What: Tube Cabinet Pulls & Rail Cabinet Pulls

Where: Boston Decorative Hardware – Tube $80 for 6″ handle, sizes range up to 18″; Rail $41-$250 depending on size. Or call for a local retailer near you.

Why We Love It: Recently, we were on a mission to find eco-friendly hardware for a kitchen renovation and had a hard time finding a ‘green’ option. Luckily we stumbled upon Rocky Mountain Hardware at GreenBuild. They’ve got an immense collection of bronze hardware from faucets to house numbers (love these!) to latches to cabinet hardware to door hardware. Their designs have an old world charm with a modern sophistication. Great for a kitchen or bath or home that skirts the old and new.

We were amazed at the variety of finishes that can be achieve in bronze; white bronze, silicon bronze, medium patinas, brushed patinas… And all of their products contain a minimum of 90% recycled material.

Rocky Mountain Hardware is a family owned and operated business committed to developing sustainable business practices by continuing to improve their products, facilities and processes and reducing their impact on the environment. All of their products are made in Idaho.

What: Jonc De Mer Carafe

Where: Conran USA – $42

Why We Love It: We’ve been spending some time up on the coast and can feel our design aesthetic pulling towards the carefree rustic stylings of a seaside escape. Imagining light filled rooms in creams and whites with sun-bleached floors and where garlands of seashells and driftwood don’t look out of place. And this recycled glass Jonc De Mer carafe would be right at home.

The bulbous shape is reminiscent of glass float buoys and the woven reed cover adds to the nautical flare. Great for indoor or outdoor entertaining filled with wine, bubbly, water…

recycled glass

Who:

What: Names & Notes Napkin Rings

Where: Make Designed Objects -  On sale for $55.96 (20% off list price)

Why We Love It: These chalkboard napkin rings double as name cards and make setting the table a lot more fun. The set includes 4 rings, a white slate pencil and a natural sponge eraser. Use the pencil to jot  down your dinner mates names,  to post menu items or for personalized messages, notes or jokes.

The set is handmade using locally sourced and untreated maple with a light coat of environmentally friendly lacquer. Names & Notes was designed by Cologne-based industrial designer Jörg Gätjens for the Side by Side workshop. The workshop is pretty remarkable, employing over 120 physically and mentally disabled adults to produce their collection of high-quality, designer products for the home.

For a more economical set, see these unfinished wood napkin rings – 8 for $10. Or these cool Oval Olive Wood Napkin Rings

Who:

What: ReUsable Sandwich Bags

Where: ReSnackIt – snack size – $7.99, sandwich size – $9.99 (Buy 3 or more ReSnackIts and receive 10% off)

Why We Love It: If we are going to change the way we consume, it helps to start with kids. We’ve seen 4 year olds reach for their reusable bottles and reusable snack bags, and they’ll certainly be reaching for them if they are as fun and brightly colored as the reusable snack and sandwich bags from ReSnackIt. With bags like these, who needs Ziplok? Not only do they help reduce waste being trucked to landfills (think about it, approximately 20 million plastic baggies are thrown away in US schools every week, every week! That’s insanity!), but they also keep harmful chemicals like lead, phthalates, BPAs and PVCs away from our food.

The outside of ReSnackIt bags including the trim are made from 100% cotton and the inner lining is made from a lead free, phthalate free, BPA free, PVC (vinyl) free, non-dyed nylon. The nylon lining also helps to keep bread and snacks fresh without drying them out. The Velcro closure is adjustable so it can accommodate various sized snacks. There are two types of fabric, a heavy canvas and a more basic cotton – the ones pictured are the heavy canvas as are the plain colored baggies. The colors and fabric choices are great for kids and grown-ups.

The bags are easy to clean, just rinse and dry or for heavy cleaning, turn them inside out and toss in the washing machine - not the dishwasher

Who:

What: Cutting Boards

Where: Contact Bill direct to purchase (wsmith(at)wwswoodworks(dot)com), limited availability – $70

Why We Love It: Pictures do not do these cutting boards justice. We spotted them at CraftBoston and were captivated by the bold geometric design and the inherent beauty of  the wood itself. The cutting boards pictured are hand-crafted from natural maple and a contrasting mahogany, but are made from whatever wood scraps land on the cutting room floor. 

Furniture maker, William Smith,  salvages off-cuts from his furniture projects (check out the stunning Iris Coffee Table) and meticulously clamps the angled pieces together to create this seamless and vibrant pattern. He collects the mahogany scraps from a furniture maker who shares his work space. Will refuses to work with mahogany until it climbs its way off of the endangered species list. The furniture industry’s lust for mahogany is in large part responsible for why this elegant wood landed on the endangered species list in the first place.

Shop Kitchen Products @ HomeClick.com

See these eco-friendly cutting boards:

Who:

What: reusable snack pouches

Where: etsy – small $12, large $16 or a combo for $28. Spend $40 or more & receive a free
reusable produce bag!

Why We Love It: These are the cutest pouches ever! Amy’s adorably sweet illustrations make these reusable cloth bags so endearing that even the most devoted zip-lock bag users might just convert.

