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: Babyletto – Los Angeles, CA

What: Harlow 3-in-1 Convertible Crib

Where: CSNBaby – $500 $399, & now through August 5, 2011 get a free mattress with purchase!

Why We Love It: Babies spend a lot of their formative years sleeping, so they might as well do it in style. The modern streamlined design features delicately hand-etched decorative panel anchored with a dark wood base (choose navy or espresso). And, particularly for kids who grow like weeds, convertible products are the way to go; multi-use is multi-green in our books! This one converts from a crib to a toddler bed to a day bed, so the little guys can transition to a big kid bed at their own pace.

The bed itself is made from solid fast-growing New Zealand pine sourced from sustainable forests and finished with a non-toxic, finish. It is JPMA certified and lead and phthalate safe. Babyletto also runs a green office obtaining over a quarter of their power from solar panels, recycles 100% of their cardboard waste and has waterless urinals (yikes, but they say it saves up to 40,000 gallons of fresh water every year!).

Who: Gina Michele – New York, NY

What: Whiskey Rock a Roller Bag

Where: Gina|Michele – $198 (also available in vibrant grape suede, on sale for $148)

Why We Love It: Skip black and neutral bags this summer and opt for a pop of tropical ocean, perfect sky blue with this deliciously slouchy tote – it’s pure joy. It’s your something old, something new, something blue, that’s likely to be something borrowed quite frequently….

Crafted entirely from upcycled fabrics – super soft vintage suedes and leathers recovered from old jackets, silks salvaged from vintage shirts – it’s topped off with a hand dyed rope strap for a touch of laid back beach style.

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: Biggs and Featherbelle – Baltimore, MD

What: Coffee Scrub & Lavender Bergamot Body Butter

Where: Biggs and Featherbelle – $14.99 & $9.69

Why We Love It: We were recently introduced to the health conscious body care line Biggs and Featherbelle, and now, waking up with their Sweet Coffee Scrub and Lavendar/Bergamot Body Butter has become part of our daily routine.  Seriously what better way to start the day than with two invigorating, soothing, moisturizing beauty aids made with two of our favorite breakfast components, Coffee and Butter?

Biggs & Featherbelle uses all natural ingredients, free of synthetics, parabens and fragrance oils, to craft their delicious (seriously, we want to eat it) collection of soaps, scrubs and body butters. The aroma of their products are so authentic, so sensual, so natural that they are as much aromatherapy as they are beauty products. Such a richness to their products, you’ll feel spoiled.

The invigorating Coffee Scrub contains Raw Turbinado Sugar, Raw Cane Sugar, Cane Sugar, Coffee Beans, Hazelnut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Sea Salt, Vitamin E & Essential Oil Blend (Balsam of Peru & Vetiver), and although it may give the appearance of scrubbing oneself in dirt, the results are worth it; enlivened, super soft skin and the perfect wake-up for the senses. The sweet smelling, soothing Lavendar and Bergamot Body Butter is so cool, it’s a solid bar, that warms up with the heat from your skin. So, no more messy lotions, this bar just glides over your skin; use more where you need it and less where you don’t. And for all those mom’s to be out there, word is the belly balm is amazing!

“Biggs & Featherbelle was started several years ago by two sisters who began making soaps as Christmas gifts one holiday season. Urged by family and friends to continue with this endeavor, Biggs and Featherbelle was born out of the girls’ desire to use their love of all-natural, safe ingredients, combined with their background in art and design. What came out of it is a line that is not only fresh and fun (with the cutest packaging), but the perfect answer for many types of skin and beauty needs (each bar of soap is designed with a particular skin type/skin situation in mind).”

	One lucky Urban Sherp (US) reader will win a Bigg Gift Box courtesy of the ladies at Bigg & Featherbelle.  Visit Biggs & Featherbelle & then leave a comment here telling US which Bigg Gift Box you would choose if you won (excluding the Mother-to-Be Box).  Bonus Entries: You can receive up to three extra entries by following US on Twitter, liking US on Facebook or subscribing to our newsletter. Leave an additional comment for each! Hurry! This giveaway ended June 15, 2011 at 11:59PM EST. Thanks to all who entered! Open to US & Canadian Residents, 18+. Official Rules.

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: zakka nouveau – Los Angeles, CA

What: Golden Rabbit Tea Towels

Where: zakka nouveau – $22/ea or 3 for $60

Why We Love It: Introducing the new Golden Rabbit tea towel from Los Angeles-based designer Satsuki Shibuya of Zakka Nouveau. Her collection of pre-washed linen tea towels are made in LA and hand screen printed with soy-based inks. Her designs have a old world flare with a modern feel. A fun addition to the kitchen, the bath or the dining table.

Also, watch out for stitch+connect events a limited edition Zakka Nouveau product made from a patchwork of remnant fabrics are sold with 100% of the sales donated to charity.  It’s a great event and a great time to stock up on gifts while supporting a good cause.

Who: Kalon Studios – Los Angeles California

What: Stump

Where: AllModern.com – $85 (See also Trunk – $145)

Why We Love It: So yes, we may have spent the better part of the week removing stumps from our front yard, but now we are ready to put them back in. Well, at least Kalon Studios interpretation of the ‘stump.’

Their nature inspired stools provide a welcome respite for weary bones and bring warmth to your space whether indoors or out. We also think they’d make great side tables too providing extra seating when needed.

The ‘stumps’ are cut from the green wood of a FSC-certified, USA-grown maple and ash resulting in the natural splits that run up the base. It is left untreated, in raw wood form. Each piece is handcrafted by New England craftsmen.

Who: Argington – Brooklyn, NY
What: Sahara Dresser
Where: All Modern Baby – Limited time offer – Buy One Get One Free!!! 2 for $495!!

Why: So perhaps that is excessive use of exclamation points, but this really is a pretty amazing deal. Two modern, quality crafted, eco-friendly dressers for just $495… pretty, pretty, pretty good.

We deeply appreciate the Argington philosophy to make furniture and bedding conscientiously and to minimize its environmental impact. And would like to add their commitment to making functional and fashionable furniture as evident with these dressers. They have clearly thought out the function and lifecycle of the product starting as perhaps a changing table for baby with three convenient drawers. Or for the nursery that is tight on space, simply stack the dressers for more efficient storage. And the design suits kids from 1 to 92 – would even make for a convenient buffet…

The dressers are made from renewable and sustainably harvested solid birch wood and low VOC FSC certified birch plywood. All glues, stains and finishes are HAP free, 100% non-toxic and are low VOC and formaldehyde free. The production facilities where Argington’s furniture is manufactured employs lean manufacturing systems and techniques that reduce waste and energy, making it an energy efficient environment.

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….