Saturday, April 5, 2008

Getting a new board!

Got these pics from John up at Cole Surfboards showing me a new board that Cole is shaping for me. There is a lot of cool new technology happening with surfboard shaping right now and this particular blank from my buddy Matt @ Prop Surf has a "quadrabolic" stringer meaning there are 4 stringers on the outside rails of the board as opposed to the traditional single stringer down the middle.



The idea behind this is that as you do a bottom turn you load the board with energy and as it comes out of the turn the energy releases from the board giving you more speed down the line. And speed is your friend when surfing! The energy transfer is very similar to the way a snowboard or ski will flex through the apex of a turn and then give you that pop as you come out of the turn.




So far this board looks amazing and I can't wait to try this thing out, Cole just needs to put his touches on the board and then off to the glasser it goes. Shouldn't be too long until it completed, Thanks Cole!

Friday, April 4, 2008

Better Living Show - Portland

Our good friend Dennis from Eclectic Home in Portland sent in this shot of the Maku Dining Collection from the Better Living show last weekend. Dennis and Eclectic Home continue to set the standard for Sustainable Furniture Retailing in the NW and it is great to have him as part of the Maku Furniture Family!

Check the Eclectic Home blog for more updates.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Welcome Structured Green!


Check it out, Maku Furniture just added another member to the family! Mike and Raquel are super cool southern cats with a great new store called Structured Green in Savannah, GA. Their website is up and running and the new store will be open in the next few weeks. A fresh shipment of Maku goods like the Maku Lounge Chair, Maku Side Table, and Maku Chaise are on their way so if you live in the Savannah area be sure to stop by and say hello!

Word has it that the new Discovery channel Planet Green is going to do a feature on Mike and Raquel's new store!

It's pretty rad to not only see these terrific Sustainable Retailers popping up through out the country but equally cool that Maku Furniture is privileged to partner with them!

A big virtual High 5 and Congrats Mike and Raquel!

Monday, March 31, 2008

Organic Cotton

Our friends over at econsciousmarket sent over this great info on Organic cotton.

DID YOU KNOW?
It takes 1/3 lb of toxic chemicals to produce just one conventional cotton T-shirt. How many tees do you have in your closet?
Conventionally-grown cotton crops account for twenty-five percent of all the pesticides used in the U.S., many of which are classified as the most toxic by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Organic Cotton: What is it?

Organic cotton is grown and harvested with natural fertilizers and in soil free from pesticides, defoliants, fertilizers, drugs, hormones, or synthetic chemicals. Organic farmers rely on crop rotation, mechanical cultivation, and botanical or biological means to control pests and weeds.

All of us @ Maku Furniture have been longtime supporters of companies such as Mission Playground and prAna that have been manufacturing super stylie clothing with an eco minded attitude since back in the day or one of our favorite up and coming brands RVCA

But "The Fabric of our Lives" i.e. Cotton is used in far more products than just clothing. Be it bedding and linens or as cottonseed oil in the feed that used for the livestock and ultimately the milk you drink... Just another way that unwanted pesticides can end up in your home and on you dinner table!