Choose from chickadees, bunnies, owls, pandas, trains, planes,  apples and pears, anchors in a variety of colors all silk-screened onto fabric made of recycled organic cotton and hemp. They are lined with waterproof nylon which makes cleaning a breeze.

And the beauty of these pouches is that when you open them up and roll down the velcro closure, you’ve got a nice little stand up “dish” to enjoy your treats from.

Who:

What: Wood Salt & Pepper Shakers

Where: On sale at guffly for a limited time for $44.99; Regular price $48 at NIMLI

Why We Love It: If only we could have a different set for everyday of the week than this would definitely be our Monday set… Simple, modern, and lovely, these two perfectly polished orbs are quite the pair. We like that they aren’t identical and that they look good on their own with or without a meal being served…

The shakers are handmade in Brooklyn and are made of excess wood from furniture manufacturing. The pepper shaker is made from reclaimed walnut and the salt shaker is made from reclaimed poplar and finished with a white low-VOC milk paint. The stoppers made from natural cork. The manufacturing process utilizes renewable and alternative energy sources while creating minimal waste and sourcing materials as locally as possible.

“Live well, live right” is Domestic Aesthetic’s philosophy. Founded by Diane Ruengsom, Domestic Aesthetic’s mission is to offer consumers affordable home products that adhere to environmentally and socially responsible standards. Not only are Diane’s products affordable and responsible, they are beautiful little works of art for your home.

Who: Dinah Coops; Seattle, WA

What: Tablemats & Coasters

Where: Dinah Coops -  Tablemats – $35;  Coasters – $12

Why: Looking for a fun and sustainable way to dress up your table? Try these simple, modern and colorful designs from Dinah Coops. She hand silk screens each one with her signature combination of organic images and whimsical doodles. Fun to mix and match colors and prints for an artfully inspired table setting, that would look equally at home on your walls.

And the canvas for this table art is none other than Paperstone, the same material we coveted for our kitchen countertops.

Paperstone is made from post-consumer recycled paper and a petroleum-free resin (which makes it recyclable) and is an FSC, Smartwood and Rainforest Alliance-certified material.

Dinah transfers her images onto the Paperstone squares and then seals them with a protective coating of water-based polyurethane and silicone and backed with a thin layer of cork. These make great trivets too as they can rated up to temperatures of 350 degrees.

Related Articles: Paperstone Cutting Boards | Green Guides: Paperstone Countertops

Who:

What: Linen ‘T’ Towel

Where: Etsy – $21

Why We Love ‘Em: We are complete suckers for typography and have an inexplicable penchant for tea towels, so it was no wonder that this sweet tongue-in-cheek ‘t’ towel caught our eye.  With its collection of hand drawn rendering of ‘t’s in font types Garamond, Hoefler, Kevlar, Mrs Eaves and Caslon… Love this for a kitchen paired with the red ‘t’ towel.

We also loving having fun tea towels like this handy for last minute housewarming gifts or thank yous – simply laying the towel in a basket and filling with homemade goodies for a sweet treat.

Each towel is handmade and screen printed on 100% linen using water based and eco-friendly dyes. Packaging is is kept to a minimum and includes biodegradable or recyclable products where possible (paper and cellophane).

What: Eco-Me Natural Home Cleaning Kit

Where: Natural Luxe – on sale for $23.40 & get an additional 15% off with coupon code Sherp15 through December 31st.

Why We Love It: Our New Year’s resolution this year? To give up all of the toxic cleaners lingering under our sink. Cleaners that are considered hazardous waste when we throw them away, but that we previously used to wipe down our countertops and clean our sinks…. Thankfully Eco-Me has come to the rescue to help us rid our homes of these toxins with their easy to use starter kit and makes the task much less daunting.

The Eco-Me Natural Home Cleaning Kit comes complete with all the tools you need to make your own chemical free All-Purpose Spray Cleaner (for bath & kitchen), Wood Polish Spray (for wood furniture, cabinets & floors) and Scrub Cleanser (for bathtubs, tiles, sinks & toilets). All you need to do is follow the simple instructions on the back of each bottle and add some baking soda and vinegar. It also includes a bottle Eco-Me’s 100% natural mix of essential oils -  tea tree, lavender, lemongrass and rosemary – for a sweet smelling, all-natural clean.

So now you’re cleaning routine will be good for the planet, good for you and your family (no more toxic fumes in the home), good for your wallet and gives back; Eco-Me donates up to 10% of sales back to charitable organizations such as The Breast Cancer Fund, the National Resources Defense Council and NEADS.

Related Articles: Eco-Monster Onsie & Friend

	One lucky Urban Sherp reader will win the Eco-Me Natural Home Cleaning Kit. To enter leave, visit Natural Luxe & then leave a comment here telling US which item from their collection you would like to receive  for the New Year. Hurry! This giveaway ends December 30, 2009 at 11:59PM EST. One entry per person. Open to US & Canadian Residents. Official Rules.