Last month I attended the Green Festival 2013 in New York City. Compared to the previous year, there seemed to be more of an emphasis on health and nutrition. The benefit was that I got to sample shots of wheat grass and lots of organic chocolate. I was quiet enamored by Clif Kit’s Organic fruit and nut bars since they only have a handful of ingredients. When it comes to design quite often less is more and the same can be said for healthy food. It also helps to have friendly reminders in your home like “eat your veggies”, “go to the gym”, or simply “breathe” as so beautifully illustrated through Alexandra Ferguson’s recycled felt pillows.
Spending time at the Green Festival reminded me how strongly connected a healthy environment and human health are. If we take care of our environment through reducing, reusing, and recycling we take care of own wellbeing. Alexandra’s recycled felt applique pillows are made of recycled PET containers and come with polyfill inserts made from recycled plastic as well. It’s very cool to see how recycled plastic can be upcycled into fabrics. In the past I have seen theses types of eco-friendly fabrics used in outdoor clothing but less so in home accessories.
The way it works is that plastic PET containers are collected from curbside and community recycling centers, which keeps them out of landfills. Next they are sorted by type and color, stripped of their labels and caps, then washed, crushed and turned into little flakes. It’s quite amazing how these flakes are then melted and turned into fiber that can be processed into a variety of fabrics. Since I’m a bit of a manufacturing nerd and enjoy watching how things are made I wanted to share a video about the process here.
Alexandra’s witty messages on her eco-friendly pillows are always made from recycled felt appliques but come with two material variations for the base material. You can either choose a recycled felt base or a hemp and organic cotton blend base. Each one-of-a-kind pillow is handmade in the USA and will make a great conversation starter for sure.