The Eiffel Trocadéro Hotel, Xavier´s Moraga´s second ecologic establishment, has just opened its doors to the public; we’ve decided to dig in on one of its green particularities: the walls made of plants. Florist, landscape artist, and creator, Naturalys is an enterprise specialized in stabilized plant design. After the installation of 3 amazing walls in the entrance, Loïc Derrien, the man behind this work, accepted to answer us some questions.

Green Hotel Paris – Introduce us to your work?
Loïc Derrien: Aware of the difficulty for an establishment that’s very demanding of its interior, to maintain a plant and flower made decoration through out the year, we’ve been doing plant walls for professionals (restaurants airports), and mainly for the hotel industry, for the last 6 years. We get our plants from our franchised network and from more than 200 partner florists Flowerbox.

Green Hotel Paris – In what does this process consists?
L.D.: The stabilized plants and flowers are 100% natural and environmentally friendly. They are the result of a unique plant conservation process that consists in the replacement of the sap for a natural glycerin-based stabilizing treatment product. This product allows the conservation, freshness and softness of these plants for even a decade, with no cost. This means that they don’t need water, earth or light.

Green Hotel Paris – How to look after a plant wall?
L.D.: Plant Walls are made for an interior use only. The must be kept away from direct sun exposure coming from behind a window. However they handle pretty well the air conditioning, the heating, the lighting, total darkness and even smoke. Contrary to artificial plants, stabilized plants are not static, dust won’t stick to them. Occasionally cleaning them will be enough, just using just a simple hair dryer.

Green Hotel Paris – Can all plants be stabilized?
L.D.: No, they have to hang on a minimum 5 months after the stabilization process to be considered stable. So that excludes plants and flowers that need a lot of water, because of this characteristic they’re fragile for this process, for example: orchids and tulips. Nevertheless, we count with over 50 stabilized species of plants.

Naturalys
33, Chemin de la Rollande
84140 Avignon
France
T.: +33 (0)4 90 81 07 16
contact@naturalys.fr
www.flowerbox-gallery.com

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Ethical fashion, ethical beauty… why not ethical furniture? Greeen was the crazy idea of Christophe Labaj and David Levy, the two founders of the brand. In 2009, they decided to make their lives greener and had the idea of creating a website offering both useful and ethical design objects. Without making any immoderate promises, Greeen sells eco-design objects such as tables, chairs, beds, but also table linen, bags and jewelery. Coconut fiber, braided rattan, wood from FSC certified forests… The price is often high but results are here: design, chic and timeless objects. Greeen regularly joins forces with other ethical furniture brands. Greeen recently announced an upcoming collaboration made in France with CartonStyl. Furniture made out of recycled, light and resistant cardboard, to assemble yourself!

Discover the collections on the Greeen website.
Information and tips on the blog.

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Since its foundation, La Mie Câline has remained a family, ethical and social company. Through its action called “Câlinons notre planète!” (“Cuddle our planet!”), La Mie Caline shows that it definitively is an example in terms of sustainable development. Since 2008, it’s been acting towards its aim, notably by internally creating a Sustainable Development committee. The company thus demonstrated its green engagement by eliminating all plastic bags in shops in 2009, and by drawing up a carbon footprint report in 2010. This year, it will sign the Charte d’Engagement Volontaire des Réseaux (Charter of volunteer commitment of the network). This charter was an initiative of the Club Génération responsable and was signed by 19 brands (KFC France, L’Occitane, Courtepaille, Nature et Découvertes…) on May 4^th 2011. Signing this charter is an engagement for companies to reduce their energy consumption, reduce packaging, put ecological products forward, encourage eco-friendly behavior… Since it entered into this commitment, La Mie Câline has eliminated 9 million plastic bags, saved 4,600 cubic meters of water and recycled 70% of its waste. And it’s not about to stop there! Optimizing the eco-designing of retail stores, reducing CO2 emissions further, those are the next goals of the company. A nice initiative and a great model to follow!

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When thinking about trash cans, it’s hard to imagine something pretty, elegant or design, although recent models have been adapted to our modern kitchens. A trash can that seems to come from out of space has recently been pleasing the very heart of the most fervent adepts of waste sorting: the Ovetto. Designed by Italian architect Gianluca Soldi, the Ovetto trash can is peculiar in that it looks like an egg, symbol of life and rebirth. As aesthetic as it is practical, it is set on a swivel base, making it easier to access the different compartments. Each compartment has a door for removing the 30-liter bag and a small opening for waste deposit. Another significant plus for the laziest: the crusher for plastic bottles, aluminum cans and milk cartons, fitted on the top of the egg! Of course, the bin itself is green since it is made out of recycled polypropylene and delivered in a recycled cardboard box, wrapped up in organic, biodegradable plastic. An innovation available for 179 euros.

For more information:
www.ovetto.fr/
www.habitare-ad.com/

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Ekobo is a creative and dynamic team who puts their ideas in the service of environmental protection, social equity and economic growth. What is the best way to encourage a mode of environmentally responsible consumption? To propose contemporary and ethic items. Ekobo objects are made by hand from a natural resource and renewable: bamboo.
A choice which is not surprising. Bamboo is a natural and design material. Its qualities are numerous and impossible to all mention. Only that it grows super fast (twice as fast as an ordinary wood to be exact), and by itself. Hardy and strong, it does not need the hand of man to grow and expand, allowing it to renew itself constantly.
In addition, this material is really used for everything, nothing is lost, and everything is used. Its fibers are woven into napkins, gloves or robes, and its shoots are eaten.

Ekobo Showroom
Ekobo Home
4, rue Hérold
75001 Paris
France
T. : +33.1.45.08.47.43
contact@ekobo.org

After the slow food movement born in Italy in 80’s against junk food and fast food culture, the slow design appeared in the past few years. The slow design is the decorative eco-ethic that everybody talks about now-a-days. Issued by Alastair Fuad-Luke, an English academic, this new trend has quickly attracted designers and contemporary artists of our century. In 2004 the movement appeared to produce green decorative facing the standardized objects governed by the laws of mass production.

Like any movement, the slow design has its values and principles. First, items from the slow design are opposed to the idea of quick industrialization and manufacturing, they are unique or produced in limited series, and especially handmade. The manufacturing technique is simple and natural processes are used. They are made from recycled materials or materials from sustainable or fair trade. Among the famous designers and representative of the movement is the collective 5.5 Designers, three young designers who are known by recycling everyday objects to create a design full of humor.

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