Globally Green Living

Today I was checking out some “green” stuff for St. Patrick’s Day. We have a full house so could always use another bag. I found a cute reusable canvas bag with a shamrock on it at Cafe Press.

How about some funky recycled glassware from Inhabitat? Independent artisans make this recycled line from Guatemala. These fair trade products are created from recycled wine and beer glasses. The designs are brilliant and bring new life and class to old glass.

Eco-Artware (Gifts from recycled natural materials)

I love these fern green sachets made by graphic designer Lotta Helleberg. She used non-toxic paint on the back of leaves to create the design and the natural linen is colored with eco-friendly dyes. The sachets are then filled with fragrant organic lavender.

Have a musician friend or family member? Even though I can’t play guitars, I adore these necklaces at Eco-artware. The lucky picks come from Fender and Dunlap guitars.

Artist Susan “Sass” Brown has been creating art out of found objects since she was six. She also designs jewelry out of old pottery and game pieces. The charm is a nice touch and I think the same thing would make a great pair of earrings or even a bracelet.

• If you want to check out some Irish books, blessings and signs, here’s one of my favorite sites: Irish Jokes and Irish Blessings

“May brooks and trees and singing hills
Join in the chorus too,
And every gentle wind that blows
Send happiness to you.”

I have been having fun searching for fabric today to create my own reusable shopping bag. I have several but they are all sort of generic looking and I wanted a personalized tote bag.

It will be fun making my daughter her own bag as well. She’s not into pink at the moment but likes the strange combination of black, hearts and skulls. Gothic I guess you would call it. I looked at several sites selling organic fabric but here are a few of my favorite discoveries.

PM Organics began with an organic fabric co-op consisting mostly of WAHMs who made baby clothes and cloth diapers.

Pei and Marie realized what a large demand there was for organic fabrics so decided to invest as much as they could and launched PM Organics. The fabric prices are reasonable, there’s a large selection and the site is easy to navigate.

• My initial source for a listing of online stores carrying organic fabrics was Victoria Everman’s eco-links for green yarn and fabrics. Victoria is a writer, model and environmentalist and she has a lot of wonderful green crafty ideas and instructions.

• Victoria also led me to Uhandbag. I got lost there for a long time because there are so many fun projects and ideas. The free instructions are wonderful and I think I will try the handy tote bag.

Check out Lisa Lam’s U-Handbag blog if you want to get lost too. She’s the owner of the online shop and I appreciate all her detailed instructions since I’m not an experienced seamstress. After spending enough time there I will at least know how to make a decent reuseable bag.

One of Green Glass Company’s featured recycled products is the Shades Bud Vase. This bud vase is simple yet elegant and colorful. It uses four bottle tops attached to a glass pane. The glue makes the vase waterproof but they also suggest that it would make a wonderful candle holder using tapered candles.

Continuing on with my vase/candle holder kick, shown here is a vase from the Cobalt Collection. It was created from the upper portion of an East Coast wine bottle. The glass vase can also be used as a candle holder Green Glass Company cautions you to add a little water before inserting a tealight.

Recycled Goblets and Tumblers

The glasses are frosted with the more environmentally friendly method of sandblasting as opposed to etching. This is a goblet created from their Topaz Collection. It was made from the upper portion of a recycled Californian Chardonnay bottle.

The Royal Collection is quite striking with bright blue colored glass. The glass goblets, tumblers and candle holders were all created with reclaimed Bordeaux bottles.

If you’re looking for a more casual tumbler, consider these Cactus Tumblers created from the bottoms of Mexican Sol beer bottles. They would work for an outdoor picnic or barbecue.

Green Glass Company will do custom orders if you have specific bottles you want glasses created out of and they also purchase certain bottles that they’re in need of. Check out their website for more wonderful colorful glass creations and colors.

• Getting back to my vase kick, if you want to know how to keep those flowers fresh once home, Susan Walsh at Earthly Garden shares tips with us on how to do that.

