We must be on some new-age mailing list; this time, though, we were pleasantly surprised. The selection at Uncommon Goods, which tags itself as a gift catalog, features more than a few unique home-related items, and a good portion of what's in the catalog fits one idea of green: recycled-content, and made by artisans in the US. Other items, like this $12 mug, manage to walk the line between tacky fun and thought-provoking. And you can't argue with the prices, which seem mighty affordable to us.
A few more of our favorites:
• Salvaged wine barrel oak staves are handcrafted in Northern California to make this striking chair. All the more striking is the price: just $165.
• Another clever doormat... this one's made on a base of recycled tires. $24
• These platters are attractive and made from 100% recycled glass -- the entire bottle, in fact. We think they'd look great not only when in use, but also hanging on a kitchen wall. $15
• We've seen Tripp Gregson's work, like handbags made of cut up traffic signs, in art museum stores before. But we didn't know he made furniture, too. This stop sign table is the perfect size for bedside, and a clever repurposing, too. $90
• We liked the patina of these frames and the soft coloration, though we're more excited by the hard/soft contrast of the black and white frames also available. Once again, they're handmade in Georgia by an artist. $45 each.
Store History
- Founded: 1999
- Founded by: David Bolotsky
- Headquarters: Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY
Find anything but ordinary in every home and gift category imaginable.
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Wow. I think I would throw up if I ended up on a mailing list for a wasteful "gift catalog" that involved $12 mugs with topographical world maps on them...
Though the stop sign side table and tin ceiling frames are pretty cool.
I think that a culture where you have to have a special little tray for party snacks (as opposed to putting them on something with multiple uses) is half the reason we're in this mess...
Every time I think I'd be doing everyone a favor by no longer visiting this site, I remember it's my only way to hear from the opoponax.
Chez moi, we are not a heroically green household, but we own exactly two trays. One is reusable but semi-disposable, for occasions when we have to bring a tray of cookies but want to not have to care if we don't get the tray back. The other is a more serious tray for all other domestic tray uses. The rest of our "serving" pieces are vintage pottery and glass, and they act as decor when they're not holding up food (so the living room is less snazzy if we have a major dinner, but them's the breaks in a small apartment).
I just can't see the point of owning single-use items that get used infrequently. There's only so much space and money in anyone's life, and you get more mileage out of what you have if you use your resources thoughtfully.
Uncommon Goods is actually a very interesting shop and has stuff that's hard to find elsewhere. They have a web site too.
Um, you did notice that the idea behind the mug is that warm liquids inside them will make the coasts disappear to simulate global warming, right?
My real issue with the mug is that it's just a mug. It has a fairly cool design on it, but it's a mug. I can walk to about 5 different shops in my neighborhood (or walking distance from my office) that sell mugs of similar quality at a similar price point. So why exactly do I need to have this one shipped from across the country? I mean, sure the design is cool, but in my opinion it's better to take real action by not buying more junk, not wasting energy and expending carbon, etc. The fact that it has a cutesy "green" gimmick is not enough to outweigh its inherent wastefulness.