How you save the world
You start by buying products that do no harm. Eco Design Thai Thai will have many on offer at next week's home-and-garden fair
The Eco Shop on Siam Square packs environmentally friendly products from 30-odd local brands into a mere 16 square metres. More than anything else, that shows that eco-friendly design remains a “niche market”, as founder Pipat “Top” Apiruktanakorn, the former actor, admits.
But public awareness about the need to conserve resources is growing steadily, says Top, who opened the store five years ago. Now he and friends – who have together designed 26 lines of products – have launched Eco Design Thai Thai to propel the message forward. The friendlier and more appealing the design, the better it sells and the sooner it makes an impact on the environment.
Eco Design Thai Thai will unveil its wares at the Baan Lae Suan Fair at Bitec in Bang Na next week. They’ll set up a market that’s 20 times bigger than the store and offer home decor, lifestyle products and furniture that reflect a love of the earth.
Among the products are plywood bikes by Dots Design Studio, Rubber Killer tote bags made from automobile inner tubes, and Tua Pen Not’s handbags fashioned by hand from rice sacks and fertiliser and flour bags, padded with fabric and given zippers.
Oggi’s has a stool that used to be an old-fashioned husking board, while Osisu’s funky handbags derive from shredded paper, its eyeglass cases from coffee cachet and its business-card purses from condom packets.
“The group will act like a cooperative to pool our strength in dealing with both private and government enterprises,” says Top. “Our top priority is to offer products with stylish design that are functional as well as ecologically friendly.”
The field is no longer just about recycled materials. Items from Labrador actually use genuine leather because it’s durable. Of course it too can always be pulled off and reused on something else.
“A minimalist approach, durability and functionality are the brand’s philosophy. The leather we use requires less bleaching and thus less bleach,” says Supreeya Kulthaveesup, who established Labrador 10 years ago. “To slow down consumption, a product should last as long as possible. And we offer lifetime repairs for all our goods.”
Labrador recently expanded with three more labels, but the green-simple-creative concept prevails. Relabrador products are made from recycled leather compressed into paper-thin sheets. Labrador Paper’s notebooks are cut into triangles and circles. The newest line, Zonn, has eye-catching bags made from a new material that’s lightweight, waterproof and translucent.
Good/Rak’s iPad case grabbed attention when it hit the market two years ago with its cryptic words and a paper-like material. Product designer Kittiphat Sukamolson and his copywriter-girlfriend Nippaporn Prakoonhungsit have since moved on to smart-phone cases and straps, wallets, coin purses and necklaces and bracelets.
“We initially liked using paper, but it’s just not durable enough,” says Kittipat. “We scouted around for a renewable material with a texture like paper but that was also elastic, and found kraft paper fabric, which is widely used for jeans labels. It’s strong, durable and recyclable and can be sewn like regular fabric. It can be washed and ironed and won’t shrink or stretch. The more you use it, the more natural the wrinkles appear.”
They enhance the kraft paper with felt of woollen fibres inside. It protects the paper from tears while it’s being sewn.
Chatporn Ninthummachart’s family runs a spa business, so she had ready access to countless small, plastic oil packets. Normally discarded, they’ve gained new life as Re+Pair portable speakers for iPods and MP3 players. They come in pink, blue and purple, and there’s one that’s made from sticky-rice bamboo baskets that foreigners love.
“I’m always using my iPod to listen to music, and that inspired me to transform this lightweight container into a beautiful speaker. No battery is required since it runs off the iPod’s juice. You just plug it into your player and rock! Obviously it doesn’t replace an excellent stereo sound system, but it’s a great companion on a trip,” says Chatporn.
A keen cyclist, Chatporn found a separate use for the bamboo rice tubes that were too bid for her speakers – as cups for bicycle handlebars. “I keep a key ring and water bottle there when I’m biking. This is keeping the original form of the material and just change the function.”
Chatporn also collaborated with the makers of Tathata canvas bags on a limited edition that uses discarded vinyl boards with compartments inside.
Thanyanan Srichaiwan, an “original equipment manufacturer” of leather products for a decade, mustered relatives to set up a new brand, Greenies & Co, whose products will debut at next week’s fair. Their smart-phone cases and straps, wallets and stationery utilise naturally dyed (lead-free) leather. The packaging is recycled paper with the text in soy ink and it can be flat-packed to save space.
“We’re most concerned about maximising the material’s use and keeping the designs simple,” says Thanyanan.
Meanwhile Friends International Organisation (Thailand) is helping needy Bangkok residents generate more income by turning everyday objects into funky accessories. They’re given old magazines and plastic snack packaging, cut them into sheets and roll them out to form beads. From these they make necklaces, bracelets and earrings.
“They’re helping to save their local environment while earning Bt1,500 to Bt2,000 a month per family,” says programme director Vuthaya Charoenpol.
GREAT IDEAS
All this amazing stuff will be in the Eco Design Thai Thai market at the Baan Lae Suan Fair at Bitec in Bang Na, starting on Thursday.
