Will and Laura Wear wanted to create design for kids that was both modern and whimsical, cool and environmentally sustainable, and that can be easily recycled [although they'd just as soon you keep the stuff through college.]
For their storage units--like a shelf tower, or a toy cube, or a toy box/bench--they eschewed the traditional MDF or all-wood construction for a combination of organic cotton canvas and water-based painted, sustainably harvested ply. They stuffed their giant donut-and-hole pillow combo with scrap foam. It breaks down to ship easily and more energy efficiently.
And to top it all off, they even recycled the names of their company and their products--Nest and Jax, for two--although to be honest, I'm not sure some of the other folks are quite finished with them yet. Hopefully, they're in touch with DWR; I'd hate to see all that stationery and packaging go to waste.
Jax Storage Tower and Nest Seat , each $146 at Nest [nestplease.com via treehugger]
Actually, I'm pretty sure that Nest Products predated DWR's short-lived Jax.
[fair enough, thanks for the correction. -ed.]