Trashion team spotlight - Interview : Enderby Designs

Shop name: Enderby Designs

Shop address: www.enderby.etsy.com

In a nutshell:
Enderby is a one-woman, Earth-friendly, design company in Brooklyn, NY that uses recycled
vintage materials to create unique looks for you to rock. SAVE A TREE, CARRY AN ENDERBY!

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm Meg Allan from D.C., a New Yorker for 5 years now, and a Brooklynite to the bone. Living in Williamsburg with my musician and web-geek boyfriend Will and rescue-mutt Grace. I run Enderby and Nest, my indie company and green style guide/glorified blog. My boo runs Handstand Records, an indie label, and we run them both from our rad pad. It is very important to us that we try to leave the smallest footprint we can on this lovely earth, with our projects and in our home

Trashion materials:
Vintage, recycled fabric, buttons and home decor items found at thrift stores, yard sales, antique shops, basements, attics and anywhere in between.

I transform them into:

bags, aprons, pillows, clothes.

How do you do it?

Needle + thread = MAGIC!

What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in trashion?
I came up to New York as an actress having studied theater and film all of my life. What I love about theater and art is the communication and expression that can take place. When my sister and I started making our own Christmas presents because we were so broke having just graduated from college and moving up to New York, I found an adoration for craft.

From the simple image in my head of a tree on a canvas bag saying 'thank you', I was determined to start a side project that would encourage people to think before they just took a plastic bag. I needed to communicate this to people, in whatever way I could and was not finding that outlet in the film and theater industry. I soon started making and creating out of only recycled fabrics and materials, and saw that there was little to no need for plastic bags. I was compelled to try to subtly weave the concept of being responsible for what you bring, take, consume and use in your daily routine, into people's way of thinking. I don't want to be preachy, but I think with small changes in where you shop, what you do or don't buy, you can be a part of the problem or a part of the solution. I choose, in whatever small way I can, to be a part of the solution.

Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept? What was it?
A simple, ghetto-looking tote bag with a green leaf wall hanging that was trash and shirts that were going to be thrown away.

What are your current projects and what is on the horizon?
What isn't? Nest is my blog that began in January of 07. I wanted to take Enderby one step further by combining compassionate, earth-friendly living with eclectic and beautiful home decor. So many of my friends and peers want an comforting, beautiful home, but don't have the time, money or know-how of how to make that happen. I am just a total dork when it comes to that stuff, the indie, punk-rock Martha of Brooklyn, and I am eager to spread the green gospel. So thus, Nest began. I want to kick that up a notch and have a weekly 4-5 minute web show. Will and I am currently working on a pilot called DIY:11211 where we will help you DIY your nest, Brooklyn-style.

Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion?
We all have heard about the horrific effects of global warming on our earth, weather and animals, but don't have the quick solution. There isn't so much one simple answer, it has to be a huge, global change. One of the major contributors to the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming are Americas sprawling strip malls, large companies and corporations. They create and produce, process and waste SO MUCH. We have to cut way down on how much we consume. That's it. If we could just cut down on how many plastic 'Thank You' bags we use each week, how many pieces of paper are wasted to make all of the Pottery Barn catalogs you get in the mail, how many gallons of gas are used on our way to and from the mall and all the stores we just have to go to, it would make a difference.

Start at home. Put your money where your mouth is. You work hard for your money, so instead of spending it on generic, store-brand items, buy indie and DIY. The DIY community already is as green as it gets. No money goes to oil companies and Republican funding behind your back (ahem, Target) or huge corporations that secretly push Bush's agenda. Your money will go to a reused item and a talented artist who cares about each and every piece they make. An artist who refused to settle for some corporate, cubicle job and wants their time and energy to go towards helping the problem.