Cultivate Kids organic kids Tees remind us that growing organic isn’t just about reducing pesticides and preventing the spread of GMOs – it is about cultivating a healthy future for our earth and for our children. When we give our kids toxic messages instead of nurturing their natural qualities like curiosity and creativity, we end up short-changing both the children and ourselves.
All Sarah and Rose from Greenknickers are waiting for these days is sunny weather as there is no more sore bottom excuses not to get on your bike! The girls have designed special padded boxers and knickers that look as sexy as the rest of their collection (see here, here and here) to encourage their customers to cycle more. (more about these and lucky wedding lingerie after the jump)
The Finnish family business Lasistudio reclaims glass bottles and jars without crushing them in order to create new objects. All the products are hand-made in an old barn in Finland. By taking advantage of the original shapes of the waste packages, only 1/4 of the energy needed to shape new objects from melted glass is used, says Jan Torstensson Oy, glassworks specialized in manufacturing items from recycled packaging glass.
Swedish design company Hetta’s favourite materials are cork, leather and wool. We particularly like the corky underlays for pots; one has the shape of a Ladder, and another one is Long and flexible for you to decorate the table in countless ways.
We featured The Home Project’s cork speakers on TreeHugger before but have a look at these curious egg cups, perfect to display and eat this year's Easter eggs.
Today's the big day--a full 24-hours dedicated to wearing your heart on your sleeve, and eating chocolate with friends, S.O.'s, and even colleagues. But if you haven't put enough thought into what you should be doing for that one special person in your life, it's not too late. Our Valentine's Day Gift Guide is a green cheat sheet to the perfect last-minute memento or bouquet, and we also give you hour-by-hour ideas for keeping it sexy all day long. ::Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Giving Greener Love
Images by H&M, Photographer: Daniel Jackson
H&M, the Swedish high street store, has yet again made it into the TreeHugger news, just on time to spread some love for Valentine's day (check out Green Valentine for other great gifts). After applying the EU eco-label and the launch of their organic cotton collection last spring, H&M has launched Fashion Against Aids to spread awareness about HIV this month. Well-known artists such as Rihanna, Chicks on Speed, Good Charlotte, Henrik Vibskov, Jade Jagger, Justice, Katharine Hamnett, My Chemical Romance, Rufus Wainwright, Scissor Sisters, The Cardigans, Tiga, Timbaland and Ziggy Marley have each designed a 100% organic cotton T-shirts, tank tops or hooded sweater. Judging by the sold out racks of clothing the first days of the launch (at least here in Barcelona), the campaign is a great success.
Credit: Abbey Goes Design Scouting
Valentine's Day is almost here. What's that? You haven't picked out something perfect your sweetheart just yet? Never fear! Our Valentine's Day Gift Guide will save the day. Whether you're looking for something sexy (eco-lingerie, anyone?), standard (organic chocolate and flowers always do the trick), or dematerialized (giving to charity comes from the heart), we've got something for everyone for a full day of good green lovin'. ::Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Giving Greener Love
Credit: ulterior epicure
It may be the thought that counts, but let's face it, if your intention doesn't come wrapped up with a big pink bow on Valentine's Day, you could be sleeping alone. Luckily, we've put on our thinking caps and come up with a plan so you won't get a figurative dagger through the heart (ouch!). From standards like chocolate and flowers to totally kissable coffee breath, we've got you covered morning, noon, and night. ::Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Giving Greener Love...
It may be the thought that counts, but let's face it, if your intention doesn't come wrapped up with a big pink bow on Valentine's Day, you could be sleeping alone. Luckily, we've put on our thinking caps and come up with a plan so you won't get a figurative dagger through the heart (ouch!). From standards like chocolate and flowers to totally kissable coffee breath, we've got you covered morning, noon, and night. ::Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Giving Greener Love...
Here’s a new shop paradigm for you: Shop according to the revealed ingredients of every object. Because those ingredients sure look yummy with a range of products made from sustainable wood, cork, bamboo, organic and recycled materials. Monica Potvin in Barcelona and Anu Suominen in Finland have joined forces and created ‘a new version shop presenting a collection of objects for living made as sustainable as possible’. Matteriashop is finally a shop that guarantees eco-smartness as well as fabulous design.
Through close collaboration with designers all over the globe, the Matteriashop offers a unique transparency and behind-the-scene information on each carefully selected product, taking into account its entire lifecycle. Monica Potvin explains:...
F*&king Recycle is the latest poster collection by graphic designer Becky Redman. Designed to increase awareness and promote action, the 50 colourful and provoking posters do exactly that. With encouraging messages to get people to recycle everything that can possibly be recycled (glass, aluminium, paper, cans, etc.) and notes such as ‘one recycled aluminium can will save enough energy to power a television for three hours’, 'every eight months the UK produces enough waste to fill Lake Windermere’ or ‘plastic can take up to 500 years to decompose’, this is a great collection of typographic exploration, using intense colours to spread alarming facts and get people to recycle. All posters have been screen printed on 100% recycled paper and posted in public. Click here to see the full collection. (more posters after the jump)...
