I just finished making my tree skirt and I LOVE it! I got the pattern from Martha Stewart. The fabric I used is eco-friendly felt made from recycled materials. I wish it would have been bigger – this pattern is definitely for a small tree! I followed the pattern and then bought 2 yards of green sequins and hot glued them on as a border. I’m short sequins so I”ll have to run back sometime for about another 1/2 yard but I don’t even need to worry about it now as that part is in the back of the tree so it can’t be seen.
Category : Fun Things To Do, Household
Category : Fashion
At one of my wedding showers my cousin gave me this adorable necklace from Cardinal House. The flower is hand sewn with reclaimed fabric and attached to a hand wrapped vintage beaded chain and of course – it is one of a kind. Check out her site, she has so many unique necklaces tha are oh so eco-friendly!
Thanks to ThrillistI came across these awesome bags made from old truck tarps and outdoor vinyl billboards. What a great way to use something that would otherwise end up in the landfill! They’re made locally – in Evanston (just outside Chicago) which is also pretty cool for Chicagoans. I’m a pretty basic girl so I prefer the styles without print – solid colors are more my thing. I didn’t see a women’s handbag style that I was crazy about but I do really like their truck tarp bags- the duffles and trippers are super cool.
Category : Food & Beverages
I just love my Preserve Cutting Board. I’ve had it for two years and it has held up well. I feel much safer using this than plastic seeing as when you cut on those plastic boards you’re bound to eventually end up with some residue or little bits on your food. It’s also great for the environment in that it is made with 100% post consumer recycled paper!
Made with Forest Stewardship Council certified Paperstone™. Features a knife-friendly surface with non-porous, petroleum-free coating that makes for easy cleaning.
| Features: | ||||||||||||
|
Category : Animals
Winston recently got a Big Shrimpy Nest Bed (his old bed was in rough shape so I sent to Eric’s parent’s house for when he visits). As you can see – he finds it very comfy! I purchased it at Barker & Meowsky at the corner of Sheffield and Armitage in Chicago.
The outer walls and removable center pillow of the Nest beds are made of soft polyester fleece or faux suede with a tough 420 denier nylon packcloth base. They unzip to access an inner bolster and cushion made of ripstop nylon. The inner bolster and cushion are filled with SmartFill™ – 100% recycled fiber. The inner bolster and cushion are odor- and water-resistant, but if necessary, they can be unzipped to remove and wash the SmartFill. Of course, the outer covers and inner bolster/cushion are washable as well.
These characteristics extend the life of the bed, allowing a pet owner to simply replace the outer covers when needed instead of discarding the entire bed. Outer covers can be purchased separately for replacement or for a new look. Additionally, the bed is designed to be flipped inside-out to further extend its usable life.
Category : Fun Things To Do, Household
I think these Ecopods are the coolest things – if only they had a kitchen and/or bathroom. They’re a little rustic for me to use as a vacation home – a once a year camping trip yes, but probably not much more than that If you’re the type of person to enjoy the more rustic vacationing these are for you! – WAIT! there is a chance they do have some sort of kitchen or bathroom as I just read on their site something about a refrigerator and a composting toilet. It is possible there is a toilet but not a shower and a refrigerator but no stove. They’re $27,000 Canadian and can be put anywhere – so if you have a piece of property in a beautiful area and want something a little more substantial than a tent the Ecopod is perfect. The floors are made of recycled car tires and the one side of the shipping container folds down and becomes the deck. So – if you really could have a toilet and some kitchen amenities I really might enjoy it after all!
Category : Household
I’m a HUGE fan of Seventh Generation’s products – along with the company itself. I’m excited to hear they’ve made some great new changes to their dish liquid!
Their new formula cleans 50% more dishes than their current dish liquid, and comes in a new 25oz bottle made from 90% post-consumer recycled plastic, which reduces their reliance on non-renewable resources by 50%. Seventh Generation’s new Environmental Savings Statement looks like this:
- If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 25oz petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with our plant-derived product, we could save enough oil to heat and cool 7,400 U.S. homes for a year.
The new formula is still biodegradable, non-toxic, hypoallergenic, and can be found in all three of our fragrances: Free & Clear, Lavender & Floral Mint, and Lemongrass & Clementine Zest.
Give it a try! Click here to save $1 on any Seventh Generation dishwashing product. And click here to read the full story of how they developed their new bottle.
So many paper products are now labeled recycled – which of course is wonderful and always exciting to see. But – how truly recycled is that paper? There are two phrases you’ll see – Post Consumer Waste and Pre-Consumer Waste. The latter is really just left over bits from the manufacturing process which immediately gets re-used – that’s great but they should do that anyway! Post-Consumer waste is the stuff we toss in our recycle bins after its first life and then gets re-made into something in its second life. This is the type of recycled paper you should be using. Pre-Consumer recycled paper is really a joke – of course they’re going to recycle the wasted bits from processing their paper, it makes complete sense – they’re not making much of an effort there! The point is – when buying recycled paper products read the fine print and make a responsible choice! If only Pre-Consumer recycled products are available then that’s an easy choice but otherwise go with Post-Consumer.
