Materials from Detergent Bottles, Swimming Pool Covers, and Old Tires

Yemm & Hart, based in Missouri, offers many unique products featuring their own materials made from common recycled items such as detergent bottles, swimming pool covers, and tires.  Their three lines of materials create unique and colorful products that can be used by anyone.  One decorative material, known as Origins, is created from discarded detergent bottles.  Unlike other plastic laminate products with patterns that are printed on to create a uniform design, Yemm & Hart’s products made from their Origins line, have a more random coloring pattern.

The creation of Origins involves many steps.  Used bottles are collected, sorted by color, shredded into very small pieces, and then soaked in hot water to remove any contamination such as soap or paper labels.  Sorting the bottles by color during this preparation process, allows for color pattern customization.  A measured amount of blended colors is then spread into a mold, placed in an oven, and heated until it transformed into a liquid.  Pressure is then applied, which causes distribution of the colored flakes.  The pattern comes out differently every time for each product, and the colors used tend to be very vibrant, which Yemm & Hart believes is a key selling point for this material line, making them stand out from other products on the market.  In the end, they are pleasing to the eye, and more desirable than typically one-colored recycled items.  Products range from countertops, casegoods, lighting and tables, to smaller items such as clipboards and picture frames.

YEMM & HART

What is the Green Retail Experience?

This weekend and into early this week I browsed the International Home & Housewares Association show here in Chicago. The show consisted of a smattering of home appliances and products- new, old, and green. To my delight, the headlining topics of nearly all panel discussions and talks were focussed on the future of sustainability in product design. Two talks really stuck with me: “Green Today, Here Tomorrow: the emotional currency of sustainability”, and “Making it Happen: exhibitors panel discussion on sustainable materials”. The result was a cathartic dialogue I’d like to open up to you: what is the green retail experience?

My thoughts arose from questions presented from the buyers in the home appliance industry regarding the friction between novelty and sustainability. We have created through supply and demand, the experience of walking into a store and expecting to see new seasonal products. We anticipate seasonal colors, products, and innovation. This experience has resulted in a lot of new products developed in haste and without much regard for environmental responsibility. The question is, how can retailers maintain the “new” experience while being a sustainability leader.

Designer, professor, and sustainable materials panelist Hans Maier Aichen of Design Ideas suggests to define the evolution of a product through details. “We need to do less and do better”. As designers, we have a heavy responsibility. Today our industry is overflowing with an excess of products (this i witnessed at the show while passing manufacturers exhibiting, for example, every single microwave they produce- i saw walls of rice makers, toasters, coffee makers, microwaves all noticeably different but functionally similar), this excess has created cut-throat competition, and has resulted in unsustainable low prices.  As we move into the generation of green retail with responsible products, how do we lead by designing and formulating the green retail experience?

Wal-Mart Talks About Doing the Sustainability Thing

Released this past July, Wal-Mart offers some high standards to hold them to. We are looking forward to the positive changes and impacts that they will have in the coming years. Their push towards environmentally friendly products and energy efficiency is encouraging. We also hope they inject local economic and social sustainability into communities around the world that they affect.