“With Indigenous Designs, we haven’t created just a charity situation,” says co-founder Matt Reynolds.  “It’s about taking responsibility to better our communities.”

This Fourth of July, Indigenous Designs and Feelgood Style are giving you the opportunity to win a gorgeous piece of clothing, constructed from all natural and organic fibers and eco-friendly dyes!

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Barley & birch is a scientist-created and artist-designed children’s clothing line. All aspects of our business are carbon neutral, including everything from the energy used by our computers to the energy used in the production of our garments. All of our pieces are made in the U.S. by using 100% certified organic cotton. Our business is largely paperless, and all paper used is 100% recycled. We go beyond the level of convenience in order to be fair to our customers and to our planet.

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The Great American Cleanup begins today with a national launch event in Waveland, Miss., which will help  restore a hurricane-ravaged town along the Gulf Coast. It will continue through May 31 with additional national events being held in New York City on Earth Day and Nashville on May 14.

Millions of volunteers will work to rid streets, waterways and public spaces of litter and illegal dumpsites.  Communities will green up parks, schoolyards and other public spaces and hold recycling drives and educational events.

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It involves the manipulation of matter at the nanometer (nm) scale, which is one-billionth of a meter.  The nano scale is so incredibly tiny that a human hair (which is about 50,000 nm thick) is huge by comparison.

Many researchers believe this technology has the potential to create new and unique risks to human health and the environment.

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UK clothing company Howie’s has another idea: Make clothing that lasts. A long time. Enough so that when you’re done with it, passing it on doesn’t mean getting a ratty, worn, frayed garment. It’s been built so well it can last for a decade, maintaining quality.

Their Hand-Me-Down line does just that.

Howie’s puts it well when they say,

“We live in times of limited resources but unlimited desire to consume them. The answer though is real simple: to consume less as a consumer; to make a better designed product as a manufacturer.”

What does that look like?

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Do you know how much energy and cotton it takes to make just one pair of jeans? Instead of buying new denim every few months, consider recycling your old jeans into a new pair.

There’s nothing better than broken-in jeans that you love anyway, right? One Buenos Aires designer is taking recycling to the next level. Give the company any pair of your old jeans and they’ll redesign them and send you back something completely new, cool, and made from your old pair.

If you aren’t planning a trip to South America any time soon, you can also check out Junky Styling, a UK company that does something similar, or Hippnotik in Stow, OH. I bet if you do some digging, you can find someone local to you who can breathe new life into your old jeans too.

Picture via sunshinecity under the Creative Commons license.

Yup, knitting.

You can take the inside of the cassette tape and easily knit with it. I mean, it usually got caught in the cassette player anyways. Remember how it got eaten and tangled? Ugh. Well, just be careful when you unwind the tape and treat it like any yarn that could get tangled.

What can you make with your tape? Well, just about anything that you can dream up. How about an ipod cover (oh the irony.) Or what about an evening bag, doll clothes, granny square? The possibilities are endless.

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One of my favorite places for sewing is Burdastyle, an open-source, copyright-free community of people who love to create and use sewing patterns. Out of their entire site, here are my favorite of their easy-peasy freesie patterns for kids:

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That is the challenge set forth in Open Architecture Network’s contest: Discarded Dreams.

With over 40 million mattresses discarded every year in the U.S., this challenge asks that over 80% of the mattress be reused. Careful consideration should be made to the mattress’ deconstruction, as the Open Architecture Network is looking for a way to divert these mattresses away from the landfill and into new life.

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CPSIA Legislation May Put Crafters Out of Business 

The CPSIA(Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008) states that even a simple wooden toy maker will be required to have a third-party lead test every different variation of marionette he makes, costing upwards of $2000 a pop. While well intentioned in the wake of numerous recalls of imported products for lead and toxic chemical content,  CPSIA ignores the financial constraints and mostly excellent track records of domestic toy manufacturers. It means that as of February 10th, 2009, if you offer for sale any items marketed to, or for use by children under age 12 that have not gone through an expensive beaurucratic rigmarole, then my friend, you are a criminal.  

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Art and craft has played a big role in both bringing awareness about the disease and how to cope. One of the most prominent displays of craft is the AIDS quilt.

Made up of individual “squares” that memorialize those who have been lost to the disease, the AIDS quilt is the largest on going community arts project in the world. It holds more than 44,000 individual panels made by friends, family and loved ones. And the 91,000 plus names displayed on the quilt, represent only 17.5 % of U.S. AIDS deaths.

