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  PlanetArk 9 Mar 06
"Urban Eco-Chic" Takes the Stand at London Home Show
Story by Jeremy Lovell

LONDON - Urban Eco-chic has arrived to cater for people who want to make a fashion statement while flaunting their green credentials. From wall coverings of reclaimed timber planks to solar-powered ipod rechargers and cushions made from old silk ties, the concept is an attempt to marry style with recycling and sustainable development.

"Reduce, reclaim and recycle with a strong style element - you could stock a whole home using eco-products," said television home makeover guru Oliver Heath at the opening of this year's Ideal Home Show at London's Earl's Court.

"This is urban eco-chic," he told Reuters. His EcoCentric stand had two rooms decked out in products from glasses to tables, chairs and lampstands that were either from sustainable sources or had been reclaimed or recycled.

Emphasising the green theme of this year's show that runs for a month is Recycle Now Alley, showing the route taken converting plastic bags, bottles and tin cans into cars, tableware, perfume bottles and even jewellery.

"In this country we are now recycling nearly 24 percent of our household waste - roughly double what it was two years ago," said Jennie Price, head of the government's Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP).

"Things like glasses from recycled bottles used to have a bad name as being of poor quality. But all that has changed now. The quality is very good," Price added.

Big business too is taking the retrieve and reuse route as rocketing raw material prices make recycling a commercial proposition. At the end of Recycle Now Alley, WRAP had erected a kitchen made out of recycled products from work surfaces made from glass and plastic bottles to cutlery from cans and cupboard doors made from old yoghurt cartons.

"This just gives you an idea what can be done. It is stylish and eco-friendly. And this is just a fraction of what is possible," Price said.
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