Who: Zoë B Organics – Salem, NC

What: Zoë b Beach Toys

Where: Green Rainbow Shop – $22

Why We Love It: Hopefully you’ve still got time to squeeze in one last beach trip before back-to-school chaos descends. If so you’ll likely be packing up all sorts of toys, boards, coolers, towels, games and you’ll likely lose a plastic shovel along the way (we did on our last visit). Instead of worrying (as we are) about whether that little plastic shovel will find its way to the giant plastic island in the sea, slowly poisoning the sea and its precious inhabitants as it biodegrades over hundreds of years; consider an alternative.

Zoë b Organic just created the world’s first biodegradable beach toy and they are quite cool. The colorful 5 piece set includes a bucket/carrying case, a sifting lid with geometric cut-outs, 2 cups, and a sturdy shovel all made out of Mirel™ bioplastic which is made from corn sugar, not petroleum, and is BPA, phthalates and PVC-free, so it’s a safer plastic for your kids. Plus, it will biodegrade when submerged in 2-3 years when buried in soil, immersed in water, home composted, or composted in industrial facilities, a far cry from the 500+ it takes most plastics to biodegrade. And it’s made in the USA, not China!

Who: Blue Lotus – Soquel, CA

What: Blue Lotus Green Bags

Where: Nubius Organics – $5.95-$14.95 in s, m & l

Why We Love It: Now that we – finally! – remember our reusable grocery bags on 9 out of 10 grocery store visits, we’ve turned our attention to eliminating the pesky (and wasteful) produce bags still plaguing us! Low and behold, we found several options for reusable produce bags online. Some of our favorites? Blue Lotus’s organic cotton canvas bags – plain or with some super cute prints (printed with non-toxic, water-based inks, of course…). Ideal for stops at the farmer’s market.

Now we can finally leave the grocery store feeling like we’ve really minimized our impact on the Earth. Pick up a few and stash them in your canvas grocery bags, your backpack, or your purse.

And for those messier produce purchases we really like the mesh bags that Flip & Tumble offer. You can wash and dry your veggies right in them – brilliant.

Who: Nanimarquina – Barcelona, Spain

What: Digit Rug

Where: Spacify – $3909.11

Why We Love It: Designed by graphic artist Cristian Zuzunaga, this bright graphic rug reads like an optical illusion (see also the more muted, monochromatic version). Change your perspective, your proximity or the light of day and you’ll notice different patterns jumping out at you, different groupings of pixels rising to the forefront. It’s really very cool. Cristian has used this same technique of ‘decomposition of color through pixels’ to design sofas, pillows, bedding, wallpaper, scarves, too, and now he can add rugs to the list.

Working with Nanimarquina, a renowned Spanish rug manufacturer devoted to promoting sustainable ethics in production, design and fair labor practices. Many of the rugs are biodegradable and masterly handcrafted using traditional techniques in their Fair Trade facilities in India. The Digit rug is made from hand-knotted wool sourced from New Zealand.

Who: PURE – Surrey, BC Canada

What: Air Hazel Setee

Where: Structured Green – $4100 (shipping included)

Why We Love It: Perfect apartment sized setee. Love the slim lines and lack of bulk without sacrificing comfort. Truly lives up to its name, its pure and simple, streamlined and elegant and an unexpected and refreshing shape with the free from arms. Texture comes from the organic embroidery that adorns the back of the setee.

Designer Ami McKay launched her furniture collection to fill the void of stylish, sustainable and healthy furniture for her clients who were seeking chemical-free eco-friendly home environment. Click to continue »

Who: Merida Home – Boston, MA

What: Rhythm Wool & Paper Rug

Where: Merida Home – $500 – $2800 (depending on size & border selection)

Why We Love ‘Em: Very exciting news – Merida is now selling a selection of their sustainable rugs online, direct to the public making it that much easier to get your hands, or feet rather, on their amazing collection of sustainable floor coverings! And when it comes to the art of rugmaking, the design team at Merida are true pioneers.

They are fearless about exploring innovative materials and techniques to push the envelope in textile design. In this case, they paired richly dyed wool with naturally colored paper fibers to complement the chevron pattern by playing up the contrasts in color, visual depth and texture for a final product that is completely unique.

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Who: Children Inspire Design; Phoenix, AZ

What: Multi Language Number Wall Cards

Where: Children Inspire Design – $19 for a 5×7 set  or $32 for an 8×10 set

Why We Love It: print*pattern*paper has a new name (Children Inspire Design), a new website, and a new collection of prints. The new prints have the same playful, colorful collages we have come to expect from artist Rebecca Peragine, but the new Number Wall Cards let you share the gift of language with your child.  The cards are available in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Swedish, so you can choose a language they know or introduce them to a new one. Click to continue »

Who: Lotus Pad; Somerville, MA

What: Eco Yoga Mats

Where: Lotus Pad – $29-$34, on sale for 20% off through December 24th

Why We Love It: After rolling out our yoga mat and watching our nieces jockey for position under the canopy of our downward dog, we realized they might like their own, kid-sized mat. The hard part was finding one. After hours spent searching for eco-friendly alternatives to the toxic PVC* mats that are so prevalent in yoga studios, we discovered LotusPad.

Lotuspad founder, Katy Downy wanted to share the joy of yoga with her young daughter while reconciling the disconnect she saw between the earth conscious practice of yoga and the toxicity of the mats that most people had underfoot. So, in 2007, she began making her own kid-sized eco yoga mats and has since expanded the collection to include yoga mats for ‘adults, yoga bags and a collection of colorful and locally made mat slings to match.

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Who: Mar Y Sol (formerly Mad Imports); Brooklyn, NY

What: Marielle Clutch

Where: World of Good – $79, available in sunflower/ocean, punch/apple, espresso/natural,  lavender/sunflower & mango/natural

9/10/09 Just found these on sale at Natural Luxe for $65!

Why: You leave the house with everything tucked nice and neat in your smart looking clutch, but then somehow during the course of the day the contents of your purse inexplicable expand to the point of no return? That’s when the Marielle clutch would really come in handy. By night she masquerades as a sleek, yet ample-sized, two-toned clutch, and by day unfolds to reveal a roomy handbag able to contain all of the overflow. Click to continue »

Who: Humble; California

What: Greyhound Pillow

Where: Supermarket; $79 in assorted colors; custom colors upon request; or pillow case only for $34 direct from Humble

Why: California artist Kristie Thinnes draws her inspiration from the sea and her greyhound, Nikki, who is the muse for this abstract graphic pillow. A fun touch of whimsy for the dog lover or for anyone who appreciates a good design and optical illusions.

Designs are handprinted on 100% organic cotton using water based inks.  The high quality vegan fabrics, batting and dyes  are hypo-allergenic, moisture resistant and pesticide free products.  The pillows are stuffed with a very sustainable material called Kapok which is a natural fiber harvested from the seed pods of the Kapok tree grown in the South Pacific and Central America.

$1 of each purchase is donated to the  Coral Reef Alliance.

Looking for an excuse to splurge on Kiehl’s? Well, look no more, here are five:

1) Kiehl’s recycles as part of their Recycle and Be Rewarded program. Simply bring your empty Kiehl’s bottles to any Kiehl store and you’ll be rewarded with free goods.  Bring in 3 empty bottles and you’ll recieve a #1 Lip Balm, 5 empties and you’ll recieve a 2.5 oz travel collection product, 10 empties and you’ll get a free full sized product valued up to $25. Nice to be rewarded for your recycling efforts. Click to continue »