Green Daily

I've always struggled with the home workout issue. All of the apartments I've lived in have seriously lacked in decent floor space on which to do cardio and weight workouts.

Designer Gabriel Prero's solution: combine furniture and workout equipment into one double-duty piece.

And thus, the Otto Bench(ottoman + bench) was born. (Warning: this isn't a marketable product quite yet; Prero came up with the idea in response to a LifeFitness challenge to design fitness equipment for urban spaces). The ottoman carefully disguises itself as an Olympic bench press, an adjustable weight bench and modular free weight storage. It's not the most attractive piece of furniture I've ever seen, but it's a great example of buying one piece of furniture instead of several, thus reducing your carbon footprint and conserving apartment space at the same time.

It's important to mention, though, that despite Prero's nod to buying fewer items when one item will accomplish several tasks, the Otto Bench is not made of sustainable materials (but, if it is mass-marketed, easily could be).

via [freshome]