Product Design Inspiration - Shop Talk Tuesday

Personal Experience and Filling a Need Leads to Great Product Design

Jasmine Bashaj shares with us how she created a line of Canadian-made eco-friendly vibrant (and cute) children's clothing. On Saturday, I showed you some examples of her line, which I will show you a glimpse of again here: 

Using her own experience as a mom, graphic designer, illustrator and – perhaps most importantly – practical thinker, Jasmine Bashaj has created the So Rad line. It’s the funky and functional solution to the pet peeves parents have long had about children’s clothing, and the great news is time-strapped parents (and those tethered to a nap/feed schedule at home) can now click ’n’ buy on So Rad’s new website, www.shopsorad.com.

The Down-Low on Dutch Ovens (Or Cocottes)

One of the very first times I cooked anything on my own, it was up in the Rockies over a campfire. Potatoes, carrots, sage, onions, salt, and garlic tossed in a Dutch Oven with a stick of butter, half on top, half underneath. After leaving it on the coals while my buddy and I went for a hike (don't worry, there were adults at camp watching the fire), I opened the lid on that baby and thought I was a culinary prodigy.

Ever since, having a Dutch Oven in the kitchen has seemed like a secret weapon. At least I thought it was secret, unknown in contemporary North America to nearly all but grannies, campers, and foodies—and then a few years ago, it seemed like they started popping up all over the place. 

I blame it on the truly delicious, though super-hyped, "no-knead" bread recipe featured in the New York Times. Of course, I'm not sure that that's the causation. Perhaps it was TV Chefs, the renaissance of French cooking in America, or the increasing availability of Staub and Le Creuset—but for whatever reason all of the sudden I see the Dutch Oven on wedding registries, in store windows, and in recipe books. 

But, friends also ask me what on Earth to do with one, and how to pick one.

So I thought I'd take a go at sharing a few thoughts. . .

Modern Karibou Canadian Home Decor

MODERN DESIGN WITH A CANADIAN TWIST

Founded by Carole and Lise, this Canadian home decor company prides itself on highlighting "the creations of established and emerging designers and artists from around the world and champions and celebrates home-grown, innovative talent." Find out more about the co-founders and the rest of their efforts here.


Modern Karibou highlights Canadian made and eco-friendly products on their website, which I love. 


Here are just a few of my favourites:

Centrifuge Transit mailboxes - inspired by Toronto subway system

Glass and ceramic mortar and pestle 

Raised Feeder - Made in Vancouver. I've seen this in person and it is a must-have for my future dog!

30 Days Giveaway - Tagua Necklace Day 7

Day 7's Giveaway is this Tagua necklace:

Tagua, also known as Vegetable Ivory, is the nut of several different species of Palm Tree found in South America. This Tagua is Fairly Traded, that is, the artisan was not economically or otherwise exploited in the elaboration of this product (via product packaging/label).

*closed*

Being an Environmentalist: Belated Earth Day

Happy (Belated) Earth Day!

How did everyone spend the day? I spent my day going to a job interview first thing in the morning, then going for a walk with G, since it was so nice and sunny out. I am still feeling sick, and have been for a week now (thus, the lack of posts) and need to study for my finals next week - but I hope everyone spent a little bit of time thinking about the planet on Earth Day and everyday. 

Everything is connected. Connectivity is going to be the key to addressing these issues, like contaminants and climate change. They're not just about contaminants on your plate. They're not just about the ice depleting. They're about the issue of humanity. What we do every day -- whether you live in Mexico, the United States, Russia, China ... can have a very negative impact on an entire way of life for an entire people far away from that source. 

- Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Inuit activist 

 Yesterday marked the first day of a new composting program in Vancouver!

This is great, but it must be noted that this doesn't apply to condos or apt. buildings. You can read more about the pros and cons of that here. Our co-op has several composters, and the city of Vancouver has had worm composters available for only $25 for quite a while now, which can be used in apartment buildings. As well, they have all sorts of workshops available for those that want to get into composting. 

