Habits and Habitat

I can't help it, I love looking into peoples windows as I walk past their houses. I blame it on work and call it research, but it looks like Patrick Ronald and Shannon McDonell have taken it to a whole new level in their exhibition Habits and Habitat and built sets of the archetypal Australian farmhouse to photograph, so no need to speak a peak... it's all laid out waiting to be looked at.

I stumbled across this fantastic exhibition on at Carriageworks when out and about doing recces for this crazy fun Bollywood film I'm on.
Although not eco related I could but help write about it. The images look so great amongst the industrial architecture.

11 Feb- Wed 17 March
CarriageWorks
245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh

Ducati

I thought this was pretty funny. Vert Design have created Laser cut 1.2 mm stainless steel engine mountings, so you can have that Ducati you always wanted but can't afford.
They guarantee "Strap one of these on and you will get better range per tank and just as many girls (possibly)"

Freefold Furniture

I ventured in to the Australian International Furniture Fair last week pretty much to meet up with Toby Horrocks from Freefold Furniture.

And I have to say that whilst The Edge (emerging designers) had some great furniture and ideas, Freefold really did stand out as an innovative and cool looking design whilst still being sustainable and functional.

Freefold is a modular storage unit that won best sustainable product at the Idea Awards 09 in Sydney.

The flatpack boxes are made out of 97% recycled carboard and don’t require any glues to assemble. Founder Toby Horrocks is a trained architect, who after 9 years working at John Wardle Architects has gone solo in order to have the time to pursue his work at Freefold.

When I met Toby at the Fair he had just finished chatting to a Taiwanese couple that were encouraging him to manufacture in Taiwan. I asked him if this is something he would be interested he didn’t completely say no to the idea. You see- the Xanita board (recycled cardboard which is sturdy and durable) that Freefold is made out of is actually produced in South Africa and along the process to creating the storage system costs just got too high for the product. ($80 + GST per module) This has lead Toby to looking elsewhere for materials and manufacturing.

Currently he is in discussions with Visy to create a thinner completely Australian made recycled card shelving unit.

Freefold is being used in pop up boutiques- being an interesting looking display case that as it is easy to pack down and can be used to transport the products.

It is is soon to be used at Urban Reforestation community garden shop at Melbourne Docklands. The shop is part of a global campaign aiming to inspire urban farming for sustainability and food security.

Ooh Vintage Bikes

Spotted at Bondi. I want!

Sydney Vintage Bikes ebay store

Sydney Vintage Bikes ebay store

It seems Sydney might just be making an effort to improve cycling around the city. Its a bit trickier than Melbourne, ie lots of hills, but the City of Sydney have announced developing a 200 kilometre network (including 55 kilometres of separated cycleways) that we are building to reduce road congestion, cut emission and improve public health.
To build this network the City has allocated $76 million over the next four years.

The City of Sydney has purchased the former T2 nightclub at Taylor Square.
Proposals for the site include a bicycle repair center, a bike shop, cafés, and space for tour companies to operate and cycle groups to meet.

So what better time to get a gorgeous vintage bike.

I saw the top bike at the beach the other day and fell in love with it (I'm a bit obsessed with yellow with my name meaning it in Greek)
I then had a friend over for dinner the other night who had just bought the same one in white from Sydney Vintage Bikes- an ebay store specialising in importing 80s ladies bikes from the USA and restoring them.
She had called it Delilah and already has declared it her best friend.

New Business Cards

Yay! I have new business cards. My super talented boyfriend Sam Clayton designed them for me and we printed off 10 for a prototype yesterday.

I have just discovered 100% Pure Green Print in Surry Hills who use 100% recycled paper, are not chlorine bleached - eliminating highly toxic dioxin as a residue and are made by environmentally certified mills (EMS, ISO 14001 or EMAS). Their inks are vegetable and soy based (an alternative to greenhouse gas emitting mineral oil based inks containing toxic volatile organic compounds).

So I've sent off the designs to them today. Fingers crossed they turn out well.

Sun Jar

I know the sun jars have done the blogging rounds for a while but I just couldn't resist posting about them as I think they are such a great idea.

These Mason jars hold solar cells so charge in the day and become illuminated at night. They are perfect for garden lighting as they are completely watertight.