Green, Green, Green

Let me get this off my chest–I did not pay much attention to the whole green design movement until very recently.  Two events precipitated this discovery: first, my group (2Michaels Design/4PM) signed on to do a “green” show house in the Hamptons this summer, jointly sponsored by Hamptons Cottages and Gardens, and Modern Green Homes, and purported to be the first such show house in the country.  More on this later this month. 

Second, I attended a presentation by Robin Guenther at the Design Exchange hosted by Interior Design magazine on May 6, and saw pictures to accompany the grim ecological statistics and projections I had been dimly aware of.  Now, I feel enormously guilty for largely neglecting what is arguably the most important set of issues facing designers in the 21st century.  Not completely guilty, though.  It turns out that as a dealer in vintage design for the past fifteen years, I have been recycling like crazy.  Still, by not tracking the debates about recycling vs. repurposing, or eco-efficiency vs. sustainability, I have not been part of the solution. 

The bottom line is that when I’ve looked at green design, my eye has scanned across it without stopping. I’m not sure how much of this is growing pains in the field of green design, and how much is my own prejudice, but I will be looking more closely from now on.  I will not preach green—that would be hypocritical—but I do intend to learn more about it, and to share what I’m learning in real time.

Recycled furnishings, from author’s gallery