sustainability

Innovative Alternatives to Landfills

By Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator Profit from Sustainability? A Greener Solution Can Offer Some Answers Sustainability is vital to a company’s performance strategy and brand image. At the 2012 International Home + Housewares Show, we learned of many directions and issues in sustainability. We heard from industry insiders at the Innovation Theater and the Going…

Creating a New Life for Products with NextLife

By Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator Sustainability is important to any business today. Consumers read labels carefully and question alternatives as they shop for new products. Governments regulate and stimulate. Manufacturers and retailers strive to satisfy their customers. Costs for materials, energy and water are rising and everyone wants to save money.…

Claiming Green-ness: Cautions for Packaging and Advertising

By Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator Sustainability is a topic important to any business these days. Consumers read labels carefully and question alternatives as they shop for new products. Governments regulate and stimulate. Manufacturers and retailers aim to satisfy their customers. Costs for materials, energy and water are rising and everyone wants to save…

Housewares History: Bissell, A history of inventive problem solving

By Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator Woman with Broom Sweeps into Housewares Industry Leadership Like many new home and housewares companies emerging today, Bissell, Inc. started with a problem—and the creative collaboration of an ingenious husband-and-wife team. In the 1870s, Anna and Melville Bissell owned a crockery shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ceramic…

A Seasoned Success Story – Cookware that Lasts

By Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator Cookware that outlasts the kitchen In an industry that’s all about “What’s New?”, how can a housewares company continue to thrive by selling products that last for 100 years? Just ask Lodge Manufacturing Company, a family-owned and operated business based in South Pittsburg, Tennessee since 1896 and the sole U.S. manufacturer…

Inside Discover Design: ALEX Bottles

By Marie Kulik, Manager of Exhibitor Business Development This week Marie caught up with Chris Hotell of ALEX Bottles to discuss sustainability and how it works in the world of housewares and high design. Marie: What is the inspiration behind the design and functionality of your products? CH: Reusable water bottles are an amazing and necessary alternative to the toxic single…

Don’t be a Greenwasher! Make your products sustainable the right way!

By Jeffrey Rosenholtz Vice President, Sustainability Solutions for NextLife Sustainability is a phrase that is widely used, yet rarely understood. Sustainability is about the capacity to endure; to continue with the model you are doing, not just for a long period of time, but essentially, ideally, "forever". A symbiotic relationship where the waste that is generated becomes…

Join us for a crash course in sustainability!

You're Invited, please join Nextlife and IHA for a: A Webinar Event: DEMYSTIFYING SUSTAINABILITY: How to Make Your Business "Green" Webinar Date and Time: Wednesday, December 1, 2010 1:00 pm -2:00pm CT Snapshot of Information Covered in the Webinar: Corporate sustainability is here to stay. But the true meaning of sustainability, reasons why it is a good idea and…

CHESS Equals Success for Supersession Attendees

The 2010 CHESS event is responsible for educating new and returning members alike on the ever-changing landscape of the housewares industry. The two day event gave business executives the chance to meet with, and learn from, housewares industry leaders about a myriad of topics that affect the housewares market both now and heading into the future. Attendees spoke very highly…