Archive for the ‘living green’ Category

green find: salvaged cardboard pendant lights

Friday, July 25th, 2008


You know how you meet someone at a function and they say offhand, “Check out my website”? This happened to us recently and, when we checked out the website — in this case, of two architects known as Graypants, Inc. — we were blown away. The duo have a series of salvaged cardboard pendant lights that they call Scrap Lights that are simply spectacular. And they’re now for sale at Velocity Art and Design. Visit the Graypants site to see the design process in action here, and check out all of their gorgeous projects. Shop for Graypants Scrap Lights here. –Mary T.

meg’s green finds: eco-chic solution to icky plastic utensils

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008


How many times during the work week do you find yourself dashing out to your local salad/soup/noodle restaurant for some quick takeout lunch and yet another set of those landfill-clogging plastic utensils? These ToGo Ware reusable utensils might just be your new best friend! I know the earth is seriously digging them. The utensils are made of sustainably harvested bamboo and the cute wrap holder is made by WEAVE, a women’s cooperative on the Thai-Burma border. They’d be perfect for a picnic! Available here for $19.95. –Meg D.

Read more of Meg’s tips for stylish, green living at her blog, Style Saves the World.

meg’s green find: woof sachet

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

With the first birthday of Cole, our rescue pup, fast approaching, I’ve had my eyes peeled for a perfectly dogtastic birthday gift for the little scrapper. Right now, I’m feeling pretty enamored with this adorable Woof Sachet. It’s filled with lavender - a delish smelling natural flea repellent - and slips right onto a dog collar. It could be an excellent quasi-bow-tie look for Cole on his big day. Of course, since he can’t eat it or even chew on it, Cole probably won’t think the Woof Sachet is half as cool as I do. So I’ll also let him dig into a big bag of his favorite natural Zuke’s treats. Woof Sachet, $13.50, available at Zanisa. — Meg D.

Read more of Meg’s tips for stylish, green living at her blog, Style Saves the World.

adventures in beekeeping: movin’ on up!

Thursday, July 10th, 2008


Big news from the bee corner! As you can see, our hives are growing — and getting more colorful. We have added a second “hive super” to all three hives — a “super” is a layer in the hive. Once one layer is nearly full, the beekeeper adds another level to encourage more bee and honey production. After two levels are full, a third is added — this is a honey super. The honey super has a screen barricade that prevents the queen from entering, which means she can’t lay eggs there. Since the baby bee production is limited to the bottom levels, the top floor becomes filled with pure honey comb. That’s where we can take the honey from. As you can see from the photo, our first hive (on the right) already has grown to three levels. We could have honey from that hive in just a couple of weeks! As for the colors, well, we thought the bees needed a little decorating. Our next big task: coming up with a name for our little honey production. Any suggestions? — Angela M.

Click here to see all the beekeeping posts.

post off: how have gas prices affected your driving habits?

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Are you walking to the store? Taking the bus to work? Canceling that road trip? It seems that high gas prices have had that affect on a lot of people. What about you — how has the high price of gas affected you?

Photo by Chris Stevenson

meg’s green finds: wallpaper that gives back

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008


While not green wallpaper per se, this find does support a very worthy cause with great style! Carly Margolis, a wallpaper designer and co-founder of NY-based company Cavern Home, traveled to the Casa de Milagros orphanage in Peru and helped the children create designs that she then incorporated into a wallpaper print. Even the repeated geometric symbol in the wallpaper was taken from the kids’ drawings — it’s called the “Chakana,” a spiritual Peruvian symbol. I love how all of the kids’ images peek out in unexpected places from the pattern — a perfect pick-me-up for a drab bathroom! Best of all, proceeds of wallpaper purchases go directly to the orphanage. Buy here in olive, turquoise, and brown for $155/roll. — Meg D.

Read more of Meg’s tips for stylish, green living at her blog, Style Saves the World.

etsy find: vintage renewal chairs

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008



I’m totally lusting after the latest chair rehabs by Etsy seller Vintage Renewal. Aren’t they fab? Plus, what better way to be green than to find new life for old things? Bonus: Shipping is free! Above: White Linen and Floral Bird Applique Chair, $580, and Vintage Leaves on Linen Chair, $600. Check out more of Vintage Renewal’s reinvented furniture finds right here. –Leah H.

See more of Leah’s great finds at her blog, More Ways to Waste Time.

how much mulch is in the mulch block?

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008



It’s light, it’s eco-friendly, it’s kinda weird. I recently gave a couple blocks of Mulch Block a try, and my reaction is mixed. Made from coconut coir, Mulch Block is packaged just like it says — in a block. It’s extremely lightweight, and that’s a great thing, as anyone who’s ever struggled to load the car with bags of wet mulch straight from the garden store can attest. Though the package says it covers two cubic feet once you soak it in water and break it up a bit, it didn’t seem to stretch very far for me. (It could be that I’m impatient and should have let it soak longer, or it could be that I am just bad at estimating how far two cubic feet will realistically go — that’s the entire block above, spread rather thin.) On the plus side, it does look quite nice in the two small areas that I did mulch, without looking like that fake-colored mulch that I hate. (Mulch Block’s color is natural.) I may revisit Mulch Block for a future quick fix for small spots in the garden, but I have a lingering fondness for good old black satin. (Or, you know, glass.) –Mary T.

meg’s green finds: wonderful graffiti wall transfers

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Well, summer has officially arrived and with it I think it’s safe to say we are in the full swing of wedding season. I went to an absolutely gorgeous wedding this past weekend and was delighted to find an Envirosax reusable shopping bag filled with goodies hanging from the door knob of our hotel room. Small eco-friendly ideas like this are such a breath of fresh air at weddings! Another sweet idea? Today I stumbled upon the Wonderful Graffiti Wedding site (by way of CasaSugar) and fell in love with the site’s customizable (and easily removable) wall transfers. How lovely and earth-friendly it would be to put one beautifully designed menu on a wall in your venue rather than printing out individual menu cards! Available here for $72. — Meg D.

Read more of Meg’s tips for stylish, green living at her blog, Style Saves the World.

non-toxic mite control that works

Friday, June 20th, 2008

See any mites on this rose bush? You can’t in person, either. But you should have seen it a week ago when there were nearly more mites per square inch than plant. I’m trying to get away from using chemicals in the yard, so I did a search online, including our trusty source What’s That Bug?, for non-toxic pest control. What I ended up doing was cobbling together an application based on advice from several sites: equal parts biodegradable dishwashing soap and vegetable oil diluted with about three times the amount of water. We spritzed the heck out of the plants — with me thinking, I confess, that it probably wouldn’t work. Well, it did. Immediately! Our roses and rose-of-sharon plants are mite-free without any damage to the leaves or flowers that we can see. Plus one for green gardening! –Mary T.