This is simple, modern vase would fit into any decor. It is art itself! A stainless steel sphere rests in each glass tube, attracted by strong
magnets embedded in the base. The vessels move independently and
smoothly in any direction, like flowers stalks in the wind. The base is made from %100 post consumer material, so green green!
Adaptation Magnetic Vase, $92 from lichen-studio.com
I did not know salt could be this fancy, eco-friendly, or sustainable. Why is this HimalaSalt cube so cool? You grate the salt into a super fine powder akin to
powdered sugar, and create a fine dusting over all sorts of dishes, including
and even desserts.
"The flavor of the salt really blossoms when you grate it, you get to taste the sweet, salty, all the subtle nuances of the essential trace elements... this is what salt is supposed to taste like... no tongue burning here."
• Kosher Passover Certified
• Made by 100% wind and solar energy)
• All Natural, Unrefined, No Additives
• Hand-Harvested from a Protected Source
• Contains whole essential trace elements
• Pristine, unlike sea salt from today's polluted oceans
• 5% of the profits go to the environment!
It is really pretty and would be a great gift to yourself or any foodie or aspiring gourmand.
Artisan Carved HimalaSalt Zen Cube with Italian Stainless
Grater, $16.00 @ sustainablesourcing.com
TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: For every pair you
purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for
One. I LOVE this. I also super dig these shoes. They are modeled after Argentine alpargatas, Tom made them from a cheap throw away shoe, into a sturdy, comfy and well made shoe. There are TOMS Shoe evangelists. There are inexpensive, seemingly sold everywhere, including ONLINE! They also make wee TOMS shoes! weeee!
Big Blue Dot TOMS, $44.00 @ TOMShoes.com
Pacifica Solid Perfume may be the perfect fragrance. Vegan, not tested on animals, and without nasty sulfates, petroleum products, parabens, phthalates, or artificial color. The tins are recyclable and completely portable- smaller than a compact! Even the package is made with recycled materials.
Oh, and the fragrances are so lovely. Lotus Garden, Bali Lime Papaya, Tuscan Blood Orange, and many more- they change with the season and are always rich and fresh. At $9 (!) get a bunch and smell happy!
Pacifica Solid Perfumes $9 @Sephora.com or at In Watermelon Sugar, Baltimore, MD
How is that I've never talked about Burt's Bees here before?
I mean, everybody knows that Burt's Bees products are awesome. And that's regardless of whether you worry about toxins and other yuck in the products that you put on your or your baby's skin or whether you care about buying products from companies that care about the environement - which you do, I know - because their products are just good. Yummy even.
Their lip products are my favorite. I'm a longtime fan of their lip sheers and lip glosses and, now, their tinted replenishing lip balm. With pomegranate oil. It makes your lips feel soft and smooth and there's just a hint of pomegranatey color and it tastes good and mmmm... Am licking my lips just thinking about it, which is bad, I know, but still. Mmmm...
Unless Maybelline starts infusing their lip products with essence of pure chocolate, I may never buy another lipstick again.
Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm, $4.49 @ Burt's Bees
Your geekier guests will get a kick out of this subtle greeting. New York designer Peter Woudt, founder of design firm 212-BIG-BOLT, created this homage to the essential key. He even went the extra step of making it Earth-friendly by making it with recycled rubber. Of course, your only worry will be making sure that your visitors actually come into your home and don't just jump down to the next line.
Recycled Rubber Doormat "Enter" Key, $30 at Kikkerland
There are two things that make this mug awesome: 1) it's made from corn (seriously. CORN. Corn plastic. Which means that it's biodegradable, that it doesn't break when you drop it, and that it is guaranteed to make you giggle at least once a day. "Could you pour that right into my CORN HOLE please?" *snicker*) and 2) it says "reading is sexy," which is totally true and totally worth repeating to, like, everybody.
(CORN HOLE. *snicker*)
(Am twelve.)
Reading Is Sexy Corn Mug,$12.00 @ Buy Olympia
Ever wonder what's in the shampoo you and your family uses, and if any of the ingredients might be, ohh, a little less than safe? Or have you found yourself wondering if the running shoes you're thinking about buying are made using sweatshop labor? Or how any number of products you use every day may be impacting the environment?
Enter GoodGuide.
GoodGuide provides the world's largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home.
Though still in Beta, the site looks incredibly promising. Browse products from kids toys to perfume, or search for specific products you already use, and find out how they scored in the areas of health, environmental, and social performance. You may never buy that toothpaste again!
You can also create a personalized shopping list of products you deem Worthy using GoodGuide's tools, so you don't forget all the great information when you leave the site. Check it out!
I am still on the hunt for light fixtures to modern up the house. Those white coloured ones that look like boobies are so pedestrian (yet lovely enough and inexpensive). The change over to cooler light fixtures will take time, since they are pricier, but there are some incredible ones out there. I LOVE this one by Propeller Design made with reclaimed wood and the twig is the pull switch!
Galiano Slim Pendant Light, $260.00 @ propellor.ca and supermarkethq.com
My daughter, like me, is a terrible sleeper. That, and she's sensitive to dust and other household allergens, and also to pretty much any variation in temperature. Put her to bed on a regular mattress with a regular, Ikea-variety kid's blanket in a room containing any number of dust bunnies and add a draft from the window or excessive levels of humidity or dryness in the air and she'll toss and turn, coughing and whimpering, until she wakes up in the middle of the night shouting MOMMY I CAN'T SLEEP. It's a bit frustrating, because, you know, if you can get a three year old to go to sleep in the first place, you will give anything in the world for her to just please stay asleep oh god please stay asleep PLEASE.
So we've tried all different kinds of sheets and mattress pads and blankets and nothing was working until Natura - a company that I'd speaking to about sponsoring part of my trip to the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston this weekend - said oh, hey, why don't you try some of our products and then sent me some bedding for the girl (along with some crib bedding for the boy, which is another story-with-a-happy-ending entirely) and guess what? It was, like, magic, for serious. Her first night with Natura's hypoallergenic, organic and body-temperature-adapting mattress pad, pillow and quilt? She did not wake up at all. You hear that? SHE DID NOT WAKE UP AT ALL. And now we're nearly a week on using the Natura bedding in her bed, and every night of that weeks has been a full night of sleep for her. A perfect, peaceful night of sleep.
Which, you know, would be awesome to have for myself, too, but seeing as the baby still resists even the most intoxicatingly sleep-inducing bedding in favor of boob and so keeps me up, such luxuries would be wasted on me. For now. But when he starts sleeping through the night, I am going celebrate by buying myself a full King-sized set of Natura bedding and I am going LOVE IT.
(And, for the record: yes, I happily and proudly agreed to work with them as sponsors. A company that promotes - effectively! - eco-consciousness AND sleep? HEAVEN-SENT.)
Natura bedding, prices vary @ NaturaWorld
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