Parents need gear.

Diapers, food, toys, changes of clothing, water, wipes - it’s all got to go with you.

Everywhere.

Most baby gear and diaper bags are styled with a mom’s taste in mind, not a dad’s. After recently witnessing some new dads sheepishly carrying cutesy baby bags, I thought I’d share a selection of cool green bags with you. Every one of these is stylish and eco-friendly, made from either repurposed or recycled materials.

Alchemy Goods messenger bag, at right, is made from recycled inner tubes, and features a heavy-duty strap made from recycled seatbelts. Internal pockets abound, and a key clip and zippered pocket keep your valuables safe. Did I mention it’s waterproof as well? An awesome bag from a conscious company. Priced at $168.

The Fellini Pannolini messenger bag is produced in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in a fair-trade partnership with Three Stone Steps. They are made from repurposed outdoor mosquito netting, and are lined with repurposed industrial waterproof tarp. Pannolini means diaper, and this earth-friendly satchel could be your next hip diaper bag for only $75.

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Welcome to the Third Carnival of Green Crafts!

Before we begin, let me just thank all of the crafters who participated in this month’s carnival for taking a weight off my mind. After reading all of these posts, I now have NO worries at all about landfill space anywhere in America. Seriously, y’all, crafters are obviously the solution to the trash problem. Go us!

Before we begin, a few administrative notes: We’re pleased as punch to announce that the fourth Carnival will be September 4th at Whip Up. Send in your posts via the carnival submission form today! For background information about the Carnival, please see the Carnival of Green Crafts home page. And in case you missed the previous editions, here are the first Carnival, here at Crafting A Green World, and the second Carnival, at BlogHer.

Thanks so much to all the crafters who shared their posts with us for this edition of the Carnival. Let’s dig in!

Eco-Friendly Materials

Tiny Decor gathered a list of the Top 10 Modern and Eco-friendly Fabric Sources on Etsy. You HAVE to see what she’s collected, there are some real knockouts.

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I now understand that my attempt at blogging from our convention was a little bit of a pipe dream. There were simply so many green products and conversations going on that I was nearly overwhelmed.

Two big take-aways:

1) The industry is certain that green is going to stick this time around. A few vendors placed green (by their use of the word at the time) at 8-12% of the business and with a growth to 20% in the next few years seeming very likely. Ash City is looking for 50% by 2010.

2) This is the interesting point for Ecopreneurs: suppliers are having trouble keeping up with demand in the marketplace, even at the low levels of current business. Problems are at every level of the supply chain, so if you have a green idea, GET IT OUT THERE.

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At least I have a say as to what goes in their lunches. I’m planning on buying Sigg bottles and adorable handmade snack sacks by gnomeclothes, but due to the back-to-school bank account drain, it’s going to be bags of chips and juice pouches till the next paycheck.

You know the old saying: When life give you Capri Sun Lemonade, sew zipper pouches! Check out this great tutorial for a recycled juice pouch pencil bag on Skip to my Lou.

I really do like almost all the products I get samples of, but occasionally I get one that exceeds my expectations. This bag is one of them.

I’m not sure what I expected exactly, but from the image, I thought I would get a stiff, green shoulder/side bag that’s greatest quality would be that it is made from recycled plastic bottles (rPET).

As is often the case, a lot happens (at least in my world, no doubt for the rest of the world too) between the initial communications about a review and a sample being sent out and the actual receiving of the sample. That and the fact that my memory is a little shifty sometimes creates a really fun package opening celebration. My family will ask, “Mom, what is it?” And I honestly, usually don’t know, although if I look carefully at most labels, I can figure it out, but I restrain myself, because I love the mystery of not knowing as I marvel at some of the great and not-so-great green packaging people are coming up with these days.

Okay, that was a long setup, sorry . . . when this package came in yesterday, I pretended not to know what it was to enhance the thrill a bit, but when I opened up the recycled paper package, my daughter and I both squealed with delight. First of all the green color on this bag is much better in person. When I liberated it from the packaging, I was struck by how surprisingly soft and pliable the fabric was.

