At Way Basics, one of our favorite things is seeing all the amazing organizational creations that you all come up with! We have designed our products to be simple, modern, and conducive to whatever creative touch you put on them. Whether you are organizing a kitchen, office, bedroom, or closet, your creative choices are what makes our job so much fun!

Today we want to celebrate your creative brilliance and highlight some of our favorite customer creations with the Box.

Organizing a kitchen pantry

Organizing your closet!

Kid's Room Organization

Organized office with the Box!

Do you have any photos of your Box system or other Way Basics's products? Be sure to share them on our Share Page for a chance to win $100 to www.waybasics.com.

Thanks again for being a part of the Way Basics' community and sharing your creativity with us!

Paper is one of the most plentiful manufactured items on the planet but we often overlook its’ magic and potential. Different types of paper can give hints about a culture, a time in history, or a specific place on the planet, but they all tie back to the resource that makes it: trees. Unfortunately, our civilization takes for granted this resource that is used every day. At some point in the future, we are going to have to seriously look at our paper consumption and consider how we can recycle, reduce, and reuse in order to save this precious resource. To give you some background about this amazing product, paper, here are some facts about paper-making!

1) Paper can be made through a mechanical or chemical process

2) Paper is bleached to give it the white color

3) Papermaking uses a huge amount of water in the process

4) North American’s consume more paper per capita than any other country (500lbs per year!)

5) 40% of the world’s logging is used to make paper (that is a heck of a lot of trees!)

6) The paper industry emits a lot of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere (over 100 million kilograms of toxins each year!)

7) Paper production is the third most energy-intensive of all types of manufacturing

At Way Basics, we are already thinking ahead of the game and upcycling paper to be used in many different ways. Our zBoard is made from 99% post-consumer recycled paper, which means no new trees are being cut down when you purchase our cubes or bookshelves made from recycled paper. We love to celebrate other individuals and companies that are thinking out of the box when it comes to paper. Only when we celebrate it for the precious resource that it is, will we begin to save our trees.

The artist, Li Hongbo has created paper sculptures, which are made of thousands of sheets of paper. These honeycomb like structures were inspired by his fascination with the Chinese art of paper gourds. These sculptures are part of a greater body of work called Tools of Study and are replicas of old marble busks such as Leonardo Da Vinci’s David. This new way of utilizing paper is truly mind blowing. Be sure to check out the video clip below:

Another awesome recycling story we want to share is about the company AkzoNobel. They have created the world’s first 100% recycled cup! Most cups (even the recycled ones) have a petroleum-based coating that is used to keep the liquid from permeating the cup. AkzoNobel have created a coating that is made from plant-based oils, which makes the cup 100% recycled and compostable! Learn more about this groundbreaking company and how they are planning on “doing more with less.” Learn more: https://www.akzonobel.com/

Just like Way Basics, Li Hongbo and AkzoNobel are doing great things in the paper recycling industry. It is important to think out of the box to help recycle! Even you can do things to recycle paper in your own home. At the moment, most American’s only recycle 15% of their paper. This is a real shame because America’s paper consumption is going up. To combat this, make sure to recycle in your home and office. If your workplace does not recycle, offer to start a recycling program and pave the way! Let us know about your paper recycling journey. Way Basics would love to help start this initiative and we would even offer some prizes as a way to get people recycling! After all, our first Way Basics’ product was a recyclable recycling bin! It all comes back to helping our community and spreading the word around paper recycling! What do you do to recycle in your home

Way Basics cubes and bookshelves are the perfect solution for your trade-show needs. Why you may ask? Well, they are lightweight, easy to put together, and don't require tools or an engineering degree to put them together. Best of all, they are eco-friendly and better for the environment! This last point is what attracted Preserve (a company focused on making better plastics that are better for our environment) to our products for the International Home + Housewares Show. Laurie, the Sales & Marketing Manager at Preserve, said: “As an environmentally conscious mission-driven company, Preserve was seeking a trade show shelving that would be an affordable, environmentally-conscious material with a clean, sleek look – and Way Basics shelving was the perfect fit! It was so easy to mix and match the shelving units to get the exact size and height we were looking for! On the day of the shows, assembly was a piece-of-cake. Plus, we felt good at the end of the show because we were able to donate and recycle any shelving units we had left over” Laurie and Preserve did an amazing job with their trade-show display! Check out the pictures below and next time you are looking for the perfect trade-show solution, think of the simple solution of Way Basics!

We are so proud to have been awarded the "New Arrival Award" for our Box Storage System by the Cribsie Academy.

What is the Cribsie Academy you may ask? Great question!

