Instagram Picks: the best sustainable homeware brands to follow
Good design is about a lot more than just creating beautiful objects, but it can be difficult to know which designers are putting sustainability at the heart of their practice. Here we run through our go-to Instagram accounts for the conscious consumer, which provide ethical inspiration without compromising on style. While you browse, make sure you’re following @themodernhouse.
@bauwerkcolour
Limewash is an expressive, natural alternative to synthetic paint. The Australian company Bauwerk recognises its eco-friendly potential by ensuring everything from manufacture to disposal does no harm to the environment. Their paints even remove carbon dioxide from the air as they dry.
@ecobirdy
Transforming discarded plastic toys into well-designed, child-sized furniture, ecoBirdy’s products offer a playful introduction to recycling – making sustainability fun and accessible for all ages. We are particularly fond of the tables and chairs and would be first in line for an adult-sized offering. Until then, we’re just glad to see some good design making its way into the playroom – start ’em young, we say!
@granbyworkshop
The Granby Workshop was set up in 2015 in collaboration with Turner-prize winning collective Assemble to help regeneration in Granby, a neighbourhood in Liverpool. Their range of architectural ceramics includes terrazzo formed from recycled building rubble and Granbyware, the world's first fully recycled ceramic tableware.
@revenvert
Rêve En Vert is an online luxury boutique that specialises in sustainable and ethical products. Foregrounding independent brands and innovative designers who match quality, well-made products with a sustainable approach, Rêve En Vert proves that responsible consumption needn’t come at the expense of style.
@salt_textiles
Jordan Maxwell, the founder of SALT Textiles, describes her project as “a meditation on a craft”, exploring slow, traditional processes and natural materials to create a range of hand-dyed and finished products. The brand also runs workshops on the art of natural dyeing.
@smileplastics
In the first five years after they were founded in 2015, Smile Plastics diverted approximately 350 tonnes of plastic from landfill, creating unique surfaces used by architects and designers. One such architect is Mat Barnes, who deployed blue and black variants of the company’s ‘Dapple’ range – made from chopping boards and plastic packaging – in the kitchen of his Edwardian home, which we recently visited. They have since gone on to incorporate other industrial waste into their recycled designs, including coffee grounds.
@sustainable_departmentstore
The Sustainable Department Store does what it says on the tin, bringing together independent makers who promote ethical and sustainable practices in the most efficient way - direct-to-consumer - and by promoting products that last.
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