News Room : Archives : July 2010

Eco Friendly Clothes Shopping – Verdessence

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

A topic covered often here on The Chic Ecologist are brands and stores which carry eco friendly clothing. Based in Chicago, Verdessence is an on-line retailer opened by Lauren McGinty and Michael McCarthy out of a desire to promote positive change in the world. They were kind enough to send me an item from one of the many eco-friendly brands they carry, a sustainable hoodie by Edun (and no, that is not me in the picture).

Edun is probably best know by its celebrity co-founder, Bono from the band U2. Edun is a socially conscious clothing company launched in spring 2005 by Ali Hewson and Bono with a mission is to create beautiful clothing while fostering sustainable employment in developing areas of the world, particularly Africa.

The hoodie I received was made in Africa (Madagascar to be exact) by sustainable and recycled elements like wool, polyamide, cashmere, and PBT. It has a very modern fitted look and is top notch quality, as I would expect with all the brands Verdessence carries.

I actually initially ordered the Sameunderneath hooded coat (which was brilliant by the way), but I indicated the wrong size. The return/exchange process was very quick and easy making it painless to get a really great item. Verdessence adheres to sustainable values and makes sure that each of their products falls within at least one of the following guidelines:

• Organic – grown without the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers.
• Recycled/Reclaimed/Repurposed – made from existing materials and/or products.
• Natural – made from non-synthetic, non-toxic materials found in nature.
• Sustainable – fabrics or materials made from easily renewable resources.  Some of these include bamboo, Tencel, Modal, and hemp.
• Fair Trade – obtained from sources where fair labor practices are in place, sweat-shop free.
• Handmade – factory free, made without producing toxic fumes and without draining valuable resources.
• Energy Efficient – resulting in a reduction of the energy used for a given energy source

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Eco Friendly Clothes Shopping – Verdessence

Happy Patterns: Cloud 9 Fabrics’ Organic Collections

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

Lately, I’ve been a little sewing and fabric obsessed. I’m not the best seamstress, but I’m capable of simple projects, like making pillows, curtains and cushion covers that are presentable. I had to do all of these in my daughter’s room, and I’ve been working on some other projects around the house that I will reveal soon. To fuel my newfound obsession, I’ve been hunting for more gorgeous, and affordable, eco-friendly fabrics. While I’m not above paying $60-90 a yard for a really special project or a pattern I can’t live without, that kind of pricing isn’t practical for most of my everyday needs. These quilting-weight fabrics from Cloud 9 are just $16.50/yard.

The whimsical patterns and soft colors of their Beyond the Sea collection (shown above) would be appropriate in kid-friendly and adult spaces, and I can already think of a couple ways I’d like to use them. And while their previous collection, My Happy Garden, does feature some sophisticated stripes, overall, it is probably best reserved for a nursery or other child’s space. Of course, there’s no rule against using toadstools and tiny polka dots in grown up spaces, so use them where you see fit

Why It’s Green:

• Made of organic cotton
• Use environmentally responsible, solvent-free inks and dyes for printing
• GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified

Price: $16.50/yard. Available from a variety of online and brick & mortar retailers.

© 2009 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Happy Patterns: Cloud 9 Fabrics’ Organic Collections

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Happy Patterns: Cloud 9 Fabrics’ Organic Collections

Ode to Mode, the Recycling Center I Never Knew I Needed

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

As much as I love to recycle, I have always hated looking at our cheap — and recently cracked — plastic recycling bin, particularly when filled with empty bottles and cans. And so, the bin remained hidden behind the dining table, an inconvenient place once we considered the fact that most of our recycling comes from the kitchen and home office. The bright green recycling bags I received from Kangaroom last year helped a little and were great for paper, but they weren’t the prettiest to look at. They stayed hidden with the other bin, an annoying distance from the kitchen. A few weeks ago I ventured in to TJ Maxx looking for some organic sheets for my daughter’s bed. On my way back to the bedding department, I walked by a huge box that may as well have been glowing, like it was put there especially for me by the recycling angels.

The Mode RCC-500 Recycling Center appeared from out of nowhere to answer my prayers. OK…not really, but that’s the way it felt at the time. To make this great find even better, it was on clearance for $50, marked down from an already low TJ Maxx price of $99. Seriously? $50? Buying it was a no brainer. And in the weeks that we’ve had it, I’ve never regretted that decision.

There are three compartments: A deep one in the back for plastics, glass and cans, and two shallower ones in the front for paper and overflow bottles. The three bins lining these compartments nest inside each other (see these photos) to make it easier to take them all at one time. It also has a clock and timer that you can set to alarm on recycling day. This isn’t very useful for us as it would be for someone who had curbside recycling. We have to take our recycling to the center ourselves, so it would be more useful for us if it would alarm when all the bins are full.