Being an Environmentalist: The Changing Times/My Vegan Journey

This Summer marks my 9th year of being vegan, and this year marks my 9th year of being an environmentalist. This all coincides with the year that I moved in with my best friend (G) and out of my mom's house. It wasn't that I didn't care about the environment before moving out, but that I couldn't/didn't buy my own stuff for cleaning, house hold goods etc.

Once I moved out, G introduced me to the variety of things that we could do to be more eco-friendly from

• the products we bought: things like reusable bags, napkins and handkerchiefs
• to the way we bought clothing or any other items: trying to buy from the most eco-friendly, non-sweat shop products we could find, preferably from reputable companies who had decent social values or environmental policies.
• to the food we ate: organic and local as much as possible

Me at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Alberta - on one of many hikes/camping trips

Even before I decided to go full-on vegan (G said it was the best birthday present he got - I announced it to him in August on a trip to see his parents in Interior B.C.), I learned to make environmental choices in my daily life. I walked a lot more and further from my non-suburb home we rented, went to parks and experienced nature more, and had access to so many more places where I could make eco-friendly purchases. . . not to mention, G cooked a lot so we had an easier time making better choices with our food. It was a bit difficult at this time trying to find all the products and food we needed, as there were really only 2 stores in the city where we could buy what we needed - soy milk, least of all, was not readily available at this time. We bought flour and other staples in bulk and G cooked and baked a lot! 

The changes: I lived with G in Calgary, in our little yellow house, until 2003, when we went to India for about 6 months. It was very easy to keep being vegan, and we tried to be as eco-friendly as possible, taking trains everywhere and staying in small local hotels. When we moved to Vancouver in 2004 to go back to University, I could all ready see the changes in the availability of vegan and eco-friendly items at stores. 

Vancouver is a much more vegan and eco-friendly place (Calgary only just last year started a recycling program for picking up things at homes!) to live - we could go to many different stores, eat out at a variety of vegetarian only places and we didn't feel as much like freaks for not eating meat! We are able to get so many great things at the farmer's markets in the city and from the many locally-owned 'green grocers', and if I really needed to, I could go to regular grocery stores to pick up many eco-friendly/vegan things as well. These products are becoming more and more popular, with many regular grocery stores having entire aisles for such goods, and every kind of soy milk, soy ice cream and other dairy alternatives readily available! Prices on these types of goods has also changed with them being more available, too.

While it may have been difficult at the beginning to find vegan/eco-friendly stuff to buy (shoes especially!), it has become so easy now that it would be a much easier decision for people these days. The lifestyle change isn't so drastic these days!

The environmentalist/vegan connection comes about because of my initial reasons for becoming vegan: the environment! 

Being an Environmentalist: Oxford Heaven Refashioned Shoes

These are "[f]un refashioned & vintage shoes & accessories for your closet!" from etsy store Oxford Heaven. I just found this blog called Cosa Verde, which features sustainably handmade goods. Cosa Verde recently featured some of these 18th Century style shoes, which are made from used and vintage shoes.

Special Edition Marie Antoinette Pink Silver Pumps

Marie Antoinette Lavender Mint Pumps 

The designer also makes custom shoes, and you can find some
 examples on this flickr page. 

All of shoes are pretty affordable and since they are vintage, I think that they would be okay for a vegan like me to wear, no? 

Being an Environmentalist: Upcycled Clothing Coat

Browsing through Etsy today I see a lot of great clothing made from old sweaters or other re-worked materials. Here is my favourite find: 

Military Style Sweater Coat by REMODEL $195 I especially love the toile detail in the belt and the pattern on the buttons:

Made from vintage sweaters and buttons. I would love to have this coat to go over my dresses when going to a show/symphony or similar. I especially love the toile detailing in the belt - it looks like the exact pattern that I have on my sofa cushions!