Hey there, thanks for stopping by…
Ecolect is a sourcing company and Industrial Design consultancy specializing in finding, vetting, and using sustainable materials, technologies, and manufacturing. We manage and grow the leading US-based materials library of eco-friendly options for Industrial Designers, Architects, Fashion Designers, Artists, and Engineers.
Our ongoing mission is to make sustainability possible these influential sectors. We are driven to uncover and expand the tools and resources available that encourage and inspire responsible design practices. We have a passion for finding material sources, technologies, and manufacturing methods that are not just better than existing alternatives, but also more ecological. We teach ecological design through our consulting, structured workshops, and interactive events.
Find us in WHY DESIGN NOW, the book!
This past year, Ecolect was fortunate and honored to be included in the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Museum located in New York City. The show entitled, Why Design Now? is the fourth installation in the National Design Triennial exhibition series launched by Cooper-Hewitt. We were invited to display both GreenBox™ and the Product NutritionLabel™. The show provided a sample of contemporary innovation, looking at what progressive designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and citizens are doing in diverse fields and at different scales around the world. It included practical solutions already in use as well as experimental ideas designed to inspire further research.
Designed by Michael Bierut, a partner in the award-winning design firm Pentagram, Why Design Now? is the first Triennial book to be truly international in reach, with 134 designers and projects in more than 44 countries. With eight essays by four Cooper-Hewitt curators, project profiles and more than 350 color illustrations, many of which have never been published before.
In with the new!
Change is inevitable and we’ve chosen to embrace this. Certainly a lot of it has happened since our launch in 2007! Over the last several years, Co-founder Joe Jebbia has switched gears to start and subsequently raise millions for successful SF-based company Airbnb. Ecolect partner, Elizabeth Redmond has furthered her venture POWERleap who recently completed an installation in London, UK at the BRE Innovation Park for construction giant, Willmott Dixon. Matt Grigsby, Ecolect’s CEO and Co-founder has been practicing real estate development with a focus on adaptive reuse. Most recently he recently renovated a 13k/sf industrial building located in Providence, Rhode Island which was formerly owned by Warren Buffet.
The great thing about all the change that has taken place is that we haven’t lost site of our original mission. If anything we are getting closer to the whole reason why Ecolect was started in the first place. We continue to make it possible for designers, architects, engineers, artists and others in the creative sector to discover environmentally friendly material options. We have moved to a hyper hands-on approach through our consulting work with both small and large firms. We have realized massive success in sharing our knowledge through working on specific design and sourcing projects. Revenue made from our work is directly reinvested back into the company to help us grow and provide ever-improving resources for sustainable design. Located in Providence, Rhode Island, Ecolect maintains an ever-growing physical database that we call the Materials PettingZoo™.
