I’m always perusing blogs and various sites in search for new inspiration.  I recently stumbled upon a fabulous home improvement blog called This Young House.  It’s written by a twenty~something couple who take their readers on their home improvement adventures and it’s now one of my must~reads.  I love how they’ve entirely renovated their home and their decorating style is cool and casual.  I’ve found tons of easy and affordable decorating tips and green living inspiration, including this How To Make Your Windows Look Huge instructional that involves raising your curtain bar and adding matchstick blinds made from bamboo, how to Pimp Your Laundry Room and how to Add Easy Breezy Style To Any Room (with these type of matchstick blinds).  They even share their green living tips like how to make your own compost bin.  Check it out and let me know what you think! 

Image credit: www.thisyounghouse.com 

Weekend wear is about comfort and taking a break from your work week wardrobe.  This unstuffy outfit is lowkey - perfect for meeting a friend at the corner cafe for coffee (or green tea) or strolling through farmer’s market.  I’m an advocate of saving on tops and splurging on bottoms.  A good well-designed, high quality pant can make all the difference.  This 100% bamboo Jezebelle pant from deux FM has a metallic sheen that dresses up a look in an instant.  Pair these with an inexpensive tee and strappy sandals for a J.Crew-esque look or dress them up with ballet flats and a tailored top for the office. 

He’s been referred to as the “Green Martha Stewart” and there are undoubtedly some similarities.  A celebrity eco-stylist, best-selling author, and official Green Living Partner for JCPenny, Danny Seo doesn’t think style has to take a backseat when it comes to being a conscious consumer. 

After two years in development, Danny Seo in partnership with boom!, the company responsible for numerous successful beauty brands launches (like Bath & Body Works, Philosophy, Hard Candy, Fendi and Nautica amongst others), will launch wholearth Bath & Body.  The line will consist of a Certified Organic Cinnamon & Oat Face Scrub, Certified Organic Body Wash and body lotion, Natural Body Souffle, Natural Bamboo Body Scrub and Wash,  Natural Body and Linen Mist and a 100% Certified Organic Fragrance; all made using only pure organic extracts and essential nutrients and oils. Prices will range from $25-50 and will be available at specialty stores worldwide.

“All of us want to live greener, healthier lives today, but it can be so confusing to determine what’s truly eco-friendly when it comes to bath and beauty products,” says Danny. “When I buy products for myself, I want the very best products that not only use the highest quality natural and organic ingredients, but package them beautifully in post-consumer recycled packaging. It should be green from the inside, out.”

It’s exciting to see new organic beauty brands pop up, but we should all be slow to jump on a bandwagon until we can get our hands on the ingredients.  I definitely like he’s using the word “certified” in conjunction with “organic”.  Here’s hoping!

These Taklon brushes are completely soft and makeup glides on oh-so-smoothly with them.  I had to buy these myself to see what all the fuss was about since they’ve received rave reviews from natural to conventional beauties alike.   I’m absolutely loving the long (sustainable) bamboo handles and the totally affordable price tag!  Plus 1% of annual EcoTools sales is donated to 1% For The Planet. I’m currently using the blush brush and eyeshadow brush to apply my latest favorite mineral makeup (free of talc and bismuth oxychloride).  Pick both of them up for less than $20 and see for yourself.  Gentle on your skin and your wallet! 

I have been in love with Simple Toepaz Slip-Ons for a while, but I am especially loving the Forget Me Not blue color scheme right now. With a dainty blue and brown scalloped pattern and a brown “rubbahyde rand”, this sturdy yet feminine slip-on is a great shoe for early Fall. Imagine pairing this with some jeans and a lightweight sweater for those nights when you finally start feeling a little chill in the air - perfect! The great thing about these shoes is that there’s more to love than just their looks - they’ve got soul too.

Simple has been known for their commitment to sustainable practices for some time now. They describe themselves as “your stereotypical, anti-stereotype brand offering good shoes and a big dose of reality.” The Green Toe line of Simple Shoes is light years ahead of most other shoe companies in the area of sustainability - making sure every material in their shoes is earth-friendly. The Toepaz Forget Me Not is made of hemp uppers, bamboo lining inside, a recycled car tire for the outsole and a comfy latex footbed. All of these sustainable, animal product-free materials are held together by water-based cements to ensure that no one is harmed by the making of these shoes.

So if you’re looking for ways to reduce your environmental impact, why not start by looking at your feet? We all need to wear shoes, and if we can start making smart choices when it comes to our footwear, we can not only look cute but we can feel proud of ourselves too. As long as Simple can keep making sustainable look adorable, I will be coveting their shoes.

