Sure, it looks great on a street or in your apartment, but the "higher" purpose of good modern design has always been to make the world a better place.  So it's no surprise that the design community is at the forefront of the global movement towards sustainability and social responsibility.  Los Angeles-based Artecnica is one company that's defining this new way of doing business, employing artisans in developing countries to bring to life earth-friendly creations by modernist superstars including Hella Jongerius and Tord Boontje. 

When we first spotted Artecnica, we had no idea they had anything to do with saving the world – we checked them out because their products are just plain cool.  Their sophisticated, hand-crafted TranSglass® pieces – candleholders, tumblers and vases hand-formed from recycled glass bottles by Guatemalan artisans -- are included in the permanent collection of MoMA New York.  Their "Witches Kitchen" utensils, also hand-carved in Guatemala, manage to combine the rustic, the modem and the spooky, with slightly-menacing new kitchen must-haves including the "dagger" the "spoonchela."  And their airy, woven wire Tatu furniture -- handcrafted in South Africa -- combines traditional form with sleek, urbane design.  Seriously, this stuff is so amazing we'd buy it if it was assembled in sweatshops by child laborers working 14 hour shifts.  Okay, maybe not.  But luckily, what Artecnica calls "Design with Conscience" is what we call just plain gorgeous.