Sidewalk Surfer

Local Carlsbad artist Bryan Snyder created this bitchen little piece of public art in our little village by the sea.

Carlsbad Sidewalk Surfer by bryan snyder from Bryan Snyder on Vimeo.

Surfrider Foundation SD Chapter - 9th Annual Art Gala

The 9th Annual Art Gala benefiting the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is this Thursday May 21st.

As you have read in the past, Maku is a proud supporter or 1% For the Planet and part of our donation goes to the Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter.

This year we are also donating and Maku Lounge Chair and a Maku Side Table to the Art Gala at the Powerhouse in Del Mar. Check out the online Auction too for some really cool stuff!

Basking Sharks...

Some would think that being a surfer and spending as much time in the water as I do, why would I ever talk about sharks...?

Well, truth be told, the Whale Shark and the Basking Shark of 2 of my all time favorite underwater creatures. The huge majestic beauty and millions of years of evolutionary progress make these 2 sharks very intriguing.

I found this cool article on cnn.com about some recent studies on the Basking Shark and their migratory habits.

Check it out!

(CNN) -- The migration patterns of basking sharks have long mystified marine biologists, but new research has finally revealed where the world's second-biggest fish hide out for half of every year.

Despite growing to over 10 meters in length, basking sharks have often eluded close scientific study.

"While commonly sighted in surface waters during summer and autumn months, the disappearance of basking sharks during winter has been a great source of debate ever since an article in 1954 suggested that they hibernate on the ocean floor during this time," said Gregory Skomal of Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, one of the authors of a report recently published in "Current Biology".

"Some 50 years later, we have helped to solve the mystery while completely re-defining the known distribution of this species."

Using new satellite-tagging and a new geo-location technique, the researchers found that basking sharks make long migrations through tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean during the winter, traveling at depths of 200 to 1,000 meters.

The researcher's data show that the sharks sometimes stay at those depths for weeks or even months at a time.

"In doing so, they have completely avoided detection by humans for millennia," Skomal said in the report. Basking sharks are the world's second-largest fish and can grow to more than 10 meters -- more than 30 feet -- and weigh more than seven tons.

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Skomal said they were "absolutely surprised" when they first received a signal from the tagged sharks coming from the tropical waters of the western Atlantic, in the vicinity of the Caribbean and Bahamas. Before the study basking sharks were believed to be cool-water sharks, restricted to temperate regions.

Several factors made basking sharks a challenge to study. Added to their annual disappearing act, they feed exclusively on plankton, which means they can't readily be captured with traditional rod-and-reel methods.

Even when the sharks are found closer to the ocean surface, they spend their time in the cool-temperature, plankton-rich waters that limit underwater visibility and make diving difficult.

The researchers believe their findings could have important implications for the conservation of basking sharks, which have shown some signs of dramatic decline in the last half century and are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

"Coupled with recent genetic data, our finding indicates that the Atlantic population -- and perhaps the world population -- are connected and may constitute a single population," Skomal said.

"Hence, the global population of basking sharks may be even smaller than previously thought."

Morocco Surf Trip with Kassia Meador

Check out Maku Lifestyle Ambassador and surfer girl extraordinaire Kassia Meador in this little snippet from the crew at Roxy on their latest surf trip to Morocco.

To keep up with all things Kassia check out her blog.



Dang those waves look fun, what a killer trip!

Pics from Alt Build 2009

Here's a few pics from Alt Build 2009 that took place over the weekend. Great event with a tremendous turnout and some very very cool green products!

Dan and the Vernare crew outdid themselves with the booth this year!


Maku Lounge Chairs with Sunset and White cushions


Maku 48" Spa bench with the Maku 72" dining table and if you look closely there is a sneak peek at the new multifunctional Silent Spring piece that will be in the new DV collection that is due out soon...!

Alt Build - Santa Monica

If you are in the Southern California area this weekend cruise on over to the Santa Monica Civic Center and check out Alt Build 2009.

We'll be there to support one of our partners in eco-motivation, Vernare both Friday and Saturday displaying some of the cool pieces in the 2009 collection such as the Maku Lounge Chair, Maku Dining Table, and Maku Chaise. You'll also be able to get a sneak peek at a few new pieces as part of a new collection we are working on!

Alt Build is the premier show for eco friendly building and state of the art design materials. It's free to attend and there are a lot of great speakers and seminars to attend.

GoGreen Man!