Summer offers an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies and I am a lover of salad, but not just your run-of-the-mill lettuce, tomato & carrot salad.  I like to load mine up with a ton of delicious and nutritious flavors, colors & shapes.  Something so important during these budget-crunching times is to know when you should buy organic.  The Environmental Working Group released a list, based on USDA studies, with the most to least pesticides found in produce to help consumers know what is more important to spend our money on.  It’s definitely best to buy organic whenever possible, but we don’t always have the option or the cash flow, so here are the top 5 “best & worst”: 

 Most Pesticides Found (in order)

1). Peaches (highest pesticide load!)
2). Apples
3). Sweet Bell Peppers
4). Celery
5). Nectarines

Top 5 Least Pesticides Found

1). Mango
2). Pineapples
3). Sweet Corn
4). Avocado
5). Onions (lowest pesticide load)

With this in mind, I’ll share with you one of my favorite salads.  Feel free to take this to your 4th of July bash this weekend…it’s sure to be a hit!  (Remember to buy local whenever possible…hit your local Farmer’s Market for some good deals on fresh finds):

California Summer Salad

1 head organic red leaf lettuce 

1 organic orange bell pepper

1 organic yellow bell pepper 

3 organic red tomatoes on the vine (according to the FDA, the ones on the vine weren’t found to contain salmonella and okay to eat)

1 cup snap peas (cut in half with ends snipped off)

1.5 cups shredded purple cabbage

1 cup organic shredded carrots

1/4 cup toasted slivered organic almonds

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 organic avocados (sliced & served on the side so it doesn’t get mashed in the bowl with everything else)

Balsamic Vinegarette Dressing

1 cup Organic Olive Oil

1/2 cup Organic Balsamic Vinegar

3 organic garlic cloves (mashed in a garlic press)

2 Tbls. Organic dried basil

*Wisk together; add salt & pepper to taste.  

Serve in a beautiful bamboo salad bowl:

Simple Shoes is, as they say, “a nice little shoe company” and I couldn’t agree more!  Their Green Toe line is perfect for summer and are made out of sustainable materials.  You won’t find an animal by-products (leather) in the bunch, but what you will find is a 100% post-consumer paper pulp footbed, hemp, certified organic cotton, bamboo and jute uppers and recycled car tires for the soles sealed together with water-based cements.  And they’ll ship them to your eco-self in a post-consumer recycled box. 

 The womens ‘Toepaz’ is perfect for pairing with that summer dress, jeans or shorts and great for travel.  I have to wear slip-ons when I travel (on a plane) so that I can smoothly & gracefully make it through the security line.  I have enough stuff to shove back in my carry-on; I don’t want to worry about lacing shoes or zipping boots.  (These are also great to throw in your beach tote!)  The Men’s ‘U.F. Toe’  flip-flop is great at the beach, lounging at the pool, taking on vacation or just about anywhere. 

Bamboo is not a tree. In fact, it is a giant grass. And just like the grass on a lawn, when bamboo is cut it’s root system is unharmed, healthy and regenerative. Best of all, bamboo has the ability to grow to maturity in 4-6 years while hardwoods take decades to achieve maturity. Once cut, most hardwoods are left lifeless. Whereas after bamboo is cut, it is able to grow again and again.

Bamboo makes a great fabric alternative to conventional cotton. Besides being amazingly soft to the touch, bamboo is also naturally anti-microbial, which means the fabric actually prevents bacteria from growing on it, resulting in clothing that remains odor-free longer than other fabrics . . . meaning less trips to the dry cleaner, which is always a major plus for the planet and your wallet!

Bamboo as a fabric is not completely virtuous. The process of converting bamboo into a soft fiber requires harmful chemicals and energy intensive machinery. BUT bamboo growth does not require any pesticides, which in the end makes it a better alternative to conventional cotton.

Bamboo flooring seen here is an excellent alternative to conventional wood flooring, because using bamboo in place of wood prevents further exploitation of world’s already dwindling timber resources.

In addition to bamboo, cork is an excellent alternative to wood flooring. An amazingly versatile, cork” is so flexible, light, and impermeable that it can be used for everything from bottle stoppers to buoys to insulators. Cork is even used in musical instruments!

Cork is completely sustainable and easily recyclable because it comes directly form the outer bark of the cork oak tree. Therefore, it negates the need to cut down trees, allowing trees to continue releasing oxygen.

Cork is especially great for floors because t’s softer and more buoyant than hardwood. Acting as a cushioning pad, it is an excellent choice for those areas—kitchens and workrooms—requiring you stay on your feet.

Roll of cork flooring. Credit: ArtConcepts Store.

Of all the wood flooring choices available, bamboo is considered the most environmentally friendly. Bamboo is not only highly sustainable—a renewable resource that grows with little water—but also using bamboo avoids using the world’s already dwindling timber resources.

Bamboo is not a tree. In fact, it is a giant grass. And just like the grass on a lawn, when bamboo is cut it’s root system is unharmed, healthy and regenerative. Best of all, bamboo has the ability to grow to maturity in 4-6 years while hardwoods take decades to achieve maturity. Once cut, most hardwoods are left lifeless. Whereas after bamboo is cut, it is able to grow again and again.

An image of carbonized bamboo flooring.