The Uncommon Life

Gift Lab #2: Simon & the Stormy Seas

May 18, 2010

1) Product Name: Stormy Seas

2) Background Research: I really enjoy simple, wooden toys. And thanks to my son Simon I have an excuse to slowly build my (I mean, his) collection. I saw this product and thought it would make a great gift for Simon’s upcoming birthday. He loves stacking things and balancing tall towers of blocks. My only concern is that he often yells at the blocks when they fall over. Would this game cause constant weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, or is it the perfect chance for him to finally get over his angst toward topsy inanimate objects?

3) Hypothesis: If I get this for my 3-year-old son, I will be the best dad ever.

4) Experiment: Wrap it up. Mix it in with the rest of his gifts. Unwrap. Play.

5) Results: Simon loves it. I love it. My wife loves it. My 6-month old son is indifferent.

We all had a lot of fun playing. The concept (just balance the differently shaped items on the boat) is so simple that we had no problem explaining the rules to him. It was just as easy for him as it was for us, and, yet, we oddly found that we tipped the boat almost as often as he did. I thought it would only be a game for parents and adults to play with kids, but I think it would do just as well at a dinner party or between my wife and I (though I worry I would lose badly if I challenged her).

I am also a fan of the materials used. The game is made from fast-growing bamboo, the printing inks for the rules and promo booklet are soy-based, and the paint is kid- and earth-friendly.

My only real qualm with the game is that the box is much too big. They are obviously a very environmentally focused company, but I think they could be a bit greener if they made the box only as big as it needed to be and save on cardboard and printing. It would also be easier to store in our little apartment.

Conclusion: This is a great game. I realize, of course, that some days hungry hungry hippos (which he also got for his birthday) will catch Simon’s eye. But for me, it is really important for him to have a simpler, non-plastic, less generic alternative to pull down from the shelf on game night. Stormy Seas fits the bill nicely.

About the researcher: Micah is a graphic designer and associate art director at UncommonGoods. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.

The Uncommon Life

A Composter’s Dilemma

May 17, 2010

In preparation for Compostapalooza, our partnership with Quirky to create the ultimate composting product, we’re running a series of compost education posts. Read up, then put those brainstorming caps on for kick-off on May 17!

I got into composting in 2008. I had never seriously considered doing it until I read the Omnivore’s Dilemma (by Michael Pollan) earlier that year – it helped me understand the food cycle and how throwing organic material into landfill was a lousy solution. Sanitation departments waste a lot of energy, money and land carting away food scraps that could otherwise be enriching the soil.

However, like recycling, composting is more work than just throwing something away, especially if you’re an urban dweller like me. To start with, you have to take the food waste and put it in a separate bin (no big deal). But you also need to cut up the food waste into small pieces to help it break down faster and then put the compostable material into some vessel outdoors. We were lucky to have a few friends and neighbors that were interested in the same thing and were able to convince our building to provide us with an outdoor space to place a compost tumbler.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our sons knew all about composting from school and were only too happy to tell daddy everything he was doing wrong, which was plenty. There was nothing they enjoyed more than catching me putting compostable material into the trash. I then had to dig through the garbage to find the food scraps and move them to the compost bin. I learned the messy way that tea bags, coffee grounds and egg shells were all fine for composting.

The Uncommon Life

Compost & the City

May 13, 2010

I’ve officially caught the compost bug.

I never thought I’d get much satisfaction from dumping smelly food scraps into a bin of other smelly food scraps. But sometimes I surprise myself.

I now bring my raw food scraps (i.e. fruits, vegetables, egg shells, tea bags) to my neighborhood community garden in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The scraps are then processed into compost that is used to nourish the vegetables and other plants in the garden with essential minerals.

I love the concept of making something useful from something we have no use for. We recycle paper and plastic. Why not food? Food waste accounts for the largest component of our trash each year. Composting also reduces our need for chemically laden fertilizers, most of which are derived from oil. And why pay for something you can get for free?

I store my food scraps in the freezer. That way, you can enjoy the benefits of composting without the stink factor. I then make my weekly trip to the Garden of Union on Saturday morning. I simply look for the marked bin, add my scraps, and cover with sawdust. The sawdust helps keep rodents away and also ensures the proper chemical balance of carbon and nitrogen. And that’s it! I’m doing my part to reduce my footprint, and grow yummy food within my community.

The Uncommon Life

Hail to the Chief

April 29, 2010

Yesterday at 4:32 p.m. my heart stopped.

This was the moment I received an email informing me that my request to hear President Obama speak had been approved. Cha-ching! It was only a few hours earlier that I received a message from the American Sustainable Business Council – a coalition of businesses (one of which is UG) committed to a vibrant, just, and sustainable economy – saying there were a limited number of seats available. I swooped in like a hawk.

