June « 2009 « Open Studio

June, 2009

Sustainability — 5 Comments
12
Jun 09

Perfect vs. good: necessary trade-offs in sustainable products

The urge to simplify things seems to be inherent to human nature even though the world is full of complexities. This might explain why we usually think of about product, processes and actions as sustainable or unsustainable. Rarely do we take the time to analyze them more deeply to see their positive and negative aspects.

Rather than trying to figure out if something is 100% good or 100% bad, we should look more closely at the tradeoffs behind the decisions we make. This thought process is crucial to properly evaluating the “greenness” or sustainability of products, technologies, and processes. Human industry will always impact people and the environment, but it is the consumer’s job to make educated decisions about the products they buy and the companies they interact with.

Good companies generally strive to minimize negative impacts while enhancing positive impacts. However, this is rarely achieved across the board and tradeoffs are unavoidable in most instances. This is where we have to make sure that “perfect” is not the enemy of “good.”

Mr. José Jorge proudly showing the high quality the sisal fiber from his small farm in Brazil

For example, Merida made the decision more than 30 years to focus on natural fiber textiles. Our products are mostly made of sisal, jute, abaca, wool, and coir fibers. These are all rapidly renewable materials, and do not contribute to CO₂ emission like many petroleum based materials. In fact, the plants actually help capture CO₂ as they grow. Most of these plants, however, are cultivated in tropical regions of the world such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Transporting these products to the US contributes to CO₂ emissions. Increasing the demand for vegetable fiber improves the economic and social condition of local communities in poor countries where they are grown. Our trade-off: avoid CO₂emission from long-distance shipping versus helping local community in poor countries becoming more sustainable? Knowing that we cannot achieve both at the same time, we made our choice…

Another tradeoff we’ve been wrestling with concerns our backing material. We’d love to have a product that can be fully returned to the earth as a biodegradable nutrient. Our natural latex backing has not yet reached this stage. We need some non-toxic chemicals to guarantee the good performance. They amount to about 5-8% of the composition of the backing and there are no substitute for those components. Should we sacrifice performance for a completely biodegradable backing, or sacrifice our “cradle to cradle” goal for a higher-quality product? Lower quality product means lower sales, less demand for vegetable fibers, less local development from producing communities…

These types of tradeoffs are difficult to measure but must be considered for an informed understanding of sustainability. We believe the positive benefits of our products outweigh some of the potentially negative impacts, but we are continually striving to do better and better.

I wrote in my last post about tools like GoodGuide that help consumers making decisions and consider trade-offs. Another resource I have found helpful is the Environmental Working Group, where you great tools for assessing the impact on your health and on the environment of foods, products, energy alternatives and chemicals.

I would like to learn about what kinds of tradeoffs do you make in your daily life? What is the most important driver for you when making sustainable decisions?

Products — Comments Off
10
Jun 09

Our first 12-square seamed Viewpoint wool rug

I’ve been working with Denver-based designer Lauren Alesso of Alesso Modern Source since I started at Merida this past January. Lauren immediately struck me as a sophisticated, entrepreneurial designer with a keen sense for knowing how to deliver exactly what her clients want. The first project I worked with her on was a truly unique custom project – something we’d never done before. Lauren’s client, an architect herself, had her heart set on our Viewpoint Spotlights wool rug in Seafoam, and, having seen our custom seaming capabilities with the product, dreamed up a complex 12-square design for her children’s playroom.

Many Merida customers have used seamed rugs as design elements in a room, but no one had ever asked us to do 17 seams in one wool rug! The seams, the client felt, would be a critical part of the design, making a major statement in the room. We knew it would be a challenging, time-intensive process, but the client was inspired, and we’re in the business of bringing inspiration to life, so we committed to the project and dove in.

Each square was measured by our team and carefully cut to ensure the pattern would match up once each piece was sewn together.