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A few years ago, we installed new playground equipment at our school.  As the teacher in charge of the project, I was encouraged by parents to explore the option of recycled tires for cushioning, which comes in either a mulch or mat.  At first, I thought this was a good idea as it involved recycling and really does provide a great cushioning, but in the end we chose pea gravel for cost, environmental, and safety concerns.

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Perhaps you’ve noticed gift and holiday supplies proudly claiming recycled, post-consumer, chlorine-free, or tree-free? Sounds nice, but are you confused? Most consumers are when trying to decipher it all. Frustrations peak when claims are misleading.

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It was when Jennifer Stambolsky was planning her own wedding that she found a lack of wedding invitations for the modern bride that were both gorgeous & eco-friendly. With a love of nature combined with a love of beautiful stationery, she launched EarthlyAffair.com.

Choose from two environmentally friendly papers, a premium 100% Recycled Post Consumer Recycled paper that uses no new trees and a heavyweight 60% Recycled (30% Post Consumer) Cotton paper that is Forest Stewardship Counsel certified. All envelopes are made of 100% post consumer waste, FSC certified and processed without the use of chlorine. Not only that but they are a carbon neutral business purchasing CO2 offsets for emissions caused by conducting business and shipping through carbonfund.org.

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The key element to the success of any event, especially a wedding, is planning. In the savvy bride’s arsenal you’re sure to find her Wedding Binder, where all her checklists, magazine clippings and sketches lie.

I’ve always loved the designs & concepts from russell+hazel, a company who obviously adores paper and organization as much as I do. And as such, they realize that cutting down trees is not something they what to perpetuate, so each and every product they offer is made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials and most are biodegradable and/or reusable; from the spirals in their notebooks to the covers of their binders. And now, with their ultra-stylish Wedding Organizer Set, you can keep everything on track while still looking good. My particular fave is their whiteboard feature inside of the binder cover so that quick notes or sketches can be made easily and wiped away when finished.

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Hence, I am honored to introduce you to Thai designer Nunthirat “Koi” Suwannagate, who approaches her work through the prism of art. Each piece she designs is a completely unique, one-of-a-kind handmade garment, and reflects her own personal vision.

Koi has a thing for vintage cashmere and incorporates the recycled material into her collections. Her signature style is to hand-sculpt the cashmere into fabulous rosette appliques. She also designs with organic cotton and silk. The combination is a richness and superior softness that Koi says is the epitome of luxury and pure indulgence.

Koi’s talent to enhance and beautify the natural contours of the female body are obvious, but less emphasized in the press. I think it’s because each admirer is hypnotized over the construction details, and speak less of the drape that allows fluid movement and ultimate comfort. Yet the press is dishing loads of favorable reviews from the pages of W and WWD, Vogue, Bazaar, and much more.

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You can see that earth and human-friendly designers and decorators are increasingly riding the green wave. And we now know that natural wool, hemp, silk, seagrass, bamboo, cork, and other organic fibers are here for us. Ancient craft techniques are reviving and some know how to blend it all so well into the present. Recycling is one method that seems to create new artistic magic.

One such conscious professional creator is Marla Henderson. She identifies herself as more an artist/producer of interiors than a traditional designer. Marla frequently works with artisans to develop unique spaces. Her course of life leads us to the Babik rug collection she offers today.

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The MobileHome is made from recycled cardboard, is biodegradable, five percent of profits are donated to UNICEF, and is made in China.  It has eight secret rooms and is easy to take with you to the park, on vacation, or around the house.  My children immediately integrated their other toys, including their children’s yoga mat,  into dramatic play with our MobileHome.