I was thrilled that UncommonGoods was invited (well, truthfully, I kind of invited myself). I was honored that I was allowed to attend. And I was sweating one big question. What would I wear?

After ripping apart my breadbox-sized closet Thursday morning, I finally chose the perfect Michelle-inspired look (sheath dress, cardi, belt combo) and was ready to face the Secret Service and rub elbows with political figures I had only witnessed on CNN.

The Uncommon Life

The Recycling Bin: May Day Baskets

April 28, 2010

This is the perfect project for people who are too lazy to take out their recycling, but not too lazy to do arts and crafts (i.e. me). For whatever reason, I never feel the need to take out the recycling until there are at least four cans and a couple bottles that I have set on the floor next to the bin. I agree, it’s ridiculous and disgusting, but if I took out the recycling … I wouldn’t have been able to do this cool May Day basket project.

Let’s begin!

First, go to your recycling bin and survey the scene. Tin cans work well, as do the bottom half of plastic bottles, and milk or juice cartons. I didn’t have any small glass jars – but those would be a good option too. Anything that held a liquid before is a good choice since you will putting flowers and water in it.

Now comes the gross part. If you are like me, you didn’t properly rinse out all of your containers before putting them in the bin … so you’re going to have to give everything a good rinse and scrub. Nobody wants a May Day basket that has dried tomato sauce on it!

For bottles and cartons, you will need to peel off any labels and cut off the top half to make a proper container ……… this is me waiting for you to cut the bottles in half …….. be careful – nobody wants a May Day basket with dried blood on it!

Now comes the fun part – decorating! I have decided to use this super-cool decorative masking tape. This stuff is great. It comes in all these wonderful patterns and colors, so you can create a lot of different looks when you have several rolls. I started with a few simple patterns and then went on to do layered designs.

The Uncommon Life

Gift Lab #1: Gaby vs. the Laptop Bag

April 27, 2010

1) Product Name: Alexander Girard Laptop Sling in Retrospective

2) Background Research: I travel for work often, and am almost always lugging around a laptop. This laptop sling was in the studio, because I had just photographed it, and I was in desperate need of a new laptop carrier. I grabbed it as I ran out the door to catch my flight.

3) Hypothesis: If I use this laptop bag, then the way I travel (and my life!) will be changed for the better.

4) Experiment: Take the laptop sling to Wisconsin for the printing of the Summer 2010 catalog.

5) Results: I loved this bag! I have never really spent anytime thinking about it, but carrying your laptop around horizontally is not nearly as easy as carrying it vertically. I noticed right away how much easier it was to walk up and down the airplane aisles with that and a carry-on. I was happy to discover that I didn’t end up smacking anyone upside the head with the edge of the bag, which unfortunately for those who are on my flights … is not all that uncommon for me. And something else I loved, three separate people stopped me to ask about my bag and tell me how cool they thought it was!

The Uncommon Life

I’m on Cloud 9

April 26, 2010

In third grade, I was the last person to pick a topic for the science fair. While my classmates got the more glamorous projects – lizards! exploding volcanoes! mold & bacteria! – I got clouds. Clouds! Can you believe it? My project consisted of me going outside taking pictures of the sky and taping them onto a sky blue poster board. I was virtually ignored at the science fair, “Please!!!! Let me tell you about cirrus clouds!!!” “No thanks, going to see the lizards.”

If only I had had these cute paper clouds back in third grade – nobody would have been able to resist my report!

These happy, little (and, if memory serves me right, cumulus) clouds were leftover from our recent catalog, and since it would be a crime to throw a cloud away, they now live up in the atmosphere of the creative studio.

They make me smile whenever I come into work – I just find them so darn cute! And not only do they make lovely office decor, but they also would look darling in a kid’s room or (on a smaller scale) above a crib in place of a mobile.

Want to make your own paper clouds? It’s easy!

Continue Reading…

The Uncommon Life

Trust Us, We Wear Lab Coats

April 23, 2010

We don’t know about you, but we have a serious lack of the scientific method in our lives these days. You know, the 5-step format to doing experiments often executed with the help of an awesome composition notebook, a lab partner you were generally repulsed by, and a pair of giant embarrassing goggles that left an outline on your face for at least another class period. Come to think of it, were not quite sure why we suddenly have such fond feelings for the scientific method … maybe we just wanted an excuse to test some of our favorite products, and the scientific method just made it seem more official. And that’s how we came up with The Gift Lab: a company-wide operation that calls upon all Ugooders to conduct rigorous tests and research on select products, report on their findings and lead to breakthroughs in the often frustrating and puzzling field of gifts.

So in the name of science, gifts and dangerously high levels of fun, let the labbing begin!

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