Sage in Design and our partners are dedicated to the goal of sustainability, both environmental and social. From the outset, our mission has been to provide consumers and suppliers with a top-quality, eco-friendly alternative to Burmese teak. A great example is our new KYMP bench designed by Tucker Waugh. The bench is made with our FSC teak and the frame is made of  recycled aluminum.

Our teak plantations are situated on the reclaimed ranch lands along Mexico’s Pacific coast. On these plantations, our trees are grown slowly and naturally, without the use of fertilizers or irrigation. This not only minimizes our ecological footprint, but also ensures that our plantation teak has the classic look and feel of classic old-growth teak. We call it “Slow Growth Teak.”

Our plantations are the closest teak source to the United States, thus significantly reducing the carbon footprint.   Renewable wood products store carbon, permanently removing it from the atmosphere.  Our carefully managed plantations cover 8,000 acres of previously-cleared ranch lands and are now home to more than 3.3 million trees. On a daily basis, our plantations capture the CO2 equivalent to that emitted by 20 million cars.  In addition to our resource-conscious management, our plantations preserve 2,000 acres of virgin tropical forests that stand adjacent to our planted areas. The forestry practices of Sage in Design’s partners have earned our plantations the distinction of an FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certification.

Much of the world’s teak comes from Southeast Asia’s old-growth forests, particularly the nation of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). Not only must this old-growth teak be shipped from the opposite side of the planet, its sale helps fund a notoriously brutal military junta that has controlled Burma since 1962. The U.S. Treasury has banned all imported teak from Myanmar (Burma).  This country is led by one of the most corrupt military governments in the world.  Burma’s junta run government is notorious for its systematic rape, torture, forced prostitution, displacement and judicial killings of its ethnic women.  Women all over the country have fled to the seclusion of the nearby jungles to hide from the brutality moving through their villages.  One platoon of soldiers moved from home to home, gang raping every woman in the village and later returned and killed them.  Their abuse extends to the Asian elephants that are essential to the teak logging trade.  These beautiful animals have been pumped full of addictive methamphetamine and literally worked to death.  These are only a few examples of the horrors of this regime.  You could be supporting this brutal regime without knowing it because Burmese teak is laundered through China and India into the U.S.  The Burmese teak industry provides huge financial support to this corrupt military government.

In contrast, our partner’s renewable forestry operations seek to revitalize the agricultural economy in coastal Mexico by employing workers at fair wages and benefits in a traditionally low-income area of Mexico. We are proud of our product and our values and those of our partners.  Commitment to sustainability and quality has helped our teak supplier become one of the largest teak growers in the western hemisphere. We look forward to providing sustainable plantation teak for years and years to come.

2011 is going to be a great year! We have a lot of new products and materials coming soon. Products:

ECOR – Through our partnership we are developing new products which will be made with the ECOR material – 100% recycled content, a combination of recycled old newspapers ONP, old corrugated cardboard and agricultural fibers.   Product uses include furniture, wayfinding, office cubicles and more. For details read article from Surface & Panel Magazine.

Fiber Board – Fiber Board made with Sorghum stalks – an agricultural waste product – and a formaldehyde-free binder.  Sorghum’s 48% cellulose content makes it pliable and strong, and comparable to wood, which is 50% cellulose. When Sorghum is used in a fiberboard the result is a panel that is stronger, more durable, provides better insulation, and has a lower environmental impact than traditional particle board. The sheets come in 4′ x 8′ and will be priced around $3.90 a square foot.

Stone Phenolic Resin Table Tops – Stone phenolic resin table tops will be offered in a 1/4″ and 5/8″ thick.  Made from 100% recycled FSC wood fibers. Top fused with any solid color or custom graphic making the surface impervious to water, stains or abrasions. Layered edges or solid black are available as a standard, however solid colors are available upon request. The 5/8″ table tops will include a threaded insert for attaching table bases. Pricing for table tops range from $201 30″ dia, $168 24″x30″, $272 36” dia, $204 30″x42″ other sizes available.

