With the motto “Green design is good design; good design is green design”, the folks behind
Inhabitat.com set out to help save the Earth and empower consumers with their popular weblog “devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.”
Begun by freelance designer, green design consultant and proud New Yorker Jill Fehrenbacher in the spring of 2005, Inhabitat was well ahead of its time: instructing and inspiring homeowners and apartment dwellers to shuck their un-eco-friendly ways and adopt practices that would have a better impact on the earth. Inhabitat offers information on the best of the best when it comes to home design, fashion, beauty, food, transportation—all with a green spin. We think their best trait is their ability to, as they say, “investigate emerging trends in product, interior and architectural design.”
Helmed by a rather large staff and team of contributors, Mike Chino is the Managing Editor and Emily Pilloton, Olivia Chen, Evelyn Lee, Abigail Doan and Jorge Chapa are Senior Editors. Designed by Fehrenbacher, the site is just gorgeous; featuring an expansive and soft color palette of neutrals and soft greens, the site is easy to navigate, with categories like: architecture, interiors, products, technology, energy, transportation, fashion, art, kids and contest. Photos are big and bright, text brief and informative, and links to ideas and products easy to use.
Begun by freelance designer, green design consultant and proud New Yorker Jill Fehrenbacher in the spring of 2005, Inhabitat was well ahead of its time: instructing and inspiring homeowners and apartment dwellers to shuck their un-eco-friendly ways and adopt practices that would have a better impact on the earth. Inhabitat offers information on the best of the best when it comes to home design, fashion, beauty, food, transportation—all with a green spin. We think their best trait is their ability to, as they say, “investigate emerging trends in product, interior and architectural design.”
Helmed by a rather large staff and team of contributors, Mike Chino is the Managing Editor and Emily Pilloton, Olivia Chen, Evelyn Lee, Abigail Doan and Jorge Chapa are Senior Editors. Designed by Fehrenbacher, the site is just gorgeous; featuring an expansive and soft color palette of neutrals and soft greens, the site is easy to navigate, with categories like: architecture, interiors, products, technology, energy, transportation, fashion, art, kids and contest. Photos are big and bright, text brief and informative, and links to ideas and products easy to use.
Our favorite thing about Inhabitat is that they really focus on products and ideas that have substance to them. Unlike other companies and products out there that have only been “green washed” (the idea that some companies tout their products as greener to aid in marketing), Inhabitat’s contributors only bring those items that you know you can trust are really the best investments in with your time and money. In fact, we even love Inhabitat’s frustration with green design being a separate category in today's vernacular---as if it is somehow separated from the rest of design. The founder and writers behind Inhabitat believe, as stated in the motto, that all good design should be inherently green and eco-friendly.
We don’t focus enough on helping the environment here on Swank Lighting; maybe it’s because we feel other blogs do it so much better. It’s an important topic, though, and one which we think needs constant study. So put inhabitat.com in your blogroll and visit it again and again! 
