The SMĪLE Shelf may officially be an acronym for ustainable odule for your nspired iving nvironment, but I’d like to believe it’s called SMĪLE because it literally puts smiles on peoples’ faces with its minimalist design and unique back-story. This modular shelf, designed for practically any interior aesthetic, any room, and for any scenario, comes made from recycled bamboo chopsticks. Apparently, 50 billion reusable chopsticks are disposed of in USA and Europe each year, and while they’re mostly biodegradable, they decompose to release nearly 70 million kilograms of CO2 in the atmosphere… so the guys at ChopValue decided to do something about it. The SMĪLE, which is a part of the ChopValue catalog, uses a raw material that there’s an abundance of – used chopsticks. hese chopsticks undergo a heat, steam, and pressure processes to create a new engineered material, thus giving them a new lease of life that’s much longer than what they were originally intended for. The SMĪLE shelf is a modular system that relies on recycled steel frames that fix to a wall, holding shelves in between. The steel frames can be arranged practically in any orientation and arrangement, giving you the freedom to create your own shelving design that can even be expanded if you want to, in the future! Depending on the size of the shelf you buy, it comes with the recycled steel frames and ChopValue’s signature chopstick shelves. Each shelf uses hundreds of bamboo chopsticks, compressed together to create a unique looking material with its own bespoke grain-pattern. Most disposable chopsticks are manufactured using bamboo (because of how fast it grows), and travel nearly 8,000 – 10,000 kilometers from China to other parts of the world, only to be used for 30 minutes before being thrown into the trash. Instead of letting them enter a landfill, ChopValue harvests them and turns them into this new material that can be used again. To avoid any further process of energy or waste streams, the collected chopsticks undergo non-chemical and water-free cleaning through a shaker table — whatever does not belong in there is removed by hand manually. Then they are pressed into tiles and coated with non-toxic water-based acrylic resin in a unique process that was developed by the founder of ChopValue, Felix Böck. The new material is sturdy and dense enough to be machined, and they’re then cut into shelves, with notches carved into each of them. Together, a Small, Medium, and Large unit of the SMĪLE contains precisely 4,276 recycled chopsticks, and hold roughly 6.5 kilograms of CO2 in them, which would otherwise be emitted if the chopsticks had been dumped into the trash. With a renewed lease of life, SMĪLE’s shelves are designed to last for decades, and can be easily assembled out of the box. They don’t really come with a user manual, because the idea is to build a shelf that’s uniquely suited to your needs. Shelves can easily be expanded as you go, simply by adding more frames, and dynamically rearranged by lifting the planks off one level and placing them on another. The SMĪLE shelves come in three colors and in three sizes, and an infinite variety of arrangements to help you organize the clutter in your house… and reduce the clutter entering our environment! Tobias Brox   (52% off). Hurry, only 22/60 left! The SMĪLE is a sustainable shelving unit made of 4276 recycled chopsticks for individuals who love high-end minimalist and eco-friendly design. By ensuring sustainable design practices and relying on a circular economy, each SMĪLE shelf is carbon negative — gathering the raw materials and building your shelf stores more CO2 from the environment than it takes to make and deliver it. There are easy, practical ways in which you can make a difference. In your environment. In your city. In your home. Even with something as small as a chopstick. By recycling 4,276 chopsticks into the SMĪLE shelf, we are storing around 6.5 kg of CO2 that otherwise would’ve been released into the atmosphere. That’s the equivalent of charging your phone every day for nearly 3 years. By reutilizing this chopstick waste, we increase the sustainable management of forests and the environment, as we prove that we do not need to cut down trees or use plastics for furniture. SMĪLE saves space through the clean minimalist lines of its modular design. No matter the interior, SMĪLE is the right frame to highlight the things you love. Enjoy the flexibility and freedom to build your own unique SMĪLE shelving system. Add the lightness and the fine blend of its history-infused iconic modern design to your home or office. Colors – SMĪLE comes in 3 color palettes that highlight their beautiful surface properties. Shelves are coated in a vegetable-based and environmentally-friendly oil to enhance these unique wooden patterns. Mix and match them to create a unique look for your place. Each base SMĪLE is made up of 2 components: the recycled steel frames, and the recycled chopstick boards. Hang anywhere from 1 to 5 shelves on your frames, combine colors and sizes, and mix and match different units to create a timeless design that fits your home or office space. Unlock your creativity and let modularity inspire you. Made to Last – By heat-pressing thousands of chopsticks together, SMĪLE becomes a high-density and extremely durable shelf that can withstand the weight of books, photos and more. Each SMĪLE can hold a maximum of 22-30 lbs (10-14 kg) depending on shelf size, or 4 times its own weight in chopsticks. Sizes – SMĪLE comes in 3 sizes to suit any interior. Simply select from the S, M or L sizes and combine them to build the shelf your space deserves.   (52% off). Hurry, only 22/60 left!