Plastic Products – In 2011 we will be substituting our recycled plastic products with renewable plastics that are an economically and ecologically sound substitute for petroleum-based products. All resins replace a significant percentage of petroleum-based additives with starches made out of corn, wheat, tapioca and potatoes.

Finishes: We are particularly excited about CC9, which has proven to be by far the most durable finish we have ever tested. This is applicable for interior and exterior uses.

We have partnered and collaborated with like minded green technology companies to provide the most current and innovative eco furniture in the contract industry.

SAGE in Design – raising the bar in 2011 using recycled and agricultural materials!

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

“Architects and designers are seeing themselves as stewards more now than ever,” says David Lasher, who founded Sustaining A Green Environment (SAGE) in Design 18 months ago The Vista, Calif., company provides competitively priced, environmentally sound retail furnishings and contract furniture.

Lasher’s outreach to store developers and furniture designers spurred ECOR projects with Thread Collaborative and Lacey Campbell, a Savannah College of Art & Design graduate and new hire at Sauder Woodworking “Designing with ECOR® provides the flexibility of metal with the warm quality of wood” Campbell says “Jim (Torti) and David (Lasher) presented the opportunity to use this amazing material in a collection that pushes the idea of public seating but doesn’t sacrifice style or intent.”

Sustainable-brand specialist and Thread Collaborative founder Kevin Foster O’Donnell first used ECOR® last month in a Whole Foods Market in Huntington Beach, Calif. WaveCOR™ ESP functioned as both substrate and decorative surface. The overhead signs feature intentionally exposed edges, meaning channels of light are visible through vertically oriented WaveCOR™. Aisle markers display a hand-written message.

Using water-basked inks, O’Donnell printed directly on the FlatCOR™ to bleed color into the hydroscopic boards and also over a white-printed layer for higher contrast. “It’s very unusual for this client to do everything in a way that looks unfinished,” says O’Donnell. “It’s really kind of dynamic for what would normally be boring wayfinding information” via Surfaces & Panels Magazine, Autumn 2010 issue.  Surfaces & Panel Magazine ECOR

We are so excited that our Whole Foods grand opening in Huntington Beach was such a tremendous success! Our ECOR material was used for aisle signage, directional signage, 3D lettering for the the bulk foods area  and other applications. Many people – both from Whole Foods and customers commented on the unique look and feel and was easily recognizable as a “recycled” product. see more photos

Customers are becoming more knowledgeable on what’s environment friendly and what’s not, and physical elements with a distinct “green” look and feel can make your company’s commitment to the environment easily identifiable to customers.

The BIG problem with plywood, MDF and particle board is that they are:

• toxic
• heavy
• not recycled
• depleting sources
• not design versatile
• a negative impact on the environment

The ECOR Material by comparison – Non-Toxic  -  Light Weight  -  100% Recycled – comes from Sustainable Sources -  is Design Versatile –  and has a Positive Eco Iimpact.

The above photos is the signage that was used for the opening of Whole Foods Market October 2010 in Huntington Beach.  The message is clear to the consumer that the signage used was made from recycled content and it helps instill Whole Foods’ commitment to the environment.  The actual material is made from 100% recycled newspapers, recycled corrugated cardboard and agricultural fibers with no additives or VOC’s. The ECOR material is safe and as “environmental” as it gets.

A major concept we are developing is taking all of a company’s or city’s waste (paper, newspaper, packaging material, office waste, etc) and converting it into panels and products  via our “YourCor” program. This program allows these organizations the opportunity to brand themselves as “green,” use LEED credits, and leverage this positive business model with their clients and further their corporate image.   Further, any signage or other products made from ECOR can be taken, reground and redeveloped with no additional materials, and be re-designed all over again – truly cradle to cradle. We have so many different types of projects in the works that we are all very excited.  Products Page and ECOR Global website

We are looking for new ways to use recycled waste in manufacturing contract furniture. Our latest is using 98.8% recycled old engine parts in our sand cast frames. We are also testing castings from old appliances and possibly using programs like cash-for-clunker-appliances for drawing resources. The seat and back are from old tractor tire inner tubes which otherwise would end up in a landfill.
California is faced with the significant challenge of diverting or safely managing more than 44.4 million reusable and waste tires generated each year. It is estimated that fewer than 250,000 waste tires remain in stockpiles throughout California. These stockpiles pose a potential threat to public health, safety, and the environment. source CalRecycle

We are also a team member of Hermosa Beach’s carbon neutral initiative.

