe that the work that we put into a product is perceived by whoever looks at it, and so we enjoy investing great attention towards every line and seam,” the designers write.

Deda Design’s line of kitchen products are characterized by colorful and original graphic illustrations.  The inspiration for these images comes from old world illustrations, such as embroidered napkins.

Deda is not the first to green the packaging industry:

Custom packaging designs have been used in eco-friendly ways by designers before, either by upcycling plastic packaging or making a product’s outer packaging multi-functional.

A bamboo cutting board is also part of the kitchen collection, and that material was selected for its sustainability.  In addition to being a quickly renewable resource, bamboo is also antibacterial – making it a great choice for a cutting board.

:: Deda Designs

More on package design:
Beggars Can Be Choosers: Amit Brilliant’s Recycled Wallets
Playful Packaging from Gugu Design
Paper Carton Furniture Is No Pulp Fiction

The post Handmade Fabric Designs “To Go” From Deda Designs appeared first on Green Prophet.

Avatar Architettura has decked out a working space for fashion designers in Beirut with recycled wooden pallets otherwise destined for one of the city’s notorious landfills. Known for strategies that “privilege ecology, flexible systems, biodiversity, and recycled materials in an urban context,” the Italian designers used the pallets to transform a 220 square meter space into a striking but highly flexible office and workshop.

The working space is situated in an undistinguished industrial building in Beirut, belying the well-lit haven hidden inside. The pallets are used to construct a dividing wall that is far more inspiring than the standard off-white office cubicle so typical in less-imaginative corporate offices.

At present the divider separates a private work space enclosed by glass from two different common areas where the designers take their meals, brainstorm, and work together. But the recycled wooden wall is also designed to be modular so that if necessary, this internal configuration can take on a new shape without having to take a sledgehammer to permanent walls.

Unique furniture items made from shipping pallets and other recycled materials green up the aesthetics even further, but all with a minimalist bent so contrary to the kind of extravagant decor typically favored by an earlier generation of Arab creatives.

Instead of plush velvet pillows and curtains, the recycled Loft in Beirut features natural materials, plenty of daylighting, and a distinct industrial-chic that is certain to catalyze awesome design ideas. And the best part? Anybody can scout out discarded wooden pallets to make similar recycled furniture at their own home or office for a steal!

:: Avatar Architettura

More on Architecture and Design in Lebanon:

Sleek Prefab LoftCube in Lebanon is the Ultimate Home for Nomads

Fashion Beirut’s New Photo Campaign Says Animal Abuse is Wrong

Recycled Furniture by Lebanon’s Niloufar Afnan

The post Recycled Wood Pallets Stack up for Fashion Designers in Beirut appeared first on Green Prophet.

As an alternative light fixture, Israeli designer Marina Rudinsky lights up a string of loose tea strainers.

Items found in the kitchen are often endowed with unusual shapes and holes, and many a designer have found ways to convert kitchen tools into light fixtures.  Pasta strainers are an obvious choice, but small, delicate loose tea strainers pose a good option too and Israeli designer Marina Rudinsky has assembled them in a luminous fashion.  (Tea paraphernalia has been upcycled in other ways as well, with tea wrappers being masterfully crafted into origami pieces.)

Filled with small white Christmas lights and strung together in a cluster, the tea strainers are then hung from a small free-standing stand.

The lamp almost looks like a dangly pearl earring, or as though all the tea strainers are seeping in one glowing, communal mug.

If the lights used to fill the strainers were energy efficient LED lights, Rudinsky’s tea strainer lamp would make an even eco-friendlier gift.

Marina Rudinsky is a designer and art director, who describes herself as loving strong colors, happy people and big animals.

: Marina Rudinsky

Read more about other eco-friendly light fixtures:
Lightexture Lamps Combine Ethereal Light and Energy Efficiency
Lamps Made with 50% Sawdust, Some Plastic Bags, and Some Ingenuity
Hasadna Design Workshop Does Upcycled Chandeliers With an Ice Cream Party

The post Recycled Tea Strainer Lamp Creates Soothing Glow appeared first on Green Prophet.

