Colourful plastic bags are still bags, not trash, worth Bt1,600, and a Bt650 file folder.

Erstwhile junk reincarnated as fresh goodies - what's wrong with that?

Architect Singh Intrachooto has spent the past three years putting the environmentally friendly brand Osisu at the forefront of local and international design. Junk from construction sites, factories and garbage dumps - hey, you finished with that computer keyboard? - becomes eye-catching, handcrafted, affordable furniture.

Veeranuch Tanchookiat gets a round of applause from Mother Nature too by expanding Osisu's product range into smaller items - bags, purses and baskets.

"Sisu is Finnish for 'doing more than one's best'," says Veeranuch, "and we added

the letter 'o' in front of it to represent the exclamation 'Oh!'

"When Ajarn Singh and I set up the brand three years ago, people weren't as environmentally aware as they are today. We want our brand to be niche, but high-impact."

Schooled in finance, not design, and running a petroleum-technology firm and seven branches of the Amazon cafe, Veeranuch gets all the inspiration she needs just watching us be wasteful.

And whatever junk Singh can't turn into a couch, she makes use of in her smaller pieces. Ripped paper finds new life in a funky tote bag. Old coffee packets become eyeglass cases. Inner tubes chucked aside by cyclists turn into coin pockets.

All this cool stuff is available in the shops at the Thailand Creative and Design Centre and the new Museum of Siam, and starting next month in the BeTrend section at Siam Paragon and the Osisu showroom in Nonthaburi.

XTRA

Shopping spree!

>> The Osisu showroom is just about finished. Amazing stuff. Visit www.Osisu.com or call (02) 968 1900.

>> The Thailand Creative and Design Centre is on the sixth floor of the Emporium - www.TCDC.or.th and (02) 664 8448.

>> The Museum of Siam is on Sanam Chai Road near Wat Pho. Go to www. NDMI.or.th or call (02) 622 2599.