Green Options

In just a few days,  I will be enjoying the great outdoors again! It’s only been 2 1/2 weeks since we’ve been back from our first trip. Were going to Mammoth and staying in a condo. Our last trip we camped for the remaining four day. Which was a bit hairy at times with a 2 yr. old and 3 mos. old but we managed. I’m so glad we did it too! It was fun to watch Tristan connect with nature. After reading Wild Animal Baby and other wildlife related books Tristan was able to put things into perspective.

During this trip we cloth diapered and had a potty trainer on our hands! The condo at Bass Lake had a washer and dryer and while camping in Yosemite we used the laundry mat at Curry Village. I only did the washing at Curry Village and let the diapers & undies air dry in the sunshine on a tree branch at our site. We were prepared to use a bucket and gloves if we did not have access to a washer! It worked out nicely though. My 2 yr. old loved being in nature and really enjoyed boat rides on the lake. He saw tons of wildlife including a BEAR! While driving back to our campsite, our first day in Yosemite, we watched a bear eating in a meadow through the car window. It was neat. Tristan also saw a “Big ole Buck” on a bike ride first thing in the morning around the campground.

It was so amazing to see nature through his eyes. He chased the squirrels to their holes and around the campsite and collected specimens to put into his bug kit. Our hike to Vernal Falls was quite a journey and I think he understood it’s significance. My husband and I consider ourselves experienced campers. We’ve done a lot of camping. Every time I walk away from a campsite, I have a new perspective on life. Unplugging for the few days and recharging your soul with Mother Nature is a must! Getting away from all the stimulus and “roughing -it” for a few days makes you appreciate the things we have in life.

You are doing your best to use handmade and recycled packaging.  You believe in reusing, reducing, and recycling.  Let your customers know that your care.  Stamp your commitment to the environment on every package you send.  Here are my favorite recycling stamps available on Etsy:

Certified yoga instructor Isabella Samovsky of Solay Wellness in Skokie, Illinois solves some confusion over the appropriate eco mat for the right yoga practice.

The cotton mats her company offers are mostly for hatha yoga exercises, yet also good for therapy, meditation and floor classes that don’t require too much flow. Isabella says a cotton mat can be used by itself and is perfect for the shavasana (also known as corpse or savasana) pose. It rolls up nicely for storage and travel. It’s also a good size for mom and baby together.

One of the most difficult items to claim as earth friendly is a yoga mat. Since inquiring minds want to know, I’m giving it a shot. The variety of conclusions may surprise you.

Chuck Blumenthal founded his Chicago company Bean Products in 1987. His small business launch was dedicated to universal comfort and environmental consciousness.

Going green isn’t as difficult as it used to be with the array of vegetarian delights and eco-friendly products available on the market today, and environmentally-conscious clothing is becoming as popular as the fashions themselves. But M641 takes it one step further with a philosophical approach to designing clothes that are living, breathing representations of the spirit, passion, and friendship that created them.  For Ina and Subu, earth-minded fashion is about a lifestyle — not a trend — and the result is a stunning experience in heart couture. 

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.

Isn’t it nice to learn about a company that so admirably exceeds the goal of sales?

Sustainable bag reporting continues from Part I. There are so many great choices!

Muumuu Heaven is a shop located on the windward side of Oahu, Hawaii. The family-run business got so busy producing eco-conscious and original women’s apparel from recycled Hawaiian garments, they decided to collaborate with another designer for bags to stock.

Kauai is a neighbor island, same state of Hawaii, where Denise Tjarks structures new life also from old muumuu, aloha shirts and fabric remnants. Word is spreading so fast, it’s impossible to share an exclusive not sold. But you get the idea from these two illustrations. Above is Maia, the pretty green plant print. Below that is the reverse side, an orange small floral print. Both reversible option sides are made from vintage mu’umu’us circa 1970.

From A to Z and across the globe are earth-friendly status bags for every imaginable purpose. I start with Alchemy Goods where founder Eli Reich combined his green lifestyle with a misfortune in Seattle. His stolen messenger bag story inspired him to become an accessory designer who combines bicycle inner tubes, car seat belts, and billboard vinyl.

The company was honored to display their messenger bag beginning May 15th at the Sustainable Fashion Symposium in The Design Museum of University of California at Davis, which runs until July 13th, 2008. So exciting that a blog was created just for the event.

I’ve been told that artistic Seattleites in the Emerald City are famed for introducing grunge music, and that the craze made unkempt appearances a trend. This cool unisex bag can style you either way; vogue or grunge!

Michael Miller Fabrics is co-sponsoring a Baby Bootie contest with Craft Magazine. I would love to see a green crafter win this with organic or recycled materials.

I do suspect there’s some kind of craft hive mind episode going on here, because I’ve planned to write about their organic fabric line this week - and just last week, Autumn posted here at Crafting A Green World about recycled handmade shoes. I fully intend to investigate this set of coincidences, but first let’s talk about Michael Miller Organics.

Michael Miller Fabrics launched its organic line at the beginning of the year. The sneak peek on their blog last fall included a shot of the supercute booties shown here. That blog post gave a snapshot of some of the challenges facing folks who want to bring organic cotton to market:

Did you know that organic cotton has to be grown for at least three years without chemical pesticides, defoliants, or fertilizers? It costs more because organic farms are more labor and management intensive. They’re also usually smaller and do not receive federal subsidies like conventional farming.

I hate cleaning. Hate it. I also hate the nasty chemical smell that can come with it. In fact, cleaning products are some of the most toxic materials in your home. Not only do they pose a health hazard, but many of them contain petrochemicals that are harmful to the environment. So what to do to keep your house clean AND earth-friendly? As much as I hate cleaning, I

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