The material was woven in our Fall River, MA facility and brought to our custom workroom in Boston for the bulk of the work. Our skilled craftsmen carefully measured and cut each of the 12 squares, making sure the pattern would match up when the squares were sewn together.

Each piece was individually finished by sewing and gluing the edges down. After this was complete, the team began seaming each of the 12 squares together.

After the squares were sewn together, the back of the rug was finished with cotton tape for a clean look.

The rug pad will eliminate the bumps created by the seams. We can't wait to see how great the rug looks in the client's home!

Almost done! After the rug was finished, the team cut 12 rug pads to fit underneath each square. The rug pads eliminate the bumps created by the seams and keep the rug in place. We can't wait to see how great the rug looks in the client's home!

As you can see, our team pulled together to make this one client’s vision a reality, and they did a phenomenal job. The client is thrilled with the rug, and plans to order another similar piece for a different area of her home. She loves that she will be able to tell everyone who sees these striking rugs that they are custom-designed, designer wool rugs that are made-in-America wool rugs.

Lauren Alesso recently launched Alesso Modern Source, Denver’s only trade-only contemporary showroom. The showroom will host its first event this month to introduce designers to the services offered. If you’re in the Denver area, check out the web site or email Lauren to learn more!

If you’re interested in a seamed rug (12-square or otherwise), or another one of our custom rugs, give us a call or send us an email with your ideas!

Sustainability — Comments Off
9
Jun 09

My Green Commute

I started at Merida 4 months ago, in the middle of winter, and noticed that my stop-and-go commute was really taking a toll on my car’s brakes. After having the pads replaced, and as the weather grew warmer, I decided to try biking to work. Admittedly, my commute involves some fairly industrial neighborhoods, and a zig-zag through Chinatown here in downtown Boston, but I was up for it. An avid biker in the past, I dug out my Nishiki from the basement, had it tuned up, and planned to bike to work on Friday April 17^th.

What took longer than the actual ride was prepping for it. How to pack a change of clothes, my healthy lunch, pumping the tires, and so on. Finding my helmet, gloves, the right packpack. Once packed, though, my ride was pure bliss.

I felt 15 years old again, tooling through the neighborhood on my 12-speed road bike, then on to the main roads through Harvard Square, past MIT, and then over the Longfellow Bridge from Cambridge to Boston, with glorious views of the Charles River and the city skyline. Since my last commute into downtown Boston, the City has wisely added a bike lane to the bridge. Along the way I noticed seasoned bike commuters whizzing past me, shopkeepers opening up their stores, and parents pushing strollers on the sidewalk. Biking up past Massachusetts General Hospital, I dodged delivery trucks, ambulances and risk-taking messenger bikers; but somehow I felt safe the whole time. If I came to a tricky spot in traffic, I either stopped, slowed down or walked my bike for a bit on the sidewalk. In Chinatown I noticed the smells of various foods wafting out of side streets from restaurants large and small.

By the time I arrived at the Merida warehouse, slightly sweaty, I had a big smile on my face. I felt as if I had already lived part of the day, outdoors in the wind and sunshine. I felt righteous as I parked my bike in the back by the dumpster.

At Merida we talk a lot about sustainability. Last week electricians installed new energy-efficient lights throughout the office. We recently stopped purchasing paper plates and plastic forks for our kitchen, and now use recycled and reused paper from our own office for notepads. We make and sell rugs made from natural, renewable vegetable fibers and wool. I’m proud to be part of this, and biking to work when I can feels like I am contributing to the environmental effort in some small way.

My ride only had one drawback, but even this won’t keep me from bike-commuting again soon; at the end of the day, I went to retrieve my bike only to find that my front tire was completely flat. The tube had blown. Oh well. My bike commute was still a welcome change from highway smog and isolation. I’m determined to become a more seasoned bike commuter for as long as the weather allows.

Design — Comments Off
9
Jun 09

Python Trend

Prada’s Spring 2009 collection is loaded with python (not actual animal skin, but python printed nylon) and the python trend seems to be appearing in many different forms.