From the clothes we wear, to the food we eat, to the body products we use, to the products we furnish our homes with, what we make matters. Who makes it, how it’s made, and what ingredients are used matter – and can have a big impact on making a more sustainable future. Our Bay Area Made community is full of values-driven makers who take things like sustainability very seriously and don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk. For Earth Day 2023 we highlighted ten member companies across industries that are innovators in creating earth-friendly products. Here we highlight eight more.
Alexandra Cicorschi
Alexandra Cicorschi (b. 1983, Bucharest, Romania) creates abstract wall hanging sculptures exploring ideas of migration and environmental change in relationship with consumerism and our growing disconnect from nature and cultural heritage. She utilizes multiple types of wood repurposed from discarded household objects and construction materials. Her meticulous emphasis on process and craft serves as a commentary on society’s increasing impatience and the diminishing value of our man-made objects because of mass-consumption.
Anna Monet Jewelry
Anna Monet Jewelry places sustainability at the center of everything they do, striving to create change in the jewelry industry through ethical jewelry design that is conscious of its ecological and human impact. They intentionally incorporate biodegradable materials used in ancient times such as horsehair purchased from Native American traders along with hand-mixed, all natural dyes. Their work is an exploration of innovative design that also celebrates traditional craft and the symbolism of our human connection to the earth. Metalwork includes recycled brass and silver, and 90% of their stones come from dead stock mines. Vintage Sapphires are from the 1980’s.
Earth Tu Face
Inspired by the circular quality of ecosystems and the healing powers of plants, Earth Tu face is herbalist formulated skincare with sustainable packaging and the very best whole botanicals. With Earth’s precious resources in mind, their line has been free of chemical fillers, fragrances, and toxins since 2010. They believe in the centuries-old legacy of the natural world providing beautifying nutrients and that ultimately, what is good for the Earth, is good for us. They ethically source the finest raw natural materials the earth has to offer, with ingredients ranging from sustainably farmed Australian sandalwood to heritage rose petals and calendula flowers from their California organic garden.
FOUND by Bashford Design
From the thousands of tons of furniture our society takes to landfill every day, there are some pieces that are innately interesting or beautiful. FOUND by Bashford Design searches obsessively for these vintage and preloved quality furniture pieces and reimagines them. The result is a menagerie of completely unique items with mysterious pasts and stories to tell. Each time a piece is brough back to life, it waits for just the right interesting person to appreciate it and give it a new home.
Camelia Skikos
Camelia Skikos is a conceptual womenswear brand based in San Francisco, launched in 2010 by the Romanian designer who gives the brand its name. Camelia’s design philosophy stems from a continuing fascination with the way garments can make an impact on our lives, based on the unconscious relations between the human being and the garments we wear. Comprehending metaphysics of the form and its antipode, volumes and silhouettes, surfaces and voids, contours and texture, her designs come to dialogue with the human body resulting in a multidimensional effect of innovation, dynamism, and a sophisticated sense of femininity with an edge. All garments are made of cruelty-free materials. To maintain a small environmental footprint, the entire collections are manufactured locally in limited quantities and combine value with quality.
Oxgut
Oxgut creates their Upcycled Fire Hose Collection of products from genuine retired fire hose salvaged from US fire departments. Based in Vallejo, CA, they select the most interesting, decommissioned fire hose to put into the hands of local designers and artisans, who help give the hose a whole new purpose. They’re always coming up with new ways to integrate this amazing, resilient material into beautiful, handmade pieces.
Orta
Orta Kitchen Garden began as a dream to create tools that promote gardening and connect people to nature. In 2011, founder Anne Fletcher made their first self-watering seed pot as a solution to the problem of sustaining delicate herb seedlings on her kitchen counter. In her design, water is drawn as needed from the pot’s terracotta reservoir. After a year in her garage experimenting and teaching herself ceramics, she refined her dream into the Sixie Seed Pot, a responsibly made product that is beautiful enough to display. Eager to align her professional life as a product designer with her environmental values, Anne started Orta Kitchen Garden. Today, Orta’s Berkeley-based crew produces a variety of pots and zero-waste kits. Everything is made to last a lifetime and guaranteed to be plastic and toxin-free, and green-to-the-core in all aspects from responsible manufacturing to eco-packaging.
Farmhouse Lab
Farmhouse Lab lives by the motto “Consciously Sourced & Crafted”. Founder Daniela Kratz thinks it is essential that you know where each ingredient is sourced and how their dressings are crafted. Daniela’s inspiration for creating high-quality, sustainably sourced, delicious dressings originated from her realization that most dressings on the supermarket shelves contain emulsifiers, preservatives, artificial flavors and/or refined sugars. And what was easy for her to whip up in the kitchen wasn’t so simple for many on-the-go parents and professionals. With the start of her own family, combined with her love of entertaining and passion for sustainability, it was a natural for Daniela to create a business designed to promote a healthy lifestyle.
Read the 2023 feature Earth Day: Ten Innovative Makers Creating Earth-Friendly Products.