Select pieces of recycled, eco friendly furniture will be sold at an auction house in central Israel next week alongside paintings and other fine art.

Sustainable furniture design has been creeping into the Israeli art world over the past few years, with eco friendly furniture being exhibited at Jerusalem’s Design Week recently and other recycled works being displayed at international shows of Israeli design such as the Bezalel Academy student show at Milan Design Week.  Entering the local auction market for perhaps the first time though, recycled furniture pieces made by Israeli designers are participating in a sale that will take place at Tiroche Auction House in Herzlia on January 28th.  The auction will include pieces created by Junktion Studio, Tal Gur, Adi Zaffran Weisler, Godspeed, Amir Raveh and Pini Leibovich.

The cabinet pictured at the top of this post is a one-of-a-kind piece made by Amir Raveh of Nagarya Studio and is titled Grid.  It is fashioned out of a metal grid door and collected parts of old furniture.

Junktion Studio is represented by the Sonol Barrel chair seen above, made out of a discarded metal barrel that was considered industrial waste.  This handmade, limited edition piece was fashioned out of the barrel, plywood, sponge and upholstery materials.

RAWtation by Adi Zaffran Weisler (who makes not only recycled furniture but upcycled bullet jewelry) will also be offered at auction (pictured above).  The furniture set includes a coffee table and stool made out of raw citrus branches and polyethylene.  Both items are limited edition and one-of-a-kind.

Tiroche Auction No. 144 of Israeli and International Art will take place on January 28, 2012.  For more information about the auction visit the Tiroche website.

Read more about the designers featured in next week’s auction:
Godspeed Sustainable Design Team Does Pop Up Shop in Jaffa
Plastic Bag Shoes and More Sustainable Design from Israel at Milan Design Week
Adi Zaffran Weisler Makes Upcycled Bullet Jewelry, Not War
Tel Aviv’s Junktion Studio Keeps Inspiring Us to Rethink Our Junk
Tal Gur’s Daily Chair Finds a New Use for Yesterday’s Irrelevant Newspaper

The post Recycled Furniture to Be Sold at Israeli Auction Next Week appeared first on Green Prophet.

Long live the queen, if she can manage to sit on Niloufar Afnan’s recycled ‘Royal Stool’.

At this year’s New Designers Exhibition in London, Lebanese-born designer Niloufar Afnan decided to poke a little fun at the royal family and demonstrate the possibilities of upcycled furniture.  She exhibited Royal Stool (pictured above) and 46 (shown after the jump) – two furniture pieces that show the possibilities of reusing found objects.  Both pieces are made from found furniture parts and scrap materials that Afnan collected and assembled in new ways, showing us that with a little creativity and problem solving even broken items can be functional again.

The Royal Stool is made of a British Royal Mall bag that is draped over a plastic bucket and secured with a ring that holds it in place.  Alternatively, the bag could be placed over any other type of found object to turn it into a stool.

The 46 table is made out of 46 discarded table legs that have been cut to approximately the same size and melded together.  (Afnan’s concept here is somewhat similar to Reddish Studio’s upcycled menorah, made of different sized found candlesticks.)

As opposed to other tables, where the surface of the table is the focal point, Afnan’s 46 table shifts all the attention to the table legs.

A recent graduate of the furniture design program at Central St. Martin’s University in London, we can’t wait to see what else Afnan will make out of the discarded items she finds on the streets of London.

Perhaps her next project will be a chair.  On the subject of discarded chairs, Afnan writes that “to create new functions or new forms of present chairs, reveals interesting relationships we trangress to our objects.  Whether we chose to discard or to re-arrange, our chairs occupy great space in our habits.”

:: Niloufar Afnan

Read more about recycled furniture:
Godspeed Sustainable Design Team Does Pop Up Shop in Jaffa
Interview with MiKlum Studio, Designers of Furniture Out of Nothing
Ugly Plastic Window Shutters Become Chic, Minimalist Furniture Pieces

The post Recycled Furniture by Lebanon’s Niloufar Afnan appeared first on Green Prophet.