Hanoi remains one of our favorite cities in Asia. While growth and development is progressing at a rapid pace in Vietnam. Many of the traits of Vietnam that we have come to enjoy have not changed.

The whitewash of faded mango-colored buildings, the bicyclists, the growing tribes of scooters, the school girls with waist long hair, the conical bamboo hats, the returning numbers of cyclos, the scent of flowers, the bread sellers, and food stalls on the street corners with an array of half-sized plastic chairs. It is a totally sensory experience.

We met with the team who handles our coiled Lacquerware. We also met with Mr. Trieu who manages our basket production among the hundreds of weavers in the various villages in Central Vietnam. It is his father that actually invented the Double Weave Baskets that we produce today.

Thu Vu, bambu Production Manager, Hanoi Vietnam

We also had the wonderful pleasure of spending a day and night on Halong Bay.

We are fortunate to be able to do business in Vietnam and although we are in touch daily, we always look forward to our next visit.

A sustainable design movement is underway in Shanghai. Eco Design Fair took place Saturday at the Anken building - a space with many ‘green’ attributes itself. The event played to a packed audience on a beautiful Spring day. The full attendance was a another sign of the growing momentum.

Over 30 eco-conscious businesses and groups showcased products including organic and eco clothing, home accessories, bags, furniture, natural health products, stationary, toys, building materials, organic food products, with loads of ideas to help develop a more sustainable lifestyle.

morning crowd at Anken building

plastic bag weaving

talking with the press over bamboo pebbles

It’s all about creating awareness about environmental issues, and to making it easier for everyday people to make everyday sustainable lifestyle choices in Shanghai. It’s the only place in the city to see and buy well-designed sustainable, organic, natural, non-toxic, recycled, ethical, energy-saving, and environmentally aware products all on one day, in one place.

NEST was a sponsor of the event and had a nice corner created to showcase products from our design collective on cardboard pedestals created by the fine folks at AOO.

nest 'store' at EcoDesign Fair

ecoDesign Student Competition
Rachel & Jeff along were among the judging committee that reviewed over 30 student entries into the EcoDesign Competition. Ideas included product, architecture, landscape and planning and graphic design. It was exciting to see fresh thinking from China’s next generation of green ambassadors. The winners were unanimous.

First Place was a brilliantly conceived organic farming/online shopping idea that brought that introduced the farmers, and paid attention to the cycles of nature. A welcomed and much needed idea in Shanghai. Second Place was a simple but dramatic way to encourage people to use a limited amount of water while washing hands. A wonderful awareness building idea with great potential to scale up.

organic farming online

2nd Place - water conservation tap

greener magazine
We also were thrilled to see greener magazine making its debut. Developed with the help of many who contributed stories about sustainable architecture, fashion, and green shopping in Shanghai. Check out the cool online version here. There’s a lot of green thinking going on in Shanghai.

We thank everyone for their involvement. Thank you Sherry Poon for making it all happen.

daily use design. daily use function.

Joining me were Bruce Kaminstein, CEO of Casabella, and VP of Bissell, Scott Boles.

What was I doing sitting aside two of the largest cleaning equipment companies? Talking about leading a green company?

Casabella is a huge maker of mops, buckets, brushes, squeegees and stuff for cleaning. They use a lot of plastic. Everything is made in the US. What’s interesting is their recently developed product, Eclipse. Bruce shared some interesting details about the Eclipse. Unfortunately, you won’t find much on their website that talks about the use of recycled soda bottles that go into the making of the Eclipse line of products. With this new product, Casabella has obtained cradle to cradle certification.

Bissell makes vacuum cleaners. Among their dozens of products they offer an ‘Earth Friendly’ assortment of products with recognition from the EPA, and an impressive closed loop approach to creating, shipping and disassembling some select products.

These two companies are making genuine progress towards rethinking some of their products and processes, and using more sustainable practices. I personally commend both for leading by example.

But I also ask the question. Is a enough to market a green product?

Is it enough to jump on the green bandwagon only when it is a hot trend?
Is it enough to change one product while the rest of your range creates potentially harmful effects on the environment?
Is it enough unless change is fully embraced by top management and integrated into the core values of the company and into everything they stand for?

We all did agree on a couple of things. While the importance of a ‘green story’ was relevant to consumers, not at the expense of design, quality and value. These are paramount in purchase making decisions. Yet, the important of a ‘being green’ is more meaningful today than ever. But it has to be more than words. I talk about ‘Deed’ brands in my remarks.

An audio broadcast of the discussion is available here.

As the wave builds and messages collide, there is a real need for affirmation and verification. Whether it is Cradle to Cradle or material certification, or Fair Trade, or other, consumers are going to increasingly believe companies less, and impartial third parties more. People will look for the assurance of third party verifiers to help them navigate through the green tides. I begun this post last week. And sure enough, The Wall Street Journal publishes this article on certification and greenwashing.

We presented a few slides.

The New Rules in the Green Economy

Be Brutally Honest
Transparency Is The New Black
It’s the Journey that Matters
Authenticity is Key

What do I mean by this?

Be true. Get real. Look within. Be honest with yourself and your organization. What do you really stand for? What are your shortcomings?
Transparency is the buzz. Be prepared to show yourself, warts and all. It takes a bit of courage and humility to share it all.
You never quite arrive. There is no perfection. And that’s not the point, is it? Continuous improvement along the entire chain is what is important.
Authenticity relates back to the first point. Look into your soul. Whatever matters there, has to be your guiding force.

We’re encouraged that the Housewares industry is joining in these conversations. I hope there are more. There is much to be gained.

~

The piece, which is made from 2,000 bamboo poles lashed together with some 16 miles of nylon rope, was assembled under the artists’ direction by a team of about a dozen rock climbers over a period of 10 weeks. Seemingly self-generating, “Big Bambú” grew from within itself, without the support of external scaffolding, making it more akin to a living organism than anything constructed by human hands. At its highest point the random matrix skims the ceiling of the nearly-50-foot factory space.

(Via NYT > Art and Design.)

Kyouei umbrella holder waters your plants: “

Sick of rain-slicked slippery floors? Looking to take your rainwater recycling to the next level, while simultaneously improving your green thumb? This Umbrella Plant Pot by Kyouei Design offers a beautiful solution to the soggy umbrella dilemma, and allows you to turn that excess, unwanted rain water into nourishment for a plant! It’s a simple ceramic umbrella jar with an ingenious twist - watershed from your soaked brellies collects in a pot at the bottom of the vase to sustains a tiny potted plant.

Here at bambu, we’re big fans of Kyouei Design.

We have their Paper Lamp, Balloon Light and Color Disc. We always keep an eye on what the folks at Kyouei are doing. Plus, they are wonderful people too.

We have stopped in on Portland during our US visit. Coming off of two shows including the IHA show in Chicago last week, we pulled into Portland, Oregon to check in on family. Portland is great and deserves its Top Sustainable City rating. We’re big on working out and keeping fit, so this news caught our eye a couple of months ago.

The world’s finally come full circle for members of a new gym in Portland which is converting the pedal power of its bikes into real energy.

The gym, opening September 1, takes human powered energy from its fitness bikes and stores it in a battery which runs some of its other equipment. The 2,800 square foot gym, called the Green Microgym is owned by Adam Boesel, a former grade teacher. He was interviewed by the Seattle Times and told them its the first human-powered gym in the US.  

(Via Top Huggs Today.)