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Efficiency Meets Sustainability
At Blu Dot Material, Energy and Packaging
Efficiencies Contribute to a Sustainable Environment
Story by Debra Kronowitz
Decorating your dream home on a
budget and applying green principles can prove challenging. You’re
either faced with exorbitant price tags or products that lack attitude
and style. The notion that sophisticated modernism couldn’t be combined
with affordability is what prompted John Christakos, Maurice Blanks and
Charles Lazor to create their concept showroom, Blu Dot. Their mission
as a company is to bring the best design at an affordable price. Often,
this lends itself to being less wasteful and more efficient and
sustainable.
Founded in 1996, Blu Dot is headquartered in Minneapolis with a flagship
showroom in SoHo. The company focuses on pragmatic issues in an effort
to arrive at forms that are both useful and beautiful. Blu Dot is
recognized for its inventive use of materials, playful sensibility and
fabrication/assembly technology determined by aneconomy of means. Its
range of home furnishings is sold in stores across the United States,
Canada and abroad, online and through its print catalog.
Blu Dot has many elements to its operation that are decidedly
environmental and sustainable. From packaging to materials used to
production, the company is on a constant improvement cycle to explore
green efficiencies. “Being green is always agood thing; it is also an
efficient thing, and it is the right thing,” said Christakos.
Affirming its commitment to the environment, Blu Dot’s collection has
recently expanded to include some earth-friendly products. It has
partnered with Keesta, an eco-friendly mattress company with a wide
range of options good for the environment and for the pocketbook. Chosen
because the product aligns with the Blu Dot philosophy of innovation and
affordability, Keetsa mattresses replace 20% of the usual petroleum in
normal memory foam mattresses with Bio Foam made from castor bean oil (a
natural plant oil). They also infuse the memory foam with green tea
extract to provide an enduring fresh scent without the use of chemical
deodorizers, and use a 100% certified cotton cover in place of synthetic
fabrics. |
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Photos courtesy of Blu Dot |
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Another green product is Blu Dot’s
Real Good Chair,
which happens to be one of the company’s best sellers. It is packaged
flat (in a pizza box-shaped container), making it efficient for both
delivery to the store and portability by the consumer.
Another seating option that boasts green elements is the Paramount
Sofa. Recently expanded, it is domestically made and uses a mixture
of soy foam (eco-friendly) and traditional foam. Again, style is not
compromised. Clean lines with seat tufting and stainless-steel legs make
this sofa a timeless classic. |
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