Recycled banner placemats

 

Miss R and I went wandering through CB2 on our lunch hour and we discovered these (and these). I know, placemats aren't super exciting. What was exciting is this: here's a big, mass-market company making mundane consumer goods from recycled materials.

So what's the deal? On one side, there's a simple Pollock-esque paint splatter design, but if you flip it over, you can see the graphics from the original advertising banner. The stencil version is the same concept, but with lettering instead of paint splatters. This is so simple--they're not really doing much to rework them other than cutting to size and adding the paint/stencils.

CB2 has been playing in the eco-sandbox for a while. They have several seasons of interesting designs using reclaimed materials (some more successful than others). Their parent company (Crate and Barrel) has a good reputation for incorporating sustainability, especially in their furniture design. It's not clear whether they are truly trying to be green or if their customers are demanding it. I'll take the win either way.

Images from CB2.