Ebay pioneered the huge marketplace of used goods. This in itself is a major environmental achievement because it gives products a second, third or fourth life. This principle of reuse makes a huge difference for consumers who can get a product cheaper than a retail location might offer it and also provides a direct environmental incentive in that it reduces the demand for raw material used in the production of brand new goods.

This incidental benefit to the environment apparently falls short of the environmental social responsibility that Ebay believes it can and should perpetuate. As a result, Ebay has decided to team up with WorldofGood.com to bring you a new dedicated destination in the Ebay sellers marketplace. This collection of Ebay goods will all come from sustainable sources or will be products that have the WorldofGood stamp of approval. This means that people on Ebay will have the option of going to a consumer section of the website where they can be guaranteed that their act of consumption will support positive, ecologically sound commerce.

It is exciting to see a major internet company increasing its role in the sustainable marketplace. Now it is up to consumers to frequent this portion of Ebay so that this green brand of commerce is expanded.

Read more on this story [www.usatoday.com]

Though TreeHugger loves the uber-chic, ultra-sleek, clean lines of traditional modern design, sometimes it’s nice to showcase simple, thoughtful, functional design that looks good and serves its purpose. It may not be flashy, but it prefers its simplicity, and revels in it. Such is the case with STAACH Furniture, a design collective seeking to make a difference in not only the product they produce, but how designers do business. The sustainable methods the company adheres to are seen in the products as well as the design manifesto [www.staach.com] they follow.

The company strives to follow the concept of creating new, avant-garde pieces that functionally question the modern world in products, graphics, and culture. A need for simple, affordable furniture was the ultimate goal for the Cain Collection (chair pictured here), but they’ve gone far beyond that, including some useful extra features like being stackable and the ability to be upholstered. Even better, the line is the first production piece to truly encompass their concept of “sustainability” in manufacturing and design; the wood comes from sustainable sources in New York and Pennsylvania (they’re based in Rochester, NY), and all the fabrication is done in house with only two tools. The chairs are finished with non-toxic wood glue and water-based, low- to no-VOC lacquers, and can be flat packed — requiring a bit of assembly — for shipping.

In addition to the chair, the Cain Collection includes a stool, benches, bar stool, armchair, lounge chair, settee, sofa, bed and table sets, that all follow the same simple, self-aware aesthetic. STAACH also features the Adam Collection [www.staach.com] and Enos Collection [www.staach.com], which feature the same easy, modern aesthetic and sustainable considerations. They’re doing a lot of things right; go to their website [www.staach.com] to get all the details.

Environment Furniture [www.environment-furniture.com] was built around an idea that’s as revolutionary as it is basic: the fundamentals of design come from nature. The name of the company itself follows this same trend — what you see is what you get — by combining truly responsible materials with a simply beautiful look. They create aesthetically sophisticated pieces with a truly organic quality, and further the conservation of nature by using sustainable products and environmentally responsible processes. As a company, for Environment Furniture, green design isn’t a trend or a hook: it’s a methodology, pure and simple.

Proud to source their primary material — wood — from a wide range of sustainable sources, Environment Furniture does a great job of letting the beauty of their materials shine in the design. According to Thomas Bina, chief designer at Environment Furniture (from an interview in the company’s new newsletter [www.environment-furniture.com] [PDF]), “The wood itself gives an amazing amount of creative ideas”. One particularly inspiring wood is Peroba Rosa, a native hardwood tree found in the depths of the southern Brazilian rainforest. Hard, heavy and dense, it has a dramatic rosy tint. He recalls the first time he saw Peroba, while visiting a friend in the Brazilian interior. “I saw this one piece of wood that looked like petrified stone,” he recalls. “It had the most incredible character and texture.”

The designs have a really interesting, unique aesthetic; a combination of Japanese-inspired minimalist and post-modern simplicity combine to create a timeless (but not old) look that’s really quite versatile. The Santos dining table (first image, above) and the Novo Console (directly above) are two great examples of the mixture of woods, textures and styles that really identify the synergy of environment and furniture; we also like the Campinas X Bench, pictured below. Though a relatively young, small (but growing) company, Environment Furniture is a great example of a company that practices sustainability — from materials to design to manufacture — simply because they think it’s the right thing to do, and that’s something anyone can be proud to own a part of. Learn more about them at their website [www.environment-furniture.com].