R3project round-up 5: the Office

The next room in our tour around the R3project is the studio, or office. Here we were able to restore the original floor tiles as they were in a much better shape as those in the rest of the flat, where we put down a cork floor and locally produced tiles. The proudest piece of furniture in the studio is no doubt the Steelcase Think chair, a masterpiece of Cradle to Cradle design, fully recyclable and very comfortable. We constructed the desk from a big piece of plastic and trestles we salvaged from the trash after a trade fair. The built-in cupboard is made from chipboard and has a wooden Venetian blind to close it. The ceiling lamp is a variation of our Bidon Lamp, made from a used jerry can. To not loose the overview, we use strips of natural cork to pin whatever projects we are working on.

Of the smaller gadgets we like the Voltaic solar bag which we use to charge our mobile phones and other small electronic objects. Of course we only use 100% recycled paper in our printer, and go to Cartridge World to have the cartridges refilled instead of buying new ones. This saves us money and waste. The stapless stapler is also a cool thing that every eco-conscious office should have. It staples sheets of paper together without staplers; watch a video of how it works here. This eliminates the metal staples that don’t do well in the paper recycling process.

For more ideas, check out the Planet Green Guide "How to be Green at Work".

Also check out the R3project round-ups for kitchen, bedroom, living room and general installations around the apartment.

THINK, Like Our Office Chair

We have indeed decided to get a rather clever office chair: one that thinks about the environment as well as our body posture. Plus it is a beautiful chair. Its name is THINK, by Steelcase, specialists in office furniture. The company commits to applying Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), Materials Chemistry and Recycle/Reuse strategies to the design of all their products. Their environmental transparency is what made us trust in Steelcase’s products and convinced us that they are truly eco-friendly, and, although a little pricey in the beginning (460€ + IVA), well-priced if you look at it long-term. We are not planning on ever getting another office chair.

So why the THINK chair?

It’s locally produced in Sarrebourg, France, which reduces the impact of the transportation (petrol, CO2, packaging…). In fact, the chairs are made close to the client in Europe, Asia or Northern America, and only put into production after it’s been bought. This brings with it that you have to wait up to 3 weeks for your chair, but on the other hand, only as many chairs as needed are being produced.

THINK has been designed considering the environmental impact of each stage of the product’s life cycle: from what materials are being used, to the production, the transportation involved, its use as well as what happens to it at the end of its life.

Regarding the first stage for example, Steelcase managed to reduce the weight of the chair to 15 kg. 40% of the materials of THINK are recycled materials, it’s completely PVC-, lead-, chrome- and mercury-free and 99% of the materials are recyclable. This is made possible because the chair has been designed for easy disassembly. Apparently, you can take it apart in 5 minutes using ordinary house tools. We haven’t tried that yet, but this again results in other advantaged such as the possibility to exchange, replace or repair the different part of the chair easily, increasing its lifespan drastically.

All this obtained Steelcase quite a few environmental certifications, amongst which the Cradle to Cradle certification ‘gold’

So now you want to know if it is comfortable? Oh yes it is! Its seat and back flexors make it move with the body for extra comfort, and the seat, back, and armrest are fully adjustable.

To see Steelcase’s whole collection of chairs and other office furniture, please visit their web site.

WASTE, Our Recycled Pouf

We already wrote about options for eco-friendly chairs but one of our seats is special. He’s very comfy, good-looking, from Barcelona, recycled and ethically produced. His name is WASTE; he’s made from waste deriving from the car textile industry. He’s a beanbag (or pouf).

So what’s so eco about these? Well, they are made from discarded automotive upholstery. Benjamin Mordoh, the designer behind these luxury poufs, is shocked about how much car textile ends up in landfill, and decided to save some by turning them into furniture. He admits “ideally, no waste would be produced, but as it is, we are committed to transforming the reality of waste into something positive”. The durability and high quality of his final products certainly saves them from being chucked out too soon. Because the material is hard wearing, fire- and UV-resistant, these beanbags are quite popular in chill-out bars and around swimming pools.

But not only is the material eco-friendly, the production is too. First of all, they are produced locally here in Barcelona (not China), which saves a lot of transportation emission, packaging, eliminates the risk of unfair trade and boost the local economy. Because all beanbags are hand-made, each one is unique. Furthermore, Mordoh works with a tailoring workshop dedicated to women’s social reintegration.

And are they comfortable? –oh yeah!

Read more about WASTE on TreeHugger and on the WASTE web site, from where you can order them. There are plenty of pictures too.

Eco Furniture To Sit On

Although Sergio and I moved into the eco flat early spring, we are still hunting down furniture. A fairly slow process if we want to find objects that are beautiful, comfortable, eco-friendly and affordable as well as locally available. Here a few of our purchases that will reflect the general ideas of how to hunt down eco furniture. Here our tips:

Making sure a chair is eco comes mainly down to its material. Look for FSC-certified wood (which means it’s from a sustainable source) or wood that has been reclaimed from old furniture or other carpentry.

Apart from wood, some designers use other recycled materials like plastics or metal to create furniture.

If you buy a new chair, make sure it can at least be recycled (and disassembled) at the end of its life. If an object is made from lots of different materials that are for example glued together, recycling is often impossible.

There is also some lovely Bamboo furniture; you know that fast-growing beautiful grass that has become quite a trendsetter recently.

And then there’s that furniture which always finds an owner for whom it is in fashion, so buy vintage furniture. That way no new energy or materials are used and you can find true beauties hidden in second hand-shops.

Here in Barcelona, where there are no local eco design stores like in London or New York, the second hand shops have been our best bets so far. Whatever furniture you buy, make sure it’s long lasting and that you can adapt it over the years. This includes that it is easy to fix and that you can for example change the fabric of the cushion to match them with possible new curtains.

Since furniture often ways quite a bit and hence results in heavy transportation emissions, we recommend flat-pack furniture (IKEA being a specialist in those, and offering certified wood) and more importantly local furniture.

We found quite a few nice pieces at TROC, a second hand dealer where prices go down 10% every month if the object is not sold. So be ready for some great bargains (thanks Pep for the tip!). Our sofa, we must admit, is from IKEA because of its sustainably harvested wood, its 100% cotton textile, its multi-funcionality (it’s a sofabed) and especially the price for which you can nowadays get a designer sofa. Especially the latter one was hard to beat. So far we are using some wooden folding chairs, also from IKEA until we fall in love with some proper dining room chairs. Soon to come: a recycled & ethically produced local beanbag and a cradle to cradle office chair.

Check out TreeHugger’s Green Guide for more in depth ‘How to green your furniture’.