Sustainable Housekeeping

Tea towel using non-toxic ink by Nina Glaser and ninaglaser.etsy.com

Clothespin pillow using recycled fabric by Coucou Salut

Large Coffee Sack Basket by Brin and Nohl and BrinandNohl.etsy.com

Clothespin basket by Downhomeamy and downhomeamy.etsy.com
Recycled Billboard Banner Storage Bin by Nottypooch and Nottypooch.etsy.com

Vintage French Ticking Stripe Market Tote by Jill Bent and jillbent.etsy.com

Coffee bean sack buckets!

A great way to re-purpose those coffee bean sacks! Made from recycled (fair trade) coffee sacks, these shopping bag/or buckets are crafted by Maya from Mayamade and are lined with soft unbleached cotton. Love the typographic look! From Three Potato Four.

Eco things on the radar

Loving this new line of cushions (above) from Enhabiten out of New Hampshire. Named after a street on the Left Bank in Paris. A combination of vintage string embroidery, vintage velvet and vintage woodblock printing on tea-stained hemp with a kapok filling (a sustainable rainforest crop which comes from the seed pod of the kapok tree) are used to make these simple but dramatic pillows for your home. Each pillow is 12" x 12". We also could not go without mentioning her white cross (in embroidery hoop) and blue cross cushion (see below). We are thrilled also that Enhabiten is participating in Green Pop (Eco/Spring marketplace) event this month at PHM!

enhabiten.etsy.com

Vintage Renaissance

Vintage Renaissance is a cute little upcycling/recycling shop we came across recently that we had to mention here during our "green themed" month. They revive older styles and make them work for today's design. Unique and one-of-a-kind items for the home (we love that little kitty).

vintagerenaissance.etsy.com

Looking forward to Earth Day!

Seeing these eco-made totem-style stacking stools and clothes hangers designed by Ryan Frank and available through Matteria (out of Europe) has us really excited as we look forward to Earth Day next month (April 22nd) and Poppytalk's upcoming eco-themed market, Green Pop (which actually starts next monday for one month); we have some cool new eco and spring-themed products we're looking forward to sharing with you!

However, in the meantime, check these out! These inventive totem-pole styled stacking stools are made from compressed straw (a sustainable material) and then covered in 100% felted wool. The hangers are made from 100% recycled newspapers (so much better than using the plastic or wood). Click here to see more.

Bonjour Teaspoon

Sweet recycled pillow from Bonjour Teaspoon out of the San Francisco Bay area. Recycled and Felted heathered Oatmeal colored pillow with Owl, circle and leaf motif.

eco minded handmade father's day gift guide

With Father's Day just around the corner, the idea to get something handmade and if possible, eco-friendly is really sounding good to us these days. Wanting something unique and not mass produced for someone as special as a father is really important to us. So if we can contributie to the good of the earth in our small way when purchasing handmade goods, it's an added bonus and something we are trying to be more aware of.

There's some amazing papergoods that are printed on recycled papers that use vegetable or soy inks these days, so we always look for that when buying handmade cards. There's some amazing crocheting going on as well and we love it when we can find artists that recycle rags and cloth remnants to make cool things, as the men's slippers we found from Frills and Furbelow's (they totally look so cozy made from recycled flannel). We also think one can never go wrong buying anyone a journal. Even if the person isn't artistic, or not really into writing, it's just a handy item to have around to write down random notes or plans and we found these really fun repurposed ones from Sparrow Tracks. Another great resource for eco finds is teamecoetsy, a team of Etsyians dedicated to "reduce, reuse and recyle" in their items and packaging. Here's a few Father's Day picks from us, most of them are eco-friendly, but then being handmade alone, should count as green.

1) Mustache handkerchief (above), by Avril Lorreti. Heat transfer printed handkerchief on gingham, inspired by the classic handlebar moustache.



2) Custom tiny text bowl by Paloma's Nest. Hand-stamped with the word(s) of your choice, great for a dresser or desk to catch change, keys or jewelry. Each piece is made of white clay.



3) Happy Father's Day Card by Two Guitars. Gocco screen-printed with an argyle pattern, printed on 100% recycled material.



4) green vinyl cellphone pouch, Tenth street. This sytlish little pouch can hold a cellphone ,money, credit cards, and a chap stick!



5) Viva El Papa greeting card, by Sinnickel press. The illustration depicts a young girl spray painting "viva el papa" in tribute to fathers everywhere.



6) Crochet rag slippers, by Frills and Furbelow's shop. Crocheted out of strips of flannel so that they are both durable and comfy at the same time.



7) Hand-embroidered large mouth bass handkerchief by Cornflower Creations. Perfect for the fisherman, comes prewashed, ironed, starched and gift boxed.



8) Mexico repurposed journal and, (including a few original pages and trading cards), from Sparrowtracks. Turn into a travel journal, sketch book or writing journal.



9) Letterpress card, Sweetbeets; Eco-friendly {vegetable-based ink, 100% post-consumer recycled cardstock, 30% post-consumer recycled envelope.