Noble Environmental Technologies, Inc., (NET)- a small, private company, has developed its first product, an exclusive 100% eco-friendly, non-toxic, recycled content, Three-Dimensional Engineered Molded Fiber (3dEMF) Composite Panel technology branded – ECOR. Our products are manufactured from a wide array of 100% recycled content including newspaper, corrugated cardboard, agriculture and other waste fibers using a patented composite process to create a durable and unbelievably flexible product that can be shaped and molded to any specification. You have to see it to believe it!  www.ecorglobal.com.  Materials Connexion http://www.materialconnexion.com has approved the product in four categories, as well, architecture design firms, manufacturers and end users seeded all over the world are now working with the product across applications and industries. We truly believe it will be a market disruptive product that will revolutionize sustainable design.

We have just completed our 100% recycled plastic seat cube with a 304 stainless steel base. The lighting is LED and we are offering the units hardwired or with a rechargeable battery. The rechargeable battery life is 8-10 hours of use before needing a recharge.

Plastic Bag Recycling Program: California Law AB 2449 Makes it Easier to Recycle Grocery Bags: read article We are using some of these MDPE medium density polyethylene bags to make our cubes.

This unit fits perfectly for the hospitality, cruise ships,theme parks and corporate industries.

The idea is to expand the use of recycled plastic which can be upcycled into new products. We are using 100% recycled MDPE medium density polyethylene and LDPE low density polyethylene to create our products. The MDPE sources are plastics bags not marked HDPE and LDPE are plastic containers as ketchup, shampoo, water bottles and milk jugs. Read the process of Plastic recycling From Wikipedia
Additionally we are talking with large corporations about using their plastic waste to create products for them. Siting cubes, planters, tables and lighted elements are a great way to use our waste in an effective and visual way.
You can also use the grounded up plastics as fillers in low carbon cement products like benches, planters and sitting cubes. We are currently testing a combination of ground plastics and post consumer glass as fillers in aggregate products. We will keep you updated…
Photo courtesy from: Zenergy House

ABC NEWS Owning a green home has benefits For the Zenergy House we provided two armoires and benches that can be seen in the above video and photo to the left. The material used to build them was 100% recycled ONP old newspapers, OCC old corrugated cardboard and bovine waste for the agricultural fiber. The adhesive used was Elmer’s glue and the finish was natural. They added later for the bench tops a AFM Safecoat which contained no Voc’s.
The ZENERGY House will host a number of seminars and tours for architects, builders, designers, government officials, realtors, financial institutions, homeowners and other interested parties through 2010. Supporting ZENERGY House’s educational mission, tours will be performed by students from LACHSA (Los Angeles County High School for the Arts)‘The Giving Tree Club’ who have attended specific training events at the property.

What if a national Retail Chain or Corporation could take all of its paper waste – office and construction sites, packaging material, etc – and use it to build the wall paneling, furniture, signage, and millwork in their retail stores or offices? What a huge environmental statement that would make. And what if later they renovated or remodeled, and could sell that building material back to the factory to be ground up into new product for them? What a fantastic example of true “cradle to cradle.”

This is no dream. We perfected this process in the 90’s long before the “green” movement, but I guess traditional corporate America just wasn’t ready for us. Today we are going into production in San Diego California and the real question is, “Who will it be? Which national Retail Chain or Corporation is going to step up to the plate and put their talk of corporate responsibilities and sustainability into action?”

We have a pilot program which will have a global impact on building, retail, green jobs and the overall economy. We will show how ECOR sustainability can work for you.