Parents Mike and Kristin Barclay designed these earth friendly burp cloths for babies called Burp Armor. Mike first came up with the idea and made sure the cloth was large and fully covered the shoulder and arm. They’re made from organic cotton and hemp, are highly absorbent with three layers and stay put because the corduroy gives them traction.

Because the burp cloths are organic, they’re naturally free of any pesticides, herbicides and are soft on baby’s skin. The packaging is recyclable and the ink used is soy based. The burp cloths come in eight different colors so you could match it up to your outfit if you wanted. Some babies spit up more than others so if you’re going to wear it a lot you might as well like the color.

• My Grandma told me she had never heard of burping. I thought that was comical although I’m sure her children must have still burped without being patted on the back. She had twelve children so even if she had heard of it she may not have had much time for it.

Amy K, mother of 2 said, “Acid reflux became a challenge for our son, Blake around 3 months. We tried several different burp cloths and Burp Armor was unbelievably absorbent and endured several spit-ups before retiring to the laundry room! Many thanks for creating the ultimate burp cloth!” The cloths are a great idea anyway because I can certainly relate and remember having to change shirts a couple times a day with the twins.

A part of all proceeds from Burp Armor goes to Children’s Hospital Boston that specializes in pediatric care.

• If you would like to read more about shopping for baby items, check out Kid’s Bargain Style post “Baby Registry at Land of Nod“

Kate’s Caring Gifts has a huge selection of earth friendly gifts including organic coffee, chocolate, earth friendly toys and more.

I know I’m crazy about coffee and so are many other people. Here’s an organic fair trade sampler from the Organic Coffee Company for the coffee connoisseur in your life. Included is Hurricane Espresso, Java Love, Zen Blend and Gorilla Decaf.

I love this adorable velour baby bear and it smells sweet because it’s filled with lavender blossoms. When you squeeze the bear it releases more of the lavender fragrance. It’s recommended for children aged 3 and up. There’s also a stuffed frog and bunny rabbit available.

Who wouldn’t like to receive some handmade artisan chocolates? Lillie Bell Farms starts with locally grown ingredients and then get their organic chocolate from Central and South America. Check out the flavors: Lavender Fleur de Sel Caramels, Hazelnut Chew, Jamaican Spice Caramel, Passionfruit Liquid Caramel and Macadamia nut chew with ginger. I get a rush just thinking about it.

These are unique globe earrings made out of recycled glass. It’s a great idea to give an eco-friendly gift depicting the planet earth made out of recycled materials.

Last but not least is The Peaceful Baby Gift Set which includes organic bottom balm, protective oil, and an organic cotton one piece snap tee.

All of these gifts are under 50 dollars and you can find plenty more at Kate’s Caring Gifts. It’s a fun place to look around and Kate did a wonderful job of putting all these earth friendly products and companies together.

I’ve been having fun browsing Greenfeet’s great website today. They have tons of high quality eco-friendly products to choose from. I discovered them through an article on entertaining in Green Living magazine. Their disposable bamboo plates and utensils were being featured and I was curious to see more so checked out the link. These bamboo veneerware plates are made of 100% organically grown bamboo and are biodegradable so you can put them in your compost when finished.

Another fun discovery was their recycled clocks. My Dad used to do these years ago so was ahead of his time. He did all kinds of crazy things with so-called junk. Shown on the left is a wall clock made from an old 45 record.

On the right is a desk pendulum clock made out of recycled bicycle cogs, chains and rims featuring a rubber tire face. Another crazy recycled creation is a bowl made out of a welded bicycle chain. You wouldn’t want to eat out of it but it would be fun to store things in like a basket.

Since I’m crazy over candles, I had to check out their sections on candles and candle holders. Besides the many beautiful candle holders made out of recycled glass there’s this cool candle holder made out of bicycle freewheels and cogs. They refer to it as elegant and although I love it, I wouldn’t necessarily refer to it as such.

There’s much more to see at Greenfeet so browse around when you get a chance. I also discovered the “More Hip than Hippie” podcast there featuring subjects such as organic gardening, safe cookware, natural pesticides and more. Their podcasts are comical and informative and now I have their silly theme song in my head.