10) Black LEGO Brick Silver Cufflinks, from Cufflinks. A fun way to dress up dad. These would look awesome on a white shirt.




11) Golly Gee Father's Day Card, by Earmark Invitations. A fun retro-influenced card. printed on heavyweight white felt recycled paper.



12) Fused glass money clip, Pennyglass girl. Another great green "colour of money" piece. Love the three millefiori glass stars on this one.

reform school student of the month

All the way from Fiji, Reform School's Student of the Month are a limited edition of hand-painted, silk-screened Fijian Baby Zaishus stools produced through the TribeWanted Project. It's a portable, simplified seat/table/box that slots together without nails, screws or glue. The Zaishu project is an international collaborative event, recording patterns, designs and cultural texture from around the world on sheets of plantation grown veneer.



The TribeWanted project is a community-based tourism program that works closely with the Mali tribe where the TribeWanted members spend time on the island learning about the traditions of Fiji, and sharing their knowledge on what it means to be green. Each month, the TribeWanted membership elects a “chief” who is given a small budget with which to take on a legacy project. Kaz Brecher, an LA-based visual artist, approached Zaishu and Reform School a year ago about collaborating on this project. As the elected April Chief, she set out to work with the tribes to produce a limited edition of 50 Baby Zaishu chairs. These one-of-a-kind functional art objects, printed with water-based inks, are exclusively for sale through Reform School, with all proceeds benefiting the Mali District School, supporting arts and sustainability education.

knack studios

knack studios out of greenville, south carolina produce re-purposed furnishings, salvaged and redesigned custom lighting and home accessories. they have a website they recently launched along with a new blog. with owner barb blair's husband, jon in the graphic design field, they are also planning on starting to design and screen print their own line of soft goods. along with their furniture shown here, the lampshades are designed by paper cloud and the plates by knack's studio's partner, www.lilypottery.com.

www.knackstudios.com

letcetera printed on treeless paper

this is such a cool company coming out of brooklyn. letcetra makes not only papergoods that are easy on the eye, but also on the environment. all of their cards are printed with soy inks on paper made of mineral powder that is 100% degradable in nature and needs absolutely no trees or water for it's production. they are a lighter weight paper stock than most notecards, but are completely eco-friendly! i'm so proud to have them on board for the green pop market. click here to see their letcetera patterns which are available in any letter customizing any occasion to anyone.

sew green - cool blog of the week

i've been concentrating mostly on blogs that have been relatively new to me (and hopefully subsequently new to some readers here), but some that are not necessarily new to me, still might be new to some readers here and are definitely worthy of a "cool blog of the week" .

one such blog is, sew green. a blog made up of eleven women who met through the crafting blogging community who want to live more environmentally responsible by sharing ways to improve their lives and others by removing obstacles to go greener through their craft, art and influence.

rebecca tolk

i got an email from rebecca tolk out of north carolina who takes these beautiful ethereal photographs using a holga camera and who's work was featured in alena hennesy's sneak peek house photo's on design sponge recently. i especially love the beach scenes, perhaps because it's that time of year, but i like the idea of changing photo's and art to reflect the season. her pieces she sells on etsy are on archival ink jet prints, mounted on recycled barn wood from the mountains of western north carolina. many of these barns have been standing for over 100 years and she is happy to put such treasured wood to good use.

www.rebeccatolkphotography.com
rebeccatolk.etsy.com

a calm green house

mkLotus is michelle kaufmann's latest demonstration house. it's a prefab green designed home that will be showcasing itself at west coast green, september 20 - 22, 2007 in san francisco's civic center plaza in front of city hall. made from sustainable materials (note the sod roof), according to sunset at home's blog, kaufmann says, "it was designed as an oasis. they wanted to create a house that provides a sense of calm." i want to be calm.

pure modern

i wish i could get a bigger image of this ecosphere in it's entirety because i'm sure it's amazing. enclosed in glass, this miniature ecosystem is self sustaining with the perfect balance of animal and plant life. inside each sphere are algae, shrimp, and micro-organism in natural sea water. they have a life expectancy of 2+ years and require no feeding or cleaning. from pure modern.

carry-a-bag

found this bag from carry-a-bag on a blog i recently visited, called tumbleweed & rose. "all the bags are handmade to take with you to the shops" as it says on their site from the u.k. a great message and of course loving the font.

organic shower curtain

an organic cotton fluerette shower curtain with a vintage style from gaiam, a company founded in colorado offering products that support a sustainable economy.

envirosax, july 4 + delight

i'm all about these envirosax. designed in australia, i've seen them in person and they are a great size, really really strong, lightweight, portable and totally waterproof. and now available through delight.com. you get five, to keep, to share. whatever the case all a good cause keeping those pesty plastics out of the plastic vortex!

and what also is cool is delight has a special offer right now. use code "july4" and receive free shipping on any purchase site wide through july 5th.