Green Options

As you might guess, the timing of my new gig with the Sundance Channel’s blogging team wasn’t accidental… a new season of Tuesday night The Green programming is about to launch. While I’ll be really careful about letting my two blogging roles overlap, I did take Sundance up on an offer they made to us (and other bloggers) last year: we’ve got another Sundance green gift bag to give away this year! So, what’s in the bag? A copy of Josh Dorfman’s The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget, a set of green mp3 speakers, a t-shirt, and a notebook. Of course, the bag itself is suitable for adding to your collection of reusable shopping bags.

CONGRATULATIONS to Tina in Boston for winning our giveaway of Sewing Green! Be on the look out for an email from us for further details.

Thank you to everyone who entered. We here at CAGW have been rejuvenated and inspired by all of your upcycling ideas! Don’t forget your other chances to win this beautiful book, you can find out where to enter here.

I know you’ve waited with bated breath so here it is, your chance to win a copy of Sewing Green, the latest and greatest book by Betz White, author of Warm Fuzzies.

Sewing Green offers 25 cute projects made from repurposed or organic materials. Learn how to make aprons and wallets from dress shirts, and sandwich wraps, and lounge pants from organic and thrifted fabrics. The projects are are direct and easy to follow even for this crafter who likes to skip ahead and tweak things. I especially like the sandwich wrap project and the use of PUL - a material that is not vinyl and one that I need to look into more.

White’s favorite project from the book is the woodland draft buster, a much more refined version of the draft catcher that I created a while back. This version looks like an adorable tree branch that helps you save money on your heating bill. White wanted everything in the book to have a good purpose without being preachy. She wanted everything to be fun and easy and show that any one can do these projects and be eco-friendly. “You don’t have to suffer,” she said. “Suffering is not involved.”

Continue reading to enter the contest!

If you’ve read our Must Read Book List for Green Crafters, then you know that we are eagerly awaiting Betz White’s new book Sewing Green.

Sewing Green is chock full of fun diy projects made from repurposed materials or organic fabrics. And if you’re like me, you can’t wait to get your hands on it! Well here on Crafting a Green World we’ll be giving a copy of this book away to one lucky reader! That’s right you can win Sewing Green! Woo hoo!

So how do you enter? Read the directions over on the Giveaway post. It’s that easy.

Want even more chance to win?

Congratulations to Jennifer O’Neill for winning our Green Giveaway: Print*Pattern*Paper 5 x 7 Signed Art for Your Child’s Room. We hope your family enjoys this unique art work!

Congratulations Amber!  You’ve won the four reusable ChicoBags courtesy of Two Knobby Tires.  Thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions on how to remember to use your reusable bags, and we hope Amber never leaves her new bags in the car!

“Dressing your child is a fun thing for every mom, grandmother, aunt and family friend,” says Kim Barker. “Dads get into it too -  Who doesn’t want to hear that their child looks adorable or cute?”.    That’s exactly Barker’s goal behind her eco-savvy company Love Bug Clothing Co.

For the eco-conscious parent, the company features trendy organic children’s clothing and recycled vintage rock wear for girls and boys.

In her Vintage Rock section, the online store offers stylish vintage rock concert tees, rock tunics and dresses by diverse designers.

It seems Germany has always been ahead of us in terms of placing value on the natural and the pure. Its not a fad, phase or new concept for them its simply their way of life. So it comes as no surprise that some of the great organic skin care geniuses have come from Germany and I’m genuinely excited to introduce you to yet another.

Amala (ah-mah-la) translates to “most pure” in Sanskrit, “revered mother” in Tibetan and “love her” in Spanish. This exclusive collection is for those seeking an intersection of luxury and purity. Ute Leube, creator and founder behind this pampering brand knows her ingredients, inside and out, backwards, forwards, up and down and has strong convictions about what is “responsible skin care”. She and business partner, Kurt L. Nübling are some of the world’s experts in the cultivation of organic botanicals and have been for the past 20+ years. Up until now, they’ve been known for their extensive and popular organic essential oil line (and anti-aging skin care), Primavera Life; which can be found throughout Europe in most drugstores and health food markets and scarcely available online in the U.S. This past May, Amala made its world debut in Singapore with great success and is currently only available in America in select upscale spas and online.

