ThingsAmongMany

Urban-cum-outdoor clothier Nau, who you may remember closed up shop for a little while, has officially reopened its doors! With an entire new line of clothing, a new business partner (Horny Toad), and a sexy new website, Nau is back with a vengeance and ready to remake their brand (having learned from a few mistakes along the way). They’ve got a list of stores that will be carrying their new line as of Nov. 1 - hopefully Paragon Sports here in NYC will get a better selection from Nau than they did from Horny Toad.

Nau seems to be often compared to outdoor clothing manufacturer-extraordinaire Patagonia, and with good reason. Their clothing exhibits the same understated, comfortable sense as Patagonia, though with a distinctly more urban flair. Beyond just the fashions, the two also seem to have similar sensibilities in their business approaches - both make an effort to give back to the community and share their thoughts on responsible business practices.

I’m particularly taken by a couple of their jackets. Take a look at the whole line at the new Nau.com site and be sure to stop by their blog, The Thought Kitchen, as well!

Just goes to show you, those little Google links aren’t always completely ignorable. I noticed a link to Terreform 1 the other day in the text-ad at the top of my Gmail account, and something about it grabbed my attention enough to click. One glance at the home page was enough to get me to bookmark it for later, though I have to admit, I didn’t get to it until this morning.

Figuring out how to describe Terreform 1 (or ONE as some of their documentation holds, “Open Network Ecology”) isn’t the easiest task. In their own words, they’re

a nonprofit organization and philanthropic design collaborative that integrates ecological principles in the urban realm

Ok, that makes perfect sense. But what do they do? How about some badass thinking around the future of urban sustainability? They sum it up as, “the organization has created a unique laboratory for scientists, artists, architects, students and individuals of all ages and backgrounds to explore the larger framework of ecology in design. We are currently working on innovative practices and appropriate technologies for local sustainability in such matters as energy, transportation, buildings, waste treatment, food, water, and culture. Our goal is to advance the environmental future of New York City and inspire solutions in areas like it around the world.”

Sounds pretty freakin’ awesome to me! And by the looks of the credentials of their team members, these guys could be a force to be reckoned with in the future. They have some really interesting interpretations of what “urban” will mean in the future and how it will manifest itself, particularly in NYC. They’ve put together a video of their ideas that’s well work checking out.

Sure, you know all about graffiti. Spray painted forms illicitly painted on walls in the middle of the night with the hopes of avoiding capture in the process. But how about reverse graffiti? Not so familiar?

Invented by Paul “Moose” Curtis, a then kitchen-hand in Leeds, reverse graffiti is the process of creating artwork on a surface by cleaning it. Not quite clear? Have a look at Moose’s recent work in San Francisco’s Broadway tunnel, a grime-coated subterranean thoroughfare in the heart of downtown:

Beneficial to all, and completely legal, Moose’s variation on the standard “graffiti” artwork is a huge step beyond the “environmentally friendly” wheatpaste that most artists use when they’re concerned about environmental impacts. Moose’s tools are simply water and Green Works products, a brand of environmentally minded, plant-based cleaning products.

Interested in learning more or seeing more videos about the creative process for the San Francisco project? Stop by ReverseGraffitiProject.com for a full run-down.

Accent walls seem to be all the rage these days. Everyone’s picking that one random wall of the room to splash with a craaaaaazy color. But sometimes that’s just a bit too much. Sometimes subtlty seems a little effective – would you rather scream or whisper in someone’s ear? That’s where texture comes in. It’s that little whisper that pushes the decor to the next level.

Of course, unless you live in some increbile loft with “exposed brick” or something, texture is tought to acheive tactfully. That’s where inhabit comes to the rescue. Their line of wall flats come in a variety of simple patterns ranging from braille to see-saw to the more organic bud. Each pattern comes in sets of 10, 18″x18″ panels (for a whopping $86!), and each is designed to form a continuous wall when partnered with other panels. And, to top it off, they’re made of paintable bamboo paper pulp (sustainable design anyone?)!

The inhabit site has some killer shots of the panels in situ:

I stumbled across SustainabiliTee this morning in my web travels and I’m really impressed by what I’ve seen so far. An eco-conscious t-shirt company, SustainabiliTee was started by Emily in an attempt to further fund “a super cool, extremely important independent film project.” No surprise since Emily also directs StartMotions, an equally green-minded animation studio.

SustainabiliTee’s prints are all ecologically cheeky (take a look if that makes you scratch your head and wonder) and they’re available in four different materials: AA Cotton, Eco-Heather, MW Cotton, and Bamboo. Yes, you can now wear a Bamboo t-shirt. They’ve also got a section of Thrift Prints for those who are both eco and economically minded.

Have a look. Say hello to SustainabiliTee on MySpace or Friendster (what, no Facebook Emily?). Spread the word. I’m all for initiatives that are design-savvy and eco-conscious.

Wow. Gorgeous design. Sustainability in mind. I really hope this makes it to market.

Not only does this energy saving adapter provide a solution to a problem, it also creates awareness about said problem. In this case, designer Giles Belley has created a new type of power strip for the modern desktop. Each piece of computer/tech equipment has its own removable section. The sections are then strung together to form the power strip. And each unit has an indicator to demonstrate how much power is being wasted in standby mode. After three minutes of wasted energy, the system turns off that particular port.

Need a moment of clarity? Or fear perhaps? Maybe awe? Sit back and watch the numbers at Breathing Earth tick by for a few minutes. If this doesn’t scare you a bit, well, then…

The website documents, in real time, the amount of CO2 emissions produced by every country, as well as the birth and death rate for that country.

For those who haven’t heard yet, Google is up and running on solar panels at its Mountain View, CA headquarters. In the last 24 hours, the solar array has produced almost 10,000 Kilowatt-hours of electricity. To put this in perspective, that’s enough to run a plasma TV for almost 83,000 episodes of 24.

To put it into further perspective, however, it’s only enough energy to cover 30% of Google’s peak-hour electricity usage.

This is a thought that’s hit me a few times recently. New York city contributes something like 1% of the U.S. CO2 emissions. The Mayor has taken substantial steps toward greening the city, which is excellent.

New York also has a ton of rooftop space that’s sitting idly by. I’ve already come to the conclusion that every building in NY should have a mandatory outdoor use area on its roof. But why not make it a green area? Or at least put it to good use? What if there were a wind farm on roof of each building? Or a solar panel array? Or at the very least, a garden?

Well, someone in the UK apparently had a similar thought (about their own cities). And they’re holding a conference about it called Green Roofs 2007. This is a good step.

DesignCanChange.org is a site dedicated to teaching creatives in the design field how they can contribute to the global warming dilemma. The site offers information on how designers can become more sustainable in their work flow in a manner that doesn’t disrupt their everyday lives.

“The pledge is intended to be workable-something you can actually do today. It isn’t intended to be restrictive or overly dogmatic; instead, it is a set of commitments that you can easily adapt to your daily practice.”