So check out this rad 12 year old grom that is wise beyond his years. Jonathan Lee is a wrecking crew of Eco Friendly passion and resource that is looking to knock out Dr.Pollution!

Jonathan's projects range from trying to reduce waste that Fast food restaurants generate to a really cool project called One Chile, One Tree, One Year.

Keep up the good work Jonathan!!

Maku Site back up and running!

Sorry for the problems today, it looks like Media Temple was able to get the Maku Website back up and running!

Houston we have a problem

Technical difficulties with the Maku website and email right now, our service provider media temple is working to get everything restored and I'll post up again when the site is up and running...

Greensburg Kansas - the Greening of Middle America

2 years ago today the little town of Greensburg Kansas was devastated and totally destroyed by tornadoes. Virtually every building in the town was leveled. Those that weren't leveled sustained some serious damage...





The next thing that happened is nothing short of SPECTACULAR! The towns goverment decided this was the perfect opportunity to build the countries first green town. A showcase for eco friendly and sustainable building. Very cool indeed! From a wind farm to Silo Eco building, and even a TV show on Planet Green, Greensburg and it's fine citizens are truly eco heroes!

Kudos and congratulations to each and every member of Greensburg Kansas, I'm for sure stopping by and throwing out high fives the next time I happen to be in Kansas. And if anybody in Greensburg Kansas wants some Maku pcs for their outdoor space just let us know and we'll hook you up!

The Past and the Future...

I found these 2 very interesting articles this evening while perusing the world wide web.

The first asks the question: "Was George Washington Green?" and the second explores the ideals of "The Green House of the Future"

From yesteryear the use of native plants and landscaping, efficient use of space dependent upon season, and lightweight / movable furniture to the philosophies of the next generation of green homes that interestingly enough have a keen throwback to the early days of our country.



George Washington's "Woodlawn Plantation" (pictured above)


(BRANCHING OUT William McDonough + Partners envisions its house like a tree. The "bark" of the house is made up of thin, insulating films that would self-clean and self-heal if damaged. A curved roof with large eaves provides shade, which lowers the heat load in summer. The "trunk," or the frame of the home, consists of carbon tubes, while the "roots" are a heat-pump system buried in the yard.)

Is this a case of history repeating itself? Getting back to basics? or as the age old proverb goes "if it ain't broke don't fix it..."

Check them out and decide for yourself!

Article 1 - Was George Washington Green

Article 2 - The Green House of the Future

I wonder if our esteemed First President would have appreciated our designs?

What a way to end the week...

We have the first solid south swell of the spring and summer season filling into the local southern California beaches yesterday and today. So we loaded up the boards and headed to Trestles this early this morning. No pictures to post as we were all too busy surfing. A nice long session of almost 4 hours in 6-10 ft surf with a few Double Overhead sets felt great!

I took out my trusty 6'4" shaped by Cole Simler and had a blast! Too tired to work the rest of the day so I think we'll just start the weekend early with a nice cold one from our favorite local brewery and Maku Furniture supporter.

Have a great weekend! We'll be at the beach making the most of this swell!

Kini Beach

Check out these killer beach bags that are made from 100% re-purposed (trash) left on the beaches of Waikiki by inconsiderate visitors.

Designed and developed by fellow surfers David “Kawika” Watt, Kealii Mamala, and Dale Geldum, whom all saw an unfortunate abundance of "trash being left behind on island beaches and in hotels each year. These include recreational items such as “boogie boards,” straw and inflatable plastic mats, and literally any other floating device found on the sand and in the water by day’s end."

So they approached the hotels about helping them take care of this problem and here you have it - Kini Beach Tote Bags.

A pretty rad idea and everybody here at Maku are going to pick up a few of these totes on our next trip to the islands!

Mahalo to the crew of Kini Beach nice job keeping the beaches clean!

Huffington Post - I SPI top 10 Great Green Designs

A Big high 5 to Sarah and Alison from SPI Design for calling out the Maku Chaise Lounge as on of their top 10 picks of Great Green Design in their Earth Day article in the Huffington Post.

Check it out here.

And definitely check out the SPI Design Portfolio, Sarah and Alison do some amazing work!

Happy Earth Day 2009!

Happy Earth Day 2009 to All. We're taking the day off to go surf and then clean up the beaches as well as cruise around to the local earth day celebrations.

In honor of Earth Day, here are 5 things you can do to lessen your impact on Mother Earth (courtesy of our friends at the Surfrider Foundation)