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I had an opportunity to talk with Ina, one of the founders of M641, and learned more about the designs, the philosophy and the friendship that foster feel good fashions and plaid with a pulse.

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BabyEarth.com, a great resource for green children’s products and information, offers parents Baberoo Certified Organic Leggies.  These leg warmers are soft, affordable at $12, and one size fits all.  Due to the stretchy nature of the Leggies, one pair will last your child a long time from infancy to year five!  Leggies can also be worn on a child’s arms for extra warmth, and they are great for crawling.

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Knowing how to reattached a button is a great skill to learn, especially because a loose button is not only inevitable, but you can find great deals at stores. I once scored a particularly lovely wool coat when it was on the sale rack, missing several of its buttons. The extra ones were still attached along the tag and by pointing out the missing buttons at the register, I was able to get another 10% off the already discounted coat, all the while thinking that the buttons were such an easy and quick fix! So onto the how-to:

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In these increasingly harder economic times, knowing some basic sewing techniques can help fix common rips and tears that will help extend your wardrobe. So over the next couple of weeks I will be highlighting some simple ways to fix up and mend your clothes. These fixes are worth more than the pennies spent on materials and are not only good for your wallet but good for the environment to boot.

To fix the aforementioned tear in the seam of a shirt you’ll need a needle of appropriate weight. One that is sturdy enough to go through the fabric easily, but thin enough that you won’t struggle. You will also need thread in a coordinating color.

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“Redewin garments are made from vintage recycled garments. REstore individuality. REvive character. REnew expression.”

All of Redewin’s clothing is made from previously loved (Ah-hem, VINTAGE) clothing which is pieced together to make something new. Our favorite is the patchwork dress pictured here. My three year old is jumping up and down saying, “I need that dress”.

In addition to the adorable children’s clothing, Redewin also carries many fashionable women’s items. Each item is unique and has only one size available, so you are sure to have a one of a kind! The prices are reasonable (of course, shopping second hand is always the lowest cost). Children’s items range from $18.99-$34.99, Women’s items are a bit pricier but look to be well worth the cost.

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This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

SanMar, one of the largest shirt manufacturers in the US, just got into the eco-friendly apparel game in a big way.

The SanMar green site at http://www.sanmar.com/Green.html boasts 27 items, many that are eco-friendly versions of their very popular Port Authority band.

Port Authority is normally ranked #1 or #2 in the promotional market industry for sales. It is the shirt most Proforma offices recommend to clients.

SanMar also is offering bamboo shirts but as yet does not seem to have a product to go up against the e.c.o. Fleece items from AshCity, however I suspect they will come out with something to compete in this area.

AshCity offers in-house embroidery services. SanMar does not (of course Proforma Green can embroider any item from any supplier).

What does all this mean for the Ecopreneurist?

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A funny thing happened on the way to this blog.

I wanted to write about the new line of e.c.o fleece items from Ash City - they use a fabric that is 75% recycled polyester/25% polyester.

These items are great for any eco-tourism or resort operating in a cold weather area, for eco-friendly landscaping work crews, maybe even as a resell item for a farmers market come the holiday season.

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Though Jenny McCarthy may have hit it big originally for her bad girl image, now she wants to go good. Too Good.

McCarthy signed with Brand Sense Partners to launch a children’s lifestyle line, Too Good by Jenny, next Spring. The line will be focused on providing children with safe, non-toxic surroundings.

Ever since McCarthy’s son, Evan, was diagnosed with autism in 2005, the star has taken a very holistic, earth-friendly approach towards raising him. She wants her line to reflect these beliefs with non-toxic linens, toys, cleaning products and gluten-free food and drinks.

While organic and non-toxic children’s wear has been finding a market in high-end boutiques, McCarthy’s line will be sold primarily at mid-tier stores with an emphasis on affordability for all parents.

Read More on Non-Toxic Care for Children:

FairyTales Organic Hair Care for Children
A Safe Non-Toxic Bug Repellent for the Little Ones
Green Family Values: Natural, Wooden, Toys by Plan Toys

I was so excited to get my ‘Quantum Hood’ midweight outer layer from New Zealand. No. That is not a picture of me in the coveted hoodie. I’m not quite as intense (or young) as this svelte model here.

I couldn’t wait to meet my little merino friends who endured shearing and I suppose quite a breeze for a little while for the sake of this amazing hoodie. It was remarkably ‘high-tech’ and smooth - not what you would expect when you see the farm and pictures of the family who runs it and of course the woolly beasts themselves.

Meet my sheep!

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