ICFF 2012: New from Black + Blum

More robust than your average food container, Thermo-Pot (shown above) is made from stainless steel and features a natural cork top. Once the lid is screwed tight, it creates a vacuum seal to help keep food warm for up to six hours. Plus, there's a clever spoon that's magnetically attached to the side of the vessel. It looks sleek, is compact, and won't leak leftovers all over the contents of your bag (like many plastic storage containers are notorious for doing).

Two selling points of Bottled water are convenience and taste, and Black + Blum's Eau Good bottle tackles both of those attributes in its design. The vessel is made from BPA-free plastic, is incredibly lightweight, and comes with a stick of bichotan charcoal that purifies water for up to six months. This technique to treat water has been around since the 17th century and goes to show that sometimes we needn't reinvent the wheel to solve problems: the charcoal naturally balances pH and minimizes chlorine to improve the taste of tap water. When six months have passed, the stick can be ground up and used as fertilizer or you can pop it into the fridge to neutralize odors.

These items should be hitting shelves in the next few months.