Who: Bilt

What: Recycled Milled Steel Planters

Where: Sprout Home – $39.75+

Why We Love It: Bilt has us dreaming of lazy summer afternoons lounging with a cool cocktail in hand—mmm, mimosas, mojitos, coladas, hurricanes–to match the colors of these geometrical planters. Love how they blend the rugged and industrial feel of the exposed seams, imperfect edges, recycled steel, with a light and airy feel courtesy of those candy colors and carefree, intentionally imprecise layers.

Made in the USA from at least 50% recycled milled steel and finished with a varied aged enamel, there are small cracks between the stacked layers which makes for good, so best for outdoor use, a wee bit more maintenance involved for indoor use. Available in a variety of sizes–cubes, low cubes, and rectangles–and colors–yellow, aqua blue, retro green, and orange.

Who: Inhabit – Indianapolis, IN

What: Statement Outdoor Pillows

Where: Inhabit – $45, also available in orange, sunshine, lime & more!

Why We Love It: Always nice to have a little extra inspiration when you are lounging on the sun porch lost in contemplation. These bold graphic pillows share motivational messages from ‘Change the World’ to ‘Why Not Today’ to ‘When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?’ (Answer: last week – tried stand up paddling for the first time!).

Each pillow is handprinted and handmade in the USA using VOC-free water-based inks and 100% certified PET recycled polyester from pop bottles for both the outer fabric and the pillow inserts. Inhabit has done a great job ‘greening’ all aspects of their manufacturing process. The power used in manufacturing is purchased from a local Green Power Initiative that sources electricity from wind mill farms throughout Indiana.

Who: Re:Tread – Cheshire, U.K.

What: Recycled Tyre Planters

Where: Amazon.com – $14.99-$69.99

Why We Love It: Finally a tire suitable to display on your front lawn… Am always somewhat ‘eh’ about upcycled tire products, but these are actually really cool and just the kind of hardworking rugged container to house garden plants and flowers. A lot less fragile than the terra cotta pots that need to come in from the cold every year. Thinking this filled with our old Charlie Brown Christmas Tree from last year would be quite handsome on our front porch.

Re:Tread salvages old beat up tires and inner tubes for their handcrafted modern home accessories (their picture frames are pretty awesome). The frost proof planter is hand crafted from 100% recycled tires for a super strong container that will not rot. Re:Tread also makes some pretty awesome picture frames entirely out of tires. Tire treads vary from piece to piece as does the size, albeit slightly, so you’ll have a unique garden piece. Also great for indoor use as well, a little something unexpected!

Who: PlanetBox – San Rafael, CA

What: PlanetBox Lunchbox

Where: Amazon – $59.95

Why We Love It: We are always on the lookout for lunch boxes that make packing, cleaning, toting and reusing safe and easy, and the PlanetBox delivers. It’s a tv dinner tray meets bento box with a compartmental design based on the general nutritional standards for children. So when packing up your child’s lunch (or your own lunch!), you’ll have plenty of space to pack a healthy, well-balanced lunch. Specifically a good option for picky who don’t like their foods to ‘touch’ where the top and bottom of the lids touch so there is no spillage between compartments.

PlanetBoxes are made from the same high quality food safe stainless steel that’s used in hospitals and commercial kitchens; free of lead, phthalates, and BPA so there is no worry of toxins leaching into your food. The steel itself contains up to 60% recycled content and is 100% recyclable. The collection of coordinating magnets to decorate your PlanetBox are made of a synthetic rubber material, not toxic PVC like most magnets.

Steel and metal sourced from Korea and Japan. Manufactured in Taiwan

Who: Pyrrha – Vancouver, Canada

What: Talisman Wax Seal Necklaces

Where: Pyrrha – $128 – $385

Why: Every since we were little, we’ve been fascinated by wax seals. There’s something so romantic and nostalgic about the process of melting the wax and stamping in your personal seal to secure your note. Such artistry especially in a day and age where the personal handwritten note is such a rarity.

Designers Wade Papin and Danielle Wilmore of Pyrrha were equally inspired by the magic of the wax seal and have collected a variety of wax seals from the 19th century to cast their collection of handcrafted jewelry. Each seal with its own unique meaning. Ours is a picture of the Lark on a tree stump, a symbol of hope, happiness, creativity and renewal which has become our own personal mantra. So many inspiring insignia and messages to choose from, these pendants make for a meaningful and thoughtful gift, even if you are gifting one to yourself.