It’s interesting that Medela has never had a product that comes in contact with Mother’s Milk which contains BPA.

It’s exciting that they have a line of Nursing Camisoles.

It’s delightful that they’re pretty.

It’s thrilling that they’re giving one away to one EcoChildsPlay reader. Just thrilling.

As you probably know, bamboo fabric provides enhanced breathability, natural anti-bacterial properties as well as the ability to quickly absorb moisture. Additionally, many moms appreciate bamboo’s eco-friendly qualities — recognized as one of the fastest growing plants in the world, bamboo is extremely renewable and doesn’t require pesticides.  It also helps replenish fresh air, producing more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees. Additionally, the bamboo used in the Medela Nursing Camisole is Oeko-Tex certified ensuring environmentally-friendly practices.

“A mom who is just learning to breastfeed worries frequently about how she can breastfeed or pump easily and discreetly,” said Anne Ng’ang’a product manager of intimate apparel from Medela  “Nursing camisoles are a great option for these moms.  They make nearly any outfit breastfeeding-friendly and make it easy to express breastmilk without exposing the tummy.” Let me tell you something ladies, my “baby” is 7 years old, keeping my tummy covered is still a priority. This cami is cut long so that there’s no exposure between jeans and shirt.

In last week’s review of Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us, Justin noted

Weisman’s final sentence in the Prelude provides a provocative launching point into the book: “Is it possible that, instead of heaving a huge biological sigh of relief, the world without us would miss us?”1 Having this idea of nature missing us as or after it takes over again keeps the reader wandering what trick Weisman (or nature!) has up his sleeve as he describes all the serious alterations we have made to the natural ecosystem. It also challenges the widely held assumption that Earth would be better off without us–and so likely happy to see us gone!

There are certainly people out there that believe that the environmental movement (in particular) thinks humanity has been nothing but a scourge on the natural order. While we don’t think that’s necessarily an argument that will do much to advance, well, anything, we do think that Weisman’s “thought experiment” provides a fertile jumping-off point for discussing human interaction with nature. So, we’d like to invite you to discuss the concept of “the world without us” … and enter to win a copy of Weisman’s book.

This post was originally posted on Eco-Libris blog on August 17.

Today we have the pleasure to interview Madeline Kaplan, author of Planet Earth Gets Well‘.

This book is Madeline Kaplan’s first children’s book, and as we collaborate with her to plant trees for copies sold at the book signing events and at other promotional sales, I wanted to learn more about the book and what led her to publish a green-themed book for children.

Firstly, here’s a little bit background (and a photo): Madeline Kaplan holds a B.A. in English literature and an M.B.A from Baruch College. She has published various business articles, but her three grandchildren inspired the writing of Planet Earth Gets Well, her first children’s book. She lives with her husband in New York and Connecticut.

And now to the interview:

What brought you to write Planet Earth Gets Well?

Becoming a grandparent was a transitional moment for me. When I realized that I would be leaving the planet to my precious grandchildren I thought that I must do something that would hopefully have a lasting effect beyond my own lifetime. My grandchildren love me to read stories to them and it occurred to me that the overwhelming problem of global warming would not be solved in my generation. For that reason, I decided to write a children’s book that would introduce the topic in a child-friendly concept and make my personal concern a more public one.

Thank you to everyone that particpated in our forum discussion on breastfeeding and entering our Mother’s Milk Giveaway.  Many wonderful stories and experiences were shared, and the discussion highlights how unique breastfeeding is between each mother and child.  Here are our Socktopus winners:

Andrea K:  “I nursed my son for 18 months. My daughter is nearly 23 months and shows no signs of stopping!”