Chinese Think Our Green-Friendly Totes are Hot

I was just putzing around when I saw this great bag from We Are What We Do. Apparently, this is a really hot item. Love! The company, London-based, supports taking action and sending a message through the products we use everyday, like shopping bags.

I actually found out about the bags while reading this article chinadaily.com; here’s an excerpt:

The company, We Are What We Do, engaged London designer Anya Hindmarch to create the bags, which originally sold for $5 through a website, and quickly became a cult item.Proving consumerism and conservation are no longer odd bed fellows, China’s youth are the latest to embrace environmental protection as a fashion statement.

The last part I found really interesting. How long, do you think, before environmental concerns become a big deal with the Chinese people? After all, their country is one of the worst when it comes to pollution. And yes, I know that China is undemocratic and popular opinion might not impact much, but the cities, which are basically liberalized areas, and are closest to the pollution, might cause leaders to reconsider policy, no?

News: Canon Tries to Revamp Image with Eco-Friendly BRAND

News on the Green Tech front: Canon is starting a new brand, and that brand’s focus will be green products.

You might remember Canon for making disposable cameras (unnecessary chucking of plastic = not green), but apparently their slowing profits and lack of brand traction has led to them courting a new and as yet somewhat untapped market: the green tech consumer.

Here’s the article, from marketing week:

Canon pushes Generation Green brand

10-Jan-08

Canon is bringing its range of eco-friendly printer products and its environmental initiatives under a new brand. Generation Green aims to make it easy for consumers to identify and learn about its green products.

Generation Green is divided into three product classification categories: eco-conscious, eco-standards and eco-friendly. Eco-conscious includes double-sided printing as standard, several packaging changes to boost shipping efficiency and the use of biodegradable limestone packaging material NatureStone instead of wood pulp.

In the eco-standards category, all products that meet the European Union Directive and the US Energy Star standards on hazardous substances will carry Generation Green branding.

The eco-friendly category will include its internal initiatives such as printing user manuals on recycled paper and using some recycled plastic on casings. Canon has also launched a waste recycling programme for toner cartridges.

So, why, from a marketing perspective, is this a good move? Well, for starters, as I referred to above, Canon as a brand isn’t exactly known for caring about our green Earth. They needed a new image for this line that would distance it from Canon. And, in general, Canon strikes me as an oldish brand, kind of outpaced by their competitors. So, maybe being one of the first to really court the eco-friendly amongst us is a way for them to look forward.

In terms of the actual products…meh. Ya know, I was hoping for something more exciting than eco-friendly packaging. Like, can’t the products themselves be made from recycled plastic?

Anyway, It’s good to see that companies, motivated by nothing but profit, are going the green route. I’m SERIOUS. When we vote with our dollars, we win. If enough people support initiatives like canon’s, it won’t be profitable to make things any other way. Or, more realistically, at least other manufactureres will have to play catch up by designing their own innovative environmentally friendly products.

Organic Fast Food: Catching On?

This signonsandiego article seems to think so:

Eating organic has usually meant going to the grocery store and doing your own cooking, or ordering at a pricey restaurant – until now. Restaurateurs, encouraged by the $14 billion Americans spend annually on organic foods, are opening cafes that serve a new kind of healthy fast food.

They go on to talk about a few such organic eateries. Which is cool – if you live someplace like San Diego. But are there any emerging chains that have spread from urban centers into the suburbs? I think if there was some kind of organic convenience-type place (think an organic Wawa), that could really give a lot of people a taste for organic foods. Which, I really believe, taste better and feel different than the crud that fast food stores usually sell.

Greener Gadgets Rawks

I was looking at the latest post on Cool Hunting (a must-subscribe blog, if you ask me). Anyway, Green Gadgets, a conference all about new innovations in green (as if that wasn’t self-explanatory by the title…lol) wants you to show them something new and green. And so do I!

The design competition will engage established design firms and students alike to come up with new solutions for consumer electronics addressing energy issues, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle and social development.

Green Gadgets is so interesting, I think it’s quite the challenge for new, untested designers to really invent something that is new, but that doesn’t waste a ton of resources at the same time. It’s really an exercise in streamlining. It also challenges our notions of what it is to innovate: oftentimes it involves subtracting, and not just adding. Anyway, good luck to all of you smart green kids!

Style and Environmentalism: Converging in the New Year.

I definitely think that in 2008 environmentalism will get taken to the next level, as everyone left and right gets in on the act. Conservation will become a mark of style and sophistication, and the savvy will bring it into their homes. Looking good and feeling good will become one and the same.

New Year New Home

I read this post over at a water cooler blog. Take a look! It gives “10” suggestions on changing your home. That’s neither here nor there, however. The point is that the suggestions were really great! Like this, on style:

A few haut pieces (even one pricy sculpture) will really drive home an aesthetic point of view. If you like minimalism, get a minimalist sculpture and it will tie together the sparse arrangement of a room.

This is something I’ve definitely noticed in my own life. It doesn’t take too much to really make a point with your personal style, in fact it can easily be overdone. The key is to be consistent: I am green, and I try to incorporate that into everything in my home in subtle ways.

My Intro

Hot Green House is about living in a way that is urban, chic and sexy. And Environmentally sound. Nowadays, these two lifestyles go hand-in-hand. To me, there’s nothing wrong with that…it shows that those of us who have resources and could be wasting still have the conscience to take our ecosystem into account when we make everyday decisions. The idea is that modernity and environmental considerations go hand in hand. So, if something is supposed to be good, it should also look good, and feel good. Ya dig?

Next time I’ll address some of the main criticisms to this that I’ve encountered. Then maybe we’ll get on with the program.