Dec 17, 2010

Highest “Sustainability” Status Awarded to Six NYIGF Exhibitors

White Plains, NY – Of some 200 participants in the SustainAbility: design for a better world® display at the winter 2010 New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®), six have been designated as achieving the highest level of sustainability for their products, production processes and business practices.

NYIGF’s “Degrees of SustainAbility” initiative outlines industry-specific criteria for identification of green products and producers and its three-tiered ranking indicates the extent to which a product/producer complies with these standards. NYIGF’s SustainAbility: design for a better world exhibit will feature nearly 200 gift, home and lifestyle products which meet the threshold criteria – SustainAbility¹ – for inclusion, with just six winter 2011 participants designated as attaining the highest ranking SustainAbility³.

“While the majority of companies within SustainAbility use renewable resources, and manufacture with alternative energy sources, these products and producers show an exemplary dedication to and adoption of ‘green’ practices,” said Dorothy Belshaw, NYIGF director and GLM senior vice president.

These exemplary companies and products are:

“Old School” Journals and Gift Bags by Handmade Expressions
Members of an artisan cooperative in Jaipur, India re-use school project paper to create this unique line of journals and gift bags. Gathered from old note books, the paper is dipped in tea dye, giving each sheet its own aged look. All natural, the products can be recycled and composted. They are designed by Ruchi Agrawal, and manufactured by Handmade Expressions.  Based in Austin, TX, Handmade Expressions is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, and 100% of its products are made using Fair Trade practices. The company works with more than 30 artisan groups and about 5,000 artisans in India to offer responsible, sustainable and Fair Trade products. Handmade Expressions’ mission to help partner-artisans achieve sustainable development is through the support of projects that improve education, health care, water, and energy resources in those communities. With every order of $500 or more, Handmade Expressions contributes 1% of the order value to a specific project within these communities. www.handmadeexpressions.net

Willow Goblets and Tumbler Collection by The Green Glass Company
Severine Zaslavski designed a green twist on goblets and tumblers, using only reclaimed post consumer material that can be fed back into nature’s resource loop. Fashioned from Napa Valley wine bottles, the new Willow Collection is made by re-purposing the bottom part into stunning tumblers and the top into matching goblets via a patented conversion process using little energy. After the bottles are cut, the edges are melted and annealed. Re-purposing of glass requires a fraction of the energy compared to melting recycled glass. The Green Glass Company purchases renewable energy from its energy provider and is an official Green Power Partner.  They donate a percentage of profits to The World Wildlife Fund and other environmental not-for-profit organizations. www.greenglass.com

Flame-Blackened Ladle by Jonathan’s Spoons
Through careful and efficient layout, Jonathan Simons minimizes waste of the FSC-certified cherry wood used to create this handmade utensil. The distinctive and sophisticated appearance comes naturally from flame blackening, which eliminates the need for toxic stain or finishes. Once blackened, their ladles are lightly sanded and finished with non-toxic oil. Scraps become a heat source for the shop and employee homes. The sawdust is turned into compost used to fertilize local farms. Jonathan’s Spoons purchases wood grown within the same state. The company supports the Hardwood Forestry Fund,American Forests and the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry. www.woodspoon.com

Yoga Bags by Indego Africa
Designed and manufactured from locally-sourced Dutch wax cloth, these bags are hand-crafted by a cooperative of women in Rwanda, using foot-powered sewing machines. This process uses sustainable energy and preserves valuable resources. Emphasizing entrepreneurship and independence, Indego Africa pays the women a fair wage, provides access to international export market access and offers training. Indego Africa returns 100% of profits for innovative training programs in entrepreneurship, management, literacy, computers and microfinance. www.indegoafrica.org

The Kandinsky Collection by Sobral USA
Made of a unique, lightweight resin sourced from vegetable-based alcohol, each piece of Sobral jewelry is crafted by hand in Carlos Sobral’s workshop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Unlike most resin artists, Sobral uses only environmentally friendly, raw materials considered as waste; 80% from wheat and corn-based alcohol and 20% from petroleum byproducts. Sobral’s dyes are vegetable-based, and the gift-wrapping and packaging materials are environmentally friendly as well.  Sobral uses hydro-electricity generated from a nearby waterfall to power his workshop, and recycles the water used in the cooling and polishing processes. All scraps are recycled. Employees – mostly local women — are allowed to work from home in order to care for their families. They receive training, meals, medical care and a retirement plan, which are rare benefits in Brazil. www.alegriaimports.net

100% Organic Teas by Teatulia Premium
The only exclusively organic tea line, Teatulia packs tea leaves in compostable and biodegradable corn silk pyramid teabags and packages the bags in post-consumer eco canisters. All Teatulia Teas are 100% USDA and SGS Certified Organic, and cultivated using the Fukuoka Farming Method, a closed-loop ecosystem which restores species and water bodies and relies only on rainfall for irrigation.  All packaging materials are re-used and displays are made from 100% reclaimed Rocky Mountain Beetle-Kill Pine. The Teatulia tea garden in Bangladesh is a cooperative, providing jobs to people in the region who could not work previously, as well as a cattle-lending program.  www.teatulia.com

Launched in 2007, NYIGF’s SustainAbility: design for a better world showcases global gift and home industry suppliers whose products or production processes are eco-friendly, as well as companies whose business practices are socially responsible, philanthropic or fair-trade oriented. A zero tolerance policy was enacted in 2010 for any products with VOC; lead (for baby, children and food-related products); aniline dyes, formaldehyde and chlorine (for textiles); and PVC, without recommendation for use and disposal.

In 2010, NYIGF convened a “SustainAbility Task Force,” comprised of experts in “green” retail, design, manufacturing and fair trade: Display curator Ilene Shaw of Shaw + Co! Productions chairs the group, and advisors are: Enrico Bressan of Artecnica; Scot Case of TerraChoice; Mark Caserta of 3R Living; Amy Chender of ABC Carpet & Home; Paul Donald of Branch Home; designer Matthew Morris; Colleen Pendelton of AID TO ARTISANS; Jessica Pope, Working Class Studio; SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design); and Jaime Salm of MIO.

Several members of NYIGF’s SustainAbility Task Force will lead an informal and open-forum exploration of environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible best practices at NYIGF on Monday, January 31, from 12:00-1:30pm. The seminar, titled “It’s Easy Being Green – Just Ask the Experts!” will be moderated by Susan Szenasy, editor ofMetropolis. Information and registration is available online at www.nyigf.com/programs.

SustainAbility: design for a better world will be on display in the North Concourse at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from Saturday, January 29 through Thursday,February 3, 2011. NYIGF is the nation’s premier gift, home and lifestyle marketplace, with 2,800 exhibiting companies featuring an extraordinary breadth and depth of design-driven home fashion products and complementary giftware. Some 35,000 attendees from all 50 states and more than 85 countries worldwide are expected. Information and registration is available online at www.nyigf.com.