The pendants are cast using reclaimed sterling silver, bronze or 14k gold celebrating the imperfections in the seals themselves. Each piece is completely handmade so individual pieces will vary – which in a world of mass production, only makes of love them more!

Who: URoads – Italy

What: Men’s Forest Dress Shoes

Where: Endless.com – $150.95 $83.02 in white or silver

Why: Leave it to the Italians to give a total face lift to the concept of an eco-sneak. The main ‘green’ element of U-Road’s collection of ‘metro’ shoes is the sole, or as they call it “recycled souls”. They make theirs from recycled tires some even expose the original treads of the tire. They figure that when most tires get ‘retired’ they have plenty of usable life left in them. So instead of manufacturing soles from virgin materials they reuse what is already readily available. For some of their more refined styles they don’t expose the treads and instead use a mix of reused tires and leather. The leathers they use are tanned with vegetable oils which is much kinder to the environment than traditional methods.

We particularly like this sneaker with it’s subtle nod to the 3 R’s with the obscured “Reduce, reuse, recycle” graphic. And the high gloss gives the extra umph in the sneakers polish setting it apart from dull, flavorless eco-shoes. It’d be right at home on the set of the Social Network..

All of their shoes are expertly crafted by hand in Italy.

Sadly, we think U Roads has closed up shop. We are still trying to get confirmation of their closing. At least you can scoop up what remains of their inventory….

Who: Pharrel + Moncler – Milan, Italy

What: Pharrell Moncler Vest

Where: Moncler Outlet – $206

Why We Love It: We’ve been fans of Pharrel for over a decade now. He is the quintessential renaissance man, a talented artist, musician, producer, writer, a tireless entrepreneur, a consummate trendsetter, an innovator and now you can add eco-designer to the list.

He owns Bionic Yarn where recycled bottles are transformed into fabric, and his recent outerwear collaboration with renowned activewear brand Moncler has launched green design onto a whole new level. Click to continue »

What: Chindi Bench

Where: VivaTerra – $249 $198

Why We Love It: Great bench for an entryway or the end of a bed. The simple modern lines of the bench are perfectly offset by the colorful tapestry of the seat, so it has a rustic yet modern feel. The frame is made from sheesham wood, a fast-growing hardwood and the seat itself is made from tightly woven fabric scraps or chindi as they are called in India. No two are alike.

If you like this style, but don’t need a bench, they’ve also used this same colorful fabric for these pieces: Chindi Mat, Chindi Folding Stool, Chindi Hamper, Chindi Bar Stool and Chindi Folding Chair. Click to continue »

Who: Wabisabi Green – Encinitas, CA

What: Eco-Art Throw Pillows

Where: Wabisabi Green – $45 for cover only, $65 with ecofiber insert & $70 with kapok insert

Why We Love It: Looking for a way to brighten up your home now that the Christmas lights are down? These bold graphic nature-inspired pillows are a great way to bring a little color and a touch of the natural to your home. There over 32 designs divided into three collections, Zen, Leaf and Shore. The Shore Collection, featuring sea urchins, turtles, and starfish in colors in a sea of reds, greys, blues and white, is definitely our favorite.

The pillows are made of a nice medium weight organic cotton canvas that is quite durable so great for a highly trafficked area. The graphics are hand printed using non-toxic water based inks and you can choose from one of two 100% hypoallergenic fill options, ecofiber made from recycled plastic bottles or silky organic kapok fiber sustainably harvested from the rain forest. The pillows are designed and made in the USA.

***BONUS!! Courtesy of Wabisabi Green, you can enter to win one of their Sand Dollar Reusable Bags!! Made of certified organic cotton canvas, this roomy tote is perfect for trips to the grocery store, the library and everyday errands. Enter by January 13, 2011 at 11:59PM EST. Open to US residents only.

To Enter: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to our winner Leah B.!

Note: Wabisabi Green generously donated this bag for our giveaway. We received no payment to feature this product.

Search for more reusable totes.

Who: Littlefly – London, U.K.

What: Vanity Fair Ring

Where: Littlefly – $42

Why We Love It: This is the perfect gift for literature lovers. Lifted from the pages of the classic novel, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, comes this handcrafted ring by British designer Jeremy May. To create each piece, he carefully carves out of block of pages from a book and laminates the sheets together and carved into the shape of a heart. Through the layers, you can catch glimpses of the words of the story captured within.A high gloss finish is applied to achieve the polished look of tumbled stones.

Each piece is then packaged in the book it was carved from. Although a book is sacrificed to create each piece, it is an inventive way to memorialize a favorite book. And the final product is packaged in the pages of the book it was carved from.