They are the most influential experts, head honchos, and celebrities in the baby and family industry! We were so excited to be rated and chosen by such industry leaders as Jessica Alba (Honest Company), Ali Wing (founder of Giggle!), and Liz Gumbinner (Mom 101) amongst many others! The Cribsie Awards are held every year to help families find the best products out their for their homes. We are so excited to be included and we hope everyone is inspired to get organized and build opportunities with Way Basics!

I don't know if you have noticed, but we have had some incredible new pictures of our bookshelves up on our site. This incredible work was done by a New York Photography student name Natalie. Because she is so talented and has such a bright future, we wanted to share more about her here. Remember, you saw her here first!

Have you heard of Shigeru Ban? Maybe you have been lucky enough to watch his Ted talk or see some of his inspiring work in person. He is an architect. The only architect in the world making buildings out of paper. Ban began experimenting with paper buildings in 1994 after he discovered how much more architecturally sound it was that everyone thought. He also loved the idea that you can get paper anywhere in the world and it is therefore a universal building material.

Due to this universality, he has been commissioned after natural disasters for buildings around the world to help bring shelter people who have lost their homes.

After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake killed 70,000 people in China, he built a school so the children could keep learning. They constructed 9 classrooms in just one month

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Ban constructed 50 shelters for the people in need

Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral constructed after the Christchurch earthquake

"I like to build monuments that are beloved by people," Ban says. He obviously has a deep connection to his work and to the people that he helps around the world. He is an inspiration to architects and people everywhere in his exploration of how common items such as paper have so much more use than what they were made for. Just like our zBoard, taking one product and recycling it into something that is so much more. We commend you Shigeru Ban and recommend everyone learn more about this incredible man.

Welcome to the year of the wooden horse! The lunar New Year begins today with celebrations around the world welcome a fresh start. These celebrations are marked with parades, wonderful food, dragon dances, exchanging gifts and more! What do you do to bring in the new year?

Did you know that $1.00 can feed a family of four in the Philippines. When we heard about the devastating effects of the typhoons hitting the Philippines, our heart went out to these people in need. From November 25 - 29th we donated 50% of our sales to the Philippine's Red Cross and YOU raised $983.84! Thank you everyone for your amazing contributions. Since 1994, the Philippine's Red Cross Disaster Management Service (DMS) has assisted over 22,579 families. This program not only assists those in need, but identifies hazard prone areas and sets up preventive programs. To learn more about their amazing work, click here.

Again, THANK YOU for helping us make a tiny bit of difference!

We were first introduced to Adina, the amazing woman behind the organic, small batch skin care company, S.W. Basics of Brooklyn on Instagram. They gave us a bit of virtual love and we are so glad they did! Adina started making skin products for herself because she didn't want to "cross [her] fingers and hope that the stuff [she] put on [her] body is safe because it smells like wildflowers or claims to reverse aging." She wanted to create skin care products that actually are safe for your skin. She realized that people "want[ed] great skin, but [didn't] want to hurt yourself or the planet to get it." We found that we completely aligned with the message of S.W. Basics which is why we had to interview her and introduce her to you all! Ps. Contest to win some of their amazing products below!

Question: When did you first become interested in skin care?

A: No way! I'm from South Florida originally. Not that I'm super proud of that, especially these days. But the beaches!! Then I struggled in Manhattan for years before realizing Brooklyn was like a secret perfect place right next to an even more perfect Manhattan. I've been so happy here, it's more my speed. People who hate on Brooklyn are really hating on how awesome our lives seem. They're not wrong.

Q: What is your favorite S.W. Basics product and why?

A: The cream for sure. It's the entire reason I started the company. There is zero reason to moisturize your skin with five thousand different products and ingredients. Shea butter, coconut oil, and olive oil are all great on their own, and they're even better together. The simpler the better. It's incredibly healing and soothing and rich.

Q: What inspires you in nature?

A: Everything! I mean it's just so ridiculous how much we've created synthetically with no need to. And I'm not even that big of a hippie. I understand we need medicine and durable materials and whatever. But we definitely don't need all these chemicals. Not in our homes, not in our bodies, and not on our bodies!

Q: Where did you learn about how to make these products?

A: It was a long, painful process. Lots and lots of bad batches. Lots and lots of research. Our cream took me two years to perfect.

Q: Favorite ice-cream flavor? (just because!)

A: Well I have a very public obsession with Steve's Ice Cream. Their salty caramel should be made illegal. http://instagram.com/p/Z0OPKHOcyc/

Love Adina as much as us?! Enter to win a Bestseller Mini Kit & Organic Lip Balm Flight along with two set Way Basics Box set (over $100 value)! Enter by liking them on Facebook, following on Instagram or Twitter. More ways you show them love, the more chance you have to win! Be sure to also tell us what you love about them in a comment below so we know you entered!

Contest ends August 10th.