Smile Plastics

Image courtesy if SmilePlastics.com

Founded by Rosalie McMillan and Adam Fairweather, Smile Plastics mission is to create beautiful and useful surfaces out of waste materials.

Born out of the clever combining of design expertise, across jewellery and industrial sectors. With Adam having over a decade of developing handcrafted panels out of various waste materials and Rosalie having received great accolade in the Ethical design sector for her work creating jewellery out of sustainable materials.
The results are stunning, and from first spying some of the beautiful surfaces at a LDF trade show way back, to following their developments since, we are big fans at LA!

The more I looked in to their design process in detail and discovered the vast array of waste materials they use the more intrigued I have become. From medical waste to coffee grounds, each panel is made by hand with each piece carefully placed before pressing, making every panel unique.

So apart from the fact that 100% of the materials used are recycled, which makes them a very sustainable options, what are the benefits of these surfaces? Well as we said they’re beautiful and all unique, but they are also VOC free, totally waterproof, easy to look after and incredibly hard wearing. What more could you want?

While a lot of their work being commissions, both private and commercial, there is also Studio Smile, a capsule collection of lifestyle pieces. Kept simple to let the beauty of the material shine.
Commissions of note, to date they have worked with an impressive array of consumer brands including Jigsaw in Covent Garden and Selfridges (on many departments). In these projects they create bespoke surfaces for display tables and shelving, sometimes even feature wall panels.

One of our favourites is their work creating panels for Sanremo’s Verde coffee machine out of old coffee grounds. Very apt and the finish is spot on!

Another fab project is Smile’s collab with Hej coffee, creating a coffee pod using recycled coffee panels and plastic bottles at the Societe Generale offices. In this case the result is a bright multi coloured surface that adds a playful edge to an otherwise paired back area. They also created a series of modular panels that for a pop-up coffee pod for external events. 

Their clever use of recycled materials and the quality of the finished article is fantastic, the fact you can choose so many bespoke options and really create something truly unique to you is a further bonus in our eyes. With our eye firmly on sustainable designers, we look forward to seeing what else Smile creates in the future and to hopefully working on many projects with them in the future!

Go check them out at www.smile-plastics.com

Best Eco Household Products

The saying that small changes make a big difference applies massively in the drive to make conscious changes in environmental awareness. You don’t have to become a self confessed ‘eco-warrior’ to make a difference. Although if you want to then that is great!

Starting at home with the day to day things not only works to help the environment at large but the ecology of your own home and the healthy lifestyle of you and your family. If they look great, work just as well (if not better in some cases) and smell fab then what’s the down side?
In the LitterArty house we have used cruelty and chemical free household products for a long time, this is a small choice to not only help the larger eco environment but also to benefit our own health and lifestyle. We are and always have been averse to strong chemical use, let’s face it it’s just not good for anyone and I cannot bear the fact that a lot of these harsh products are tested on animals, it’s just plain wrong.
I don’t believe people want to use products that are harmful or tested on animals for that matter, I just think we are often unaware of what they are using in products. This is why transparency, education and raising awareness is key.

Here I’m covering some of our favourite ‘eco’ products.

(Please note this is not an ad or paid promotion, these are just brands we have used and like.)

The Established Brands

Method products

Image courtesy of Methodproducts .co.uk

A firm and well used favourite of ours, readily available and affordable. They work amazingly and most of them smell good enough to eat! Their products range from standard floor and surface cleaners to more specific products that target certain household surfaces, such as a very handy stainless steel cleaner. Their glass cleaner is perfect and a staple of the LA household. The packaging is recyclable in most local areas.

Ecover

Image courtesy of Ecover.com

With over 40 years of established eco experience this Belgian company covers all products including laundry washing liquids. They are fab and smell amazing, especially when washing bedding for some reason! They are big players in paving the way in eco household products the UN featured them in their 500 honours list for outstanding achievements in the field. you can also recycle the packaging dependant on your local area’s policy.

Homegrown

KINN Living

image courtesy of Kinn-living.com

Kind the household brand officially launched in 2017, but it is the follow on from what was originally Little Wishes a clean beauty brand which was established earlier around 2015.
The mother daughter team behind the brand have the simple ethos of clean beauty, for you, your family and now your home.

The products are available from the likes of Waitrose supermarkets, with growing availability. The range contains everyday essentials such as laundry detergent, washing up liquid and surface cleaners.

The Newcomer

Tincture London

Image courtesy of Tincturelondon.com

Definitely one for the design conscious there has been a lot of attention paid to the overall branding and design of these products. Making it the most chic of the products out there these bottles are almost too good to put away. On a more practical design front the hand pump style on the sprays makes them very easy to use. I notice these weird things and really appreciate when something is easy to handle so that’s an additional plus from me.

All the products are classed as tinctures derived from monastic herbal remedies, hence the brand name. They range from a floor tincture to a glass/steel tincture, they also do a cool refrigerator spray. Again the packaging is all recyclable and the mini versions are also made form 100% recycled materials.

Whatever your reasons are behind trying a new eco household product, even if in this case you just like the bottle, go for it I encourage you. Changing your household cleaning and washing products is a big step to improving your home environment to one that is safe, clean and more natural. But perhaps more importantly it is also a small step (at least) to helping improve the environment at large. Go forth and be more eco, you won’t turn back.