What’s more impressive, though, is that it looks like it belongs in the kitchen. It looks like an appliance, albeit a very large one, so it doesn’t stick out in spite of its size. It helps, of course, that the appliances in our apartment are also black, but Mode’s premium (read: larger and more expensive) unit also comes in a stainless finish. I used to think recycling centers were a waste of money — until I started trying to create a beautiful home around a recycling station that completely defied my powers of creative concealment. I am a person who likes to have a place for everything, and I thrive when surrounded by order and beautiful things, so this is a great solution for our household.

I do have two complaints, though. The paper bin is designed to accommodate newspapers, magazines and other regular-sized paper, but not much else. So when we break down cereal boxes or other food packaging, it’s a pain to try to make them fit. Mode should rethink the size of the paper bin in its next design, taking into account that “paper” recycling also includes cardboard that can tend to be large and irregularly shaped once it is flattened. I also wish the system came equipped with a compacter, which would allow us to fit more items in a smaller space. To be fair though, this feature is included on the larger unit. For the price, we’re really happy with it. I don’t know that I’d cough up the retail price, which is more than 3 times what we paid, but if you have the extra money to spend, I think it would be worth the investment.

Price: $179.99 directly from Mode and from other online retailers. We paid $50 for it on clearance at TJ Maxx.

NOTE: I was not compensated in any way for this post. This is a product I bought with my own money and love enough to share it with you

© 2009 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Ode to Mode, the Recycling Center I Never Knew I Needed

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Ode to Mode, the Recycling Center I Never Knew I Needed

Eco-Friendly Bark Shingles Home Siding

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Thinking about re-siding your home? Take a look at this eco alternative. Just like a trees own weather proofing, these bark shingles insulate, protect, and are virtually maintenance free. It is made up of tulip tree bark waste from timber operations that would otherwise get burned, mulched, or left to rot.

Lasting up to 75 years, renewable, sustainably harvested and containing no chemicals, it is quite possibly the greenest siding on the market today. The textured look only adds to its appearance and acoustic properties, blocking out sounds much like another bark, cork.

Bark shingles are nothing new- dating back millenniums in some societies, it first appeared in 1895 made from American chestnut trees in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Some hand-trimmed slabs of two-inch-thick chestnut bark still exist today, untreated and in their original state in the resort community of Linville, N.C. Chestnut blight wiped out the main source of bark in the early 20th century making the practice all but extinct, but the resurgence of bark shingles today are made from Poplar.

Installation is a bit more complicated and expensive than traditional cedar shingles, so be sure to consult an expert. Check out more examples of building with bark and uses from Barkhouse.com.

 

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Eco-Friendly Bark Shingles Home Siding

Don’t Call It Paint: Bungaloo Zero-VOC Color Liquids

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Once I got the painting bug and started putting some color on our walls, it really made me wonder how I had lived with bare, eggshell walls for so many years. So painting was the first thing my husband and I did before we moved into our new place. We’ve been buying Olympic low-VOC paint because it is so affordable (between $16 and 25 a gallon at Lowe’s depending on finish), but we’ve been looking out for other reasonably-priced brands. When I discovered Bungaloo, I knew I’d stumbled on something new and different.

Bungaloo doesn’t sell paint — they sell zero-VOC “color liquid.” If you ask me, that term is just a marketing gimmick, but it’s a pretty smart gimmick. I was still interested enough to check out their color palettes. They are trying to sell to the younger generation, and as such, the colors can be browsed in a variety of ways, including by decades (think early 80s or late 90s palettes) and by brightness (”fun” or “mellow”), and they’ve even taken their marketing to events like Caltopia and Bonnaroo.

And every appearance at a festival is linked to a social cause. For example, at Caltopia, Bungaloo provided a gigantic canvas and thousands of students painted a tree in shades of green, blue, and yellow. The first 1000 students who participated had a tree planted in their name in a region of the world that is suffering from deforestation.The students received a donation card from www.SeedOurFuture.org, and they could then register online and select where their tree would be planted.

I’ve got to get behind a company that’s thinking of new and creative ways to make eco-friendlier paints — um…color liquids — a part of popular culture.

Why It’s Green:

• Paints contain zero VOCs (both colorant and base are VOC-free)
• Bungaloo uses its marketing to support social causes, including green efforts

Price: $16.95-$27.95 for individual bottles in 40 oz. or 100 oz. volumes; $44.95-119.95 for kits designed to give you everything you need to paint a room

© 2009 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Don’t Call It Paint: Bungaloo Zero-VOC Color Liquids

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Don’t Call It Paint: Bungaloo Zero-VOC Color Liquids