Many of you already know of FLOR, the carpet tile company that sells carpet squares that you piece together to make your own unique rug.  But did you know that FLOR is an eco-conscious company.  The company has a mission to eliminate any negative environmental impact by 2020.  Already, their waste sent to landfills has been cut by 63% and their absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 56%.  Many of their tile collections are made with recycled content, such as Fedora, which is made of 80% post-consumer fibers.  Another product, Terra, is made of 34% PLA, which is a renewable corn-based resource. 

FLOR has a great range of styles, texture, colors, and patterns.  FLOR even has a reclaim program where they take back your old tiles and recycle them into new products.

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This is the Artek Pavilion, aka "The Space of Silence," which was designed by Shigeru Ban and built with primarily one material: an environmentally-friendly, paper plastic composite known as UPM ProFi.  Debuting in the U.S. this weekend at Design Miami, the pavilion is roughly 131 long x 16 feet wide and can be assembled and taken apart quickly.  It’s a nomadic installation in the beauty and power of next generation materials in real world applications.  The main material, UPM ProFi, comes in three modern colors and is made from scrap paper and plastic.  UPM ProFi is normally used in decking, but this installation proves that it’s durable and flexible enough to be used with variety.  I’ll update the images if I can get some shots from the Miami exhibition. 

More images: @Helsinki + @Milan

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I’m writing this article on Chipotle, and I can’t help but think how nice a little midnight chicken burrito would taste.  I love this place.  Minimalist.  Exposed.  Clean.  And.  Green.  Ever notice the fact that no two Chipotle Restaurants look alike?  They put their restaurants in all sorts of locations, old and new.  We just got a new one in an old building, but the restaurant is nice.  It’s fantastic.  Their napkins are made of recycled content, and if my memory serves correctly, I remember reading on one of their cups that they source their beans fair trade.  But that’s not all.

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Bedrock Industries is a very cool green company.  They use 100% recycled glass and are committed to never using any new material.  What they do with this glass is just as cool; they use it for tiles, art projects, glass dinnerware, crushed stone pathways and colored sand, and even sell it to be used as mosaic material or as a substrate in homemade green concrete countertops.  They have a great range of colors ranging from red, yellow and brown to turquoise, pink and purple.  Their tiles are beautiful and come in many shapes, including some very unusual shapes like leafs and flower petals.

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This is The Zody Chair by Haworth.  It’s an incredible chair.  Best chair I’ve ever used.  It gives you this feeling that’s hard to explain.  It’s kind of like when you get a new pair of shoes at the age of 8 or 9.  Those shoes make you run faster, jump higher, and do more.  Well, this chair is that for business people.  It helps you do more when you’re doing a lot of sitting around.  I feel different in this jet black, super modern, eco-friendly, award-winning chair. 

Today’s that big shopping day with all the crowds:  it’s Black Friday.  If you’re in the market for a quality gift, I honestly think you should just ring in an order for one of these and call your Christmas shopping done.  I’m serious.  I recently toured the offices of a green renovation and they had a room full of Zody chairs.  When they were looking for chairs, they felt the Zody chair was superior in green benefits and had a reasonable price.   

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