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Picnic in green style this summer with eco-friendly biodegradable plates & bowls, and compostable utensils and cups from Let’s Go Green. Made from sugarcane fibers, these bowls and plates are 100% biodegradable, but sturdy enough for your sloppiest Joes. Their 16- and 20-oz. plastic cups are made from corn, and their PSM (plastic starch material), compost-certified utensils will naturally decompose back to organic elements. Let’s Go Green also offers 100% recycled lunch and dinner napkins, recycled without chlorine bleaching.

Save big when you buy their Picnic Sampler, which includes 50 each of knives, forks, spoons, and 9″ plates — all for only $19.99.

Let’s Go Green has dozens of wonderful products for every room in your home. In fact, a great housewarming gift is one of their Green Home Starter Kits….

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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!

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You can see all of the patterns here - but make sure you notice there’s a page two, navigation is in the upper right. Most of them come in additional colorways and you have to click through to see them. Each sheet is about 22×30, and they sell for $6 or you can get 3 sheets of the same pattern for $12.

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Kelly has written about Ex Libris journals and Night Owl Paper Good journals, and Tara tipped us off about her friend Nicole’s recycled wallpaper journals from Freshly Blended Press. I took a spin through Etsy to see what other upcycled, recycled, and handmade journals I could discover…

Holy cow, it’s insane over there!

I had to narrow it down to journals that use recycled, found, or scrap paper inside as well as recycled material in the covers, because otherwise my brain was overloading. I didn’t even scratch the surface, but here are some of my favorites:

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The Mighty Wallet is another alternative to using a leather wallet.

Made from a single sheet of Tyvek paper (like that’s used for express envelopes) it containing 25% post consumer content (water and milk containers) and is 100% recyclable (grade 2). The wallet is also apparently virtually indestructible. It’s certainly tear-resistant as I couldn’t tear it with my bare hands (looks like my phone book tearing days are over), and it’s water resistant too. It’s incredibly thin and light, but has lots of slots to put cards in and the wallet will expand just like an stuffed envelope.

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Couronne Co make glass bottles, vases, jars, bowls and candle holders from recycled glass. I was sent some fantastic products, a gerbera bud vase, a blue glass ball vase and a diamond red bottle.

Their website explains that Couronne prides itself on a vast selection of glassware and home décor products that are both eco-friendly and affordable. They recognize the importance of recycling glass, because it not only conserves the environment but it also saves energy. The process required to produce glass is quite simple as it is composed of sand, soda, lime and a lot of heat. The obvious benefits of recycling glass is to reuse and save our natural resources, but the most important benefit of recycled glass is that it requires considerably less energy than that which is needed to melt raw materials.

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Well, if it’s a Jimi, then rest easy. Not only is your wallet made of recycled and recyclable material, it is also made sweat shop free in the US by a company that gives 1% to the Planet. Jimi, the “wallet for people who hate wallets” comes from a socially responsible company with an eye for form and function. You can put just about anything in your wallet that you want. It even has a money clip that slips out for easy access when you don’t want to carry the whole case.

I have already filled my compact and bright Aqua Jimi chock full of cards and cash - it’s the perfect beach and pool accessory this summer. It even comes complete with a hole for a lanyard to wear around your neck or clip inside a bag or purse for quick retrieval.

My ideal craft shop would have EVERYTHING! I love it all. I would especially love a great supply of pretty recycled papers and unique recycled beads. Non-toxic glues/adhesives, glass etching solution, paints. Unique synthetic yarns AND more stylish (affordable) knitting needles/crochet hooks.

Katherine also mentioned that she had stopped shopping at mainstream craft stores, but had concerns about the independent online retailers as well. How do you know their business practices are any better?

I can definitely sympathize with Katherine. In my fantasies, I can walk down the street and shop at a grocery store where everything is organic and either local or fair trade. Anything I see that I want, I can have without worrying if I’m doing something bad to the planet or people. Put a craft store next to that grocery store and I would be in heaven.

While we wait, though, I thought I would round up some recycled and fair trade beads we can all feel good about:

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