Earth To People reveals Salvage & Sap collection using salvaged materials and tree sap
Earth To People, a New York-based design studio founded in 2023, debuts its first furniture collection, Salvage & Sap, with a compelling nod to ancestral practices and sustainable craftsmanship. Drawing from a deep reverence for natural materials and ancient methodologies, the design duo behind the studio presents eight distinct pieces made from salvaged and organic elements: cedar naturally felled by windstorms, aluminum repurposed from local recycling centers, hand-harvested pine sap, woven bark cordage, and undyed organic textiles. The result is a furniture line that disrupts conventional production models and reimagines the role of the maker as a steward of the environment.
The collection includes a dining chair, armchair, wall sconce, two floor lamps, a table lamp, side table, and stool. At its core lies the Sap Chair, created in 2024, which served as the conceptual foundation for the entire series. The studio’s presence spans New York, Texas, and British Columbia, where the founders work across interiors, exteriors, lighting, sculpture, and furniture design. Each object in the Salvage & Sap collection is the outcome of intensive, hands-on processes informed by ancient knowledge and materials rooted in place.
A cornerstone of the collection is the use of tree sap as an adhesive, honoring one of the oldest known glues used by humans for tens of thousands of years. Unlike modern synthetic glues that are often toxic and petroleum-based, Earth To People employs hand-harvested pine sap, collected in a non-invasive way that allows trees to continue thriving. The sap is purified using a traditional method of heating and filtering, yielding a potent, biodegradable resin. This natural glue exemplifies the studio’s desire to reintroduce low-impact practices into the contemporary design landscape.
Transparency and traceability are equally essential. Each piece of cedar wood used in the collection can be tracked to its exact source using GPS coordinates, an intentional decision rooted in personal history and environmental ethics. One of the studio’s founders, Jordan, who grew up in British Columbia, has witnessed firsthand the destructive impact of industrial logging. As a response, the duo is committed to full traceability, only using wind-felled wood and allowing it to air-dry by riverside in Squamish, British Columbia, rather than subjecting it to energy-intensive kiln drying.
Textile choices further reflect the studio’s eco-conscious ethos. Instead of synthetic fabrics and dyes, Earth To People uses undyed organic cotton and hemp canvas, filled with cedar shavings left over from the hand-planing process. These fibers are not only biodegradable but also speak to the integrity of using every part of the raw material, ensuring minimal waste and maximum respect for natural resources.
The collection also integrates hand-woven cordage made from wind-fallen cedar bark, referencing ancient rope-making practices. This method, both functional and symbolic, encapsulates the principle of using every part of the tree—trunk, sap, bark—not as separate components but as interconnected expressions of a holistic design process. The use of salvaged aluminum in the lighting and structural elements is a thoughtful homage to civilizations dating back to 400 B.C. that repurposed metal due to its value and the labor involved in extracting it.
Salvage & Sap is a reflection of Earth To People’s larger philosophy: that design can be a regenerative act rooted in ancient wisdom, guided by transparency, and committed to honoring both the material and the land from which it comes.
All images by James Han, with courtesy of Earth To People
Earth To People website: https://www.earthtopeople.studio
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