How about planting some wildflowers every month of this New Year? Canadian based Botanical Paperworks’ Plantable Eco Calendar guides you through 2008 with its handmade monthly desk calendar that “creates beauty and leaves nothing behind but flowers”. Simply place the seed embedded paper into soil, add water and wait for Bird's Eye, Clarkia, Coreopsis, Poppy, Catchfly and Snap Dragon to come to life.
The handmade paper is acid and tree free, made from recycled bond paper, cotton remnants and abaca, a renewable leaf fibre. The plantable calendar is illustrated by Kal Barteski and available for $19.95 ::Botanical Paperworks
Also check out Blissen’s 2008 Hidden Habitats Calendar and our 2008 Diaries. ...
It is the first of January, which means it’s time to leave the worn-out diary behind and open up a new one. If you haven’t found the perfect agenda to start this New Year yet, here are a few fun and practical eco options. From recycled to social and paperless, there’s an even wider range of treehugger-style diaries this year than any of the previous years.
Starting with the recycled options, Kara suggested Scribesdelight journals that are made from recycled saddle leather. A recycled saddle leather agenda/address book is available for $79. If you got one last year, just order your re-fill now and reuse the sleeve. ::Scribesdelight
Another recycled option is the diary by Bandaderodadura, a Spanish company. The sturdy black sleeves of these diaries are made from recycled car tire inner tubes and are locally made in Barcelona. The sleeves come with a zip pocket for extra storage space and are guaranteed to last you through quite a few years. ::Bandaderodadura
More diaries after the jump....
From Swan's Honey in Albion, Maine. Available through Maine's Pantry. According to the package it is "distilled from nectar and put in to its container by the bees themselves." Also check out this Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey.
Vanity Fair: A Cavalcade of the 1920s and 1930s. Uncovered from a box in the attic but available through Antiqbook.com. Fantastic representation of a bygone era....
If you’re wondering what an inspired 12 year-old can do to help stop global warming, look no further than a 7th grader named Hunter Gross from Long Island, NY. He’s launched a project with his mom and dad dubbed Project Kool, and it’s goal is to help get kids involved replacing the endless stream of paper and plastic bags they cart their lunch to school in each day by swapping ‘em for The Lunch Sak.
What’s The Lunch Sak? Well, it’s a reusable lunch bag made of natural cotton that has a Velcro strip to make it resealable. For fun it comes with a pair of markers that wash out easily, making it possible for kids of all ages to redesign their Lunch Sak on a daily basis without harming the environment in the process.
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With all the excitement this year over lead in toys and the leaching of BPA from plastic cups and bottles, I thought it might be time to give some alternative, non-leaching sippy cups a review here on TH.
To pull it off properly I handed my requested samples over to a couple of local experts, my nephew Nick and niece Cailey. They gave models by both Sigg and Klean Kanteen the once over along with their mom Jodi without me around, and reported back with a kids-eye view.
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This is a sneak preview of a gorgeous jewellery collection and bags named Jova Design. It’s a joined project between the Ducth fair trade organisation Tilingo Nepra, Dutch Design in Development (DDiD) and jewellery designer Joanne Zwart.
Working with local people in Nepal, designer Zwart decided to use natural and local materials like wood, hemp, cotton and bone. She also found inspiration in the symbolic Nepalese jewellery like the Buddhist and Hindu prayer beads, made from the dark rudraksha berries.
This project is one of many others set up by the DDiD, who specialise in linking Dutch designers and companies to businesses in developing countries. They create opportunities for companies in the developing world, to step into the European market under fair trade conditions. Via ::Design.nl
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It seems there's a great little book out for the holidays titled "When Santa Turned Green" by Victoria Perla that tackles global warming for kids in a fun way. Santa, beset by a leak in the roof of his North Pole factory steps outside to give it a look and comes to the realization that it's connected to a far bigger problem, global warming.
Now I haven't had a chance to read it through yet myself, but there's not a lot of time left before the holiday and the 3 reader reviews on F.A.O. Schwarz website raved about it. Apparently, Santa is determined to turn things around and sets about doing just that by helping kids see everyday actions they can take to make a difference.
I bet it could make a wonderful gift for kids from 5-11yrs, and it's priced at $15.95.
See also:: The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming , Rockefeller Center's Christmas Tree Lights Up Holiday Season with LEDs!
via:: FAO Schwarz...
This toy windmill is as good as it gets for budding TreeHuggers. Made out of steel in the good old USA. No poisonous, plastic parts from China (although we did not examine the small red hub pictured). And, it would look nice even on a balcony railing or in a flower pot on the deck. Small enough that the child would not have to live in the suburbs to enjoy its functioning.
The only drawback is, this model isn't set up to add a mini-generator to drive a motor or pump.
Lehman's online catalog lists it for US$17.95 and it was in stock at the time of this posting.
Kids can assemble the Lehman turbine toy, but it looks as if adult involvement would be needed: a good time to engage in a "teachable moment."
