ECO-FRIENDLY NEWS YOU CAN USE

DIDJA KNOW?
A product created from “post-consumer” material is one made of previously used products, such as plastic bottles, glass containers, aluminum cans or newspaper.
—Federal Trade Commission

SHADES OF GREEN
New from Hunter Douglas, the Duette Architella® Collection offers a number of fine window-treatment design possibilities, and eco-friendliness as well. Air pockets that form within the pleated shades’ honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb construction are said to reduce heat transfer through a window by up to 50 percent, thereby lowering heating and cooling costs, according to company sources.

In addition, the product is certified by an independent agency—the nonprofit Greenguard Environmental Institute—as having passed indoor air quality tests for low chemical emissions.

Pictured above in a Los Angeles home designed by architect Richard Neutra is Architella Classic fabric in Greenbriar, one of 12 colorways.

Pleat sizes range from three-eighths of an inch to 1¼ inches. Shade heights are from 6 inches to 192 inches.

To learn of an authorized Hunter Douglas dealer near you, call (800) 274-2985, or visit hunterdouglas.com.



TRASH TO TREASURES
When designer Rodney Allen Trice relocated to New York City in 1988, he looked for a way to furnish his digs well, but on a budget. He did so by transforming other people’s discards into useful items with a creative bent.

A few years later, he turned this knack for taking found items and reinventing them into a business dubbed T.O.M.T., a.k.a. The Other Man’s Treasures; and, with the “greening” of America, it has taken off. The globe-cum-clock shown here is one of many repurposed delights.

Believing that “nothing is truly garbage,” and aiming to make the planet a good place for future generations, Trice “reassigns” items that come from other people’s garages and elsewhere into a variety of home furnishings and lighting options—such as the ceiling light fixture made from an old propeller blade that recently caught TIME Style & Design magazine’s fancy. In its May issue, the publication honored Trice’s ingenuity and included him among other savvy environmentally conscious folk in a feature called “The Green Design 100.” Check tomtinc.com to see more of his reborn wares.