re:generation™

There’s a special delight to finding value or beauty in something others overlooked. For over 25 years, Design Ideas® has been seeking out recycled, repurposed and sustainably-produced materials to create our re:generation™ series of fun, functional, affordable and fashionable products that provide just that sense of satisfaction.

We regenerate old soda, beer and wine bottles to give them new life as glasses, vases and candle holders. We recycle paper, plastic bags and labels into totes, desk accessories, tabletop and patio items with remarkable depth and character. And we turn misprinted sheets of aluminum and old soda cans into pieces that have become a casually elegant favorite among our customers. We also favor bamboo, a weather-resistant and earth-friendly wood resource that renews itself in as little as nine months. Bamboo holds the title of the fastest growing woody plant on earth, and it gives off 35% more life-giving oxygen than any other tree or plant in the world. All of our bamboo is farmed using sustainable practices, then hand crafted into the individual strips that comprise each piece. We’ve trained our allied craftsmen to work and color this versatile material until it resembles endangered teak and mahogany, but at much less cost to the environment.

The goal of re:generation™: to design sophisticated new vessels, interesting conversation pieces and, we hope, a cleaner planet for the next generation.

Charitable Donations
A portion of proceeds from many of our products are donated to charitable organizations supporting causes that are important to us and to our customers. Our GelGems Ribbon campaign, launched in 2005, raises money and awareness for three charities (Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation, Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) and invites retailers to participate in the fundraising. Every sale of our Doodles® collection earns a donation to a Chinese hospital in support of its childcare practice. The hospital is located in a rural town that is home to many of the artisans who sculpt our Doodles. In addition, each sale of our Doodles Destinations Twin Towers sculpture earns a donation to the World Trade Center United Family Group, a nonprofit community comprised of September 11th families, survivors and rescue workers.

Overseas Production
At Design Ideas®, we are proud to assure our customers that we develop our products in a socially responsible way. As part of our creative process, we work to ensure that the environments in our factories are clean and safe and that the workers who make our products do so voluntarily, for adequate wages, over reasonable hours and without the assistance of children. We do not seek to impose our values on others, but we do intend, by example, to raise the aspirations and achievements of our supply partners.

To aid our efforts, Design Ideas® is a member of the worldwide group Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). BSR is a global organization that helps member companies achieve success in ways that respect ethical values, people, communities and the environment. BSR provides information, tools, training and advisory services to make corporate social responsibility an integral part of business operations and strategies. A nonprofit organization, BSR promotes cross sector collaboration and contributes to global efforts to advance the field of corporate social responsibility.