Green shopper caution: we considered including a photo of the KidWind project toy wind turbines in this post because that project offers a variety of toy wind turbine kits and spare parts. Unfortunately, most of the KidWind turbine and stanchion materials are apparently PVC, as shown in this link.
Might be possible to add the ancillary generation parts from KidWind to the Lehman's turbine, and skip the potential for exposing kids to Chinese-made vinyl containing lead stabilizer compounds?
Note:Lehman's windmill "Takes about an hour to assemble and a tweezers is highly recommended (Many small screws.) # 16 ¾"H, 1 ft. to 1" scale."Clarification:: This writer has no problem with PVC components of any kind being included in commercial wind turbines. Kids are not exposed to them. There's no problem, either, with kids being given age appropriate toys with rigid PVC parts if lead stabilizers are demonstrated not to be present. But, given this year's experience with Chinese made toys containing lead colorants and Chinese formulated vinyl commonly containing lead stabilizers, until it is demonstrated that the KidWind kits are lead-free, we can't in good conscience, suggest them as gifts. Summary: Made In The USA, and Lead Free are the qualities that make Lehmans a "Best Ever" unless someone points us to a better model, in which case we'll make a correction or addendum to this post....
Ring the bells! Pop the (organic) champagne! TreeHugger’s 2007 Gift Guide is here!
We've made this guide the most comprehensive yet, with 180+ gift ideas in three shades of green, making it a perfect reference while shopping for everyone on your gift list. In addition, we'll be adding organizations to support and useful tips for making your holidays more efficient.
Go to Part II here and Part III here.For more great ideas, don’t forget to visit our past guides from 2006 and 2005.
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If you can’t get enough of your online social networks like Facebook or Linkedin and you’d also like to see more trees on this planet, then it’s time for you to join Tree-nation. The goal of this ecological project is to plant 8 million trees in the Sahara to fight climate change, desertification and poverty. With their project, they support UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign.
8 Million trees in the desert, a unique mapping technique and a growing online community is what makes this project stand out. You can buy your own tree online: choose one of 5 tree species (prices range from 10-75€), personalise it and plant it. A GPS allows you to spot your tree online anytime. ...
It is called the 'precautionary principle'. If a mountain lion is stalking outside your home and looks hungry, the best thing to do is not go outside and act like a nice juicy meal. No, you stay away, and try to think of how to get it to leave. This makes sense. But somehow when those lions turn into chemicals (like BPA) the U.S. seems not to apply the same rules. The book, Exposed - The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products: What's at Stake for American Power, by Mark Schapiro highlights the growing gap between U.S. policy regarding chemical safety and that of the rest of the world. It gives a 'behind the scenes' look into how the U.S. has lost the edge in environmental policy, and illustrates clearly how this lack of governmental leadership will negatively impact our economy as well as our personal safety....
Why not shut down your email for an hour or two and write some notecards to catch up with your correspondence? This is what Mike at ReadyMade suggests while putting the old issues of their bi-monthly magazine to good use. ReadyMade, for people who like to make stuff, have turned their surplus back issues into beautiful funky envelopes they sell in packs of 10, together with 10 cards of recycled paper and white labels for $12. Because of email, snail mail has become even more appreciated but imagine, if on top of writing a real card, someone does it on colourful recycled material- it’d definitely impress me, whatever it said on the card! Find the notecards here and more great ready ideas on ::ReadyMade...
Moppels are flexible desk lamps from Germany that use energy efficient leds for illumination. In fact, they will run for more than 100 hours on three (rechargeable) AAA batteries in the provided battery box or they can be plugged into a computer USB port. Moppels come in a variety of designs including dinosaurs, snakes and various human personae. Some feature magnetic or suction cup hands and feet, so they can stick to surfaces. Priced at $25, they make a nice gift. They can be found at Lights and Knives. :: Via Technabob...
We discovered these unique, patchwork eye pillows at Miss Malaprop, a blog that recently signed up to host our Carnival of the Green. What a great gift to start off the New Year (for ourselves, of course, after those stressful holidays). Found at the Love Forever Etsy Shop, each pillow is one of a kind and filled with organic lavender and flaxseed. They are made with scraps of vintage and reproduction cotton fabrics and the backs are pure silk so they are really soft and luxurious. And the best part: they are only $16. Via ::Miss Malaprop ::Love Forever Etsy Shop...
So, we are 2 days into the new year, time to put up a new calendar if you haven’t already. Here’s an eco one that doesn’t show you shocking pictures in order to get you to save the world but still tells you everything you need to know and can do against the biggest issue of out time. Environmental publisher Flipside Vision’s Calendar of Climate Change 2007 has beautiful photos (the cute polar bear is definitely not missing) for each month and is full of energy saving tips, climate facts and web links. It’s carbon neutral and printed on 80% recycled paper with vegetable-based ink. It’s available for €17,27 in the UK from Flipside Vision. ::via o2balance ::Flipside Vision
more 2007 calendars on TreeHugger: Gary Larson Whale Nation...
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
Here are a few recommended websites.
Here are a few recommended websites.
