Green Options

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Spring is right around the corner - the perfect time to refresh your home with a few new, eco-friendly items. Started by indie Canadian design blogger Jan, Poppytalk Handmade is like an online farmer’s market for handmade goodies (why didn’t we think of that!?).

As luck would have it, this month’s theme for the showcase is all about green:

Here we are, entering our 6th month at poppytalk handmade and we can’t think of a better way to ring it in than as an eco-themed market! As each market starts up, there’s always a bustle going on, and the anticipation to see everyone’s table come to life is my favorite part! We are thrilled to showcase this emerging talent with green spirits!

Organic yarns have been the majority of the fibers featured in our Yearn-Worthy Yarns series thus far. For this week’s installment, we are covering another vital element of green living and sustainable production - fair trade.

Wikipedia explains fair trade quite clearly as “an organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The movement promotes the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production.” Based in Oneonta, New York, the Da’vida Fair Trade Store sells its own line of hand painted and hand spun yarns made from alpaca, wool and yak fibers.

Painted by Lisa Meriam, a sheep farmer who lives in upstate New York, Da’vida’s collection of yarns come uncolored from Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru.

Unless you live a Compact-like lifestyle, you are going to be shopping on a somewhat regular basis. Whether it be home improvements, gifts, furnishings, crafts, gardening, fashions, babies, sports, pets or anything else you have going on, there is a green option to be found.

But where do you buy from? I’m all for promoting local businesses and buying from small stores right in your own town. Unfortunately, depending on where you live, you may have little to no options in that category. The easiest thing to do is log on to the internet (and you already have since you are reading this) and partake in the massive variety it has to offer.

After the runaway success with their first thepurplebook: the definitive guide to exceptional online shopping in 2000, authors Hillary Mendelsohn and Ian Anderson have released a number of specialized editions. Hitting book shelves in January 2008, thepurplebook Green: an eco-friendly online shopping guide is the latest of their incarnations.

Whether you’re new to the eco-lifestyle or so sustainably settled that you have a composting toilet and solar panels, thepurplebook Green Edition has something to offer everyone. Though the book is about shopping, it continually reminds readers to reuse what they already have. “The greenest thing you can do is to extend the lifespan of the products you already own,” says Hillary in the book’s introduction. “When it comes to shopping, it’s usually a matter of buying eco-friendly versions of the same products you already use.”

Via shopping blog Great Green Goods, I found these cute necklaces made from reused bottle caps.

Syncopation Company was founded by two women who found that staying at home with their kids meant reevaluating their consumption patterns. The challenge of balancing budgets led to the realization that often, things we would otherwise throw away could become the raw materials for creativity.

In addition to the bottlecap necklaces, Syncopation has jewelry made from watch faces, watch gears, spoons, mah jong tiles, hardware, rulers, bottle openers, rain gutters, vintage tape measures, marbles, phone buttons, and much, much more.

www.FreshBaby.com

By weight, a baby will eat more, drink more, and even breathe more air than an adult. This means what you feed your baby (or child) has a much greater impact than it would have on you.

Most people would love to go “all organic” with their food choices. Who really wants the pesticides, hormones and preservatives in their food anyway? But going organic can be a pricey proposition. If your family is like most, your budget cannot afford 100% organic, so why not consider buying organic for some foods. Here is some simple advice on prioritizing your organic food purchases:

1. Eat organic at the top of the food chain: Purchasing organic dairy, egg and meat products is a great place to begin organic food purchases. Livestock eat pesticide-laden feed, are often dosed with antibiotics and hormones, and all of this ends up in the package at the super market. Even though produce is often associated with organic food, many of the residues on these foods can be eliminated or greatly reduced by properly cleaning and peeling them. There is no way to remove or reduce the contaminants in the meat, dairy and egg products.

In the past couple of months, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of clothing boutiques selling clothing made of sustainably produced fibers or accessories made from recycled materials. My personal observations may not tell the full story, but it seems that sales are slow for these cool but relatively expensive goods.

In Portland last weekend, I had the chance to visit two single-manufacturer boutiques in their home town, and I am happy to report that, at least when sales are on, store traffic was bustling.

My favorite brand in terms of creative styling and wow design is Nau. The brand started by an idealistic but experienced team, many of whom met while working at Patagonia, is all about sustainability whether in sourcing, distribution or retailing. Using fabrics created from recycled polyester and plastics, as well as organically grown cotton and cashmere, Nau’s clothing is surprisingly and pleasingly hip for a company focused on outdoor wear.

So you’ve resolved to start the New Year with a focus on being more earth-friendly in your purchases. You want to make sure that you spend your money on businesses that produce their goods and services in sustainable ways. You’ve resolved to avoid the big box stores in favor of local businesses when possible because you know there are lots of reasons to choose small and local over the big chains (these reasons include everything from avoiding greenwashed products to supporting the local economy.)

The first problem you’ll face in striving to be a more conscious consumer may be finding the right places to shop. Where do you look for a local hardware or office supply or cleaning supply store that shares your emphasis on the environment? How do you go about finding a building contractor for that kitchen remodeling project that is knowledgeable about installing environmentally friendly materials? If only there were a “green pages” directory that listed all your sustainable shopping options in one place you’d have a lot easier time doing right by the planet, wouldn’t you?

Well, if you live in Chicago, MeGoGreen has you covered.

Ten earth-friendly ideas to spark your imagination

Intangibles can deliver green good all year long (and reduce clutter)

1. Donate time or money to a charity in honor of the gift recipient (a gift to Environmental Defense is a good choice).

2. Buy carbon offsets in the recipient’s name. Along with cutting your own carbon emissions — and fuel bills — help your friends and family offset theirs.

3. Give a national parks pass or a membership to botanical gardens or aquariums. (For an extra-special gift, surprise with a cross-country train tour or an eco-vacation.)

Stocking stuffers can be “green”

4. Give energy-saving light bulbs. The technology in these earth-friendly bulbs has leapt ahead, and they now come in many shapes and sizes (See Environmental Defense’s bulb guide for specifics.)

5. Consider the DVD “An Inconvenient Truth“; in bookstores and video stores everywhere.

The Environmentalist 12 Days of Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Twelve trees a-planted
Eleven CFL’s shining
Ten Fair-Trade chocolates
Nine PV panels lighting
Eight manatees a-swimming
Seven acres protecting
Six chimps a-swinging
Five No Conflict Diamonds

From a November 21st press release from the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

This holiday season meal planners have another good reason to choose locally grown food, according to a national conservation group. A new analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) shows that transporting foods shorter distances results in less smog-forming and global warming pollution.

“Many home cooks and restaurant chefs already know that local food is fresher and tastier,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, a physician and senior scientist

[...]

Thanksgiving is only a week away, which means the gift-giving season is in full swing. To make your seasonal shopping easier and more sustainable, I’m bringing you a series of green online stores that offer a wide variety of eco-gifts that would make anyone on your list feel appreciated. The first offering in this series was Max and Zane and now, for my second installment, I bring you Organic Style.

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