The Grass Media Table, made from bamboo and straw with a brand-new steel wire leg design, will be on display at The Greenhaus’s stand in the Tent London exhibition from 18-21 September. Make sure you see stand H25 in the Content zone at Tent on London’s Brick Lane.

Tent has grown into one of the must-see exhibitions during the London Design Festival and The Greenhaus is displaying a selection of contemporary, sustainable furniture designs including new products from our friends Ryan Frank and Naomi Dean. Jane Moseley from The Greenhaus is a fount of knowledge about sustainable product design in the UK so stop by and say hello.

Pli has been working towards sourcing all of our materials sustainably since we started in 2003. We have met and discussed novel, eco-friendly materials for our furniture designs with suppliers in India, China and all over the UK. We’ve built up a fair amount of knowledge and experience which we are eager to share with other designers.

So Pli was really pleased to be given the opportunity to talk at the Eco Design Network’s Big Picture Brunch in London on 18 September. Christopher Pett from Pli will be discussing our experience and ideas regarding from compostable panel furniture to biocomposites and recycled plastics.

The EDN Big Picture Brunch

There will be lots of interesting speakers there and we are looking forward to learning a lot and getting into some lively and illuminating discussions. Apparently the coffee and croissants are on the house so we hope to see you there!
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Pli has just brought out a longer version of the Grass media table, appropriately called the Long table. It’s 2.4 metres long (or wide, depending how you look at it) - that’s 2400 millimetres of media equipment, files, books, bottles, wedding presents, bowls and flatmates you can store on its unbroken bamboo surface. You can learn more about the design here (click on the image)…

April 2002 saw the arrival of one of those rare books that stays interesting and relevant long after its publication. It seemed to have an instant impact on the small world of sustainable design. But looking back it’s better described as a slow-burner: its impact is still apparent as the issues it discussed are shouldered by a growing community of designers.

I bought my copy of Cradle to Cradle a year later, in April 2003. It’s been a touchstone ever since: at Pli, terms like ‘downcycling’ and ‘nutrients’ still permeate our discussions.

Here’s a question for you: if you have read Cradle to Cradle, what have you done that you can say is a direct result of the ideas you came across in its rather heavy plastic pages?

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After a year’s design and development, Pli has started selling our Grass tables. The project was simple - to create a stylish collection of tables made from sustainable materials. Bamboo, straw and aluminium did the trick.