Eco Friendly

The awesome, and oh-so-creative design team at FUZ is lead by Josh Jakus, the California-based industrial designer best known for his shape-shifting UM handbags. I’m a HUGE fan of Fuz and love their unique line of household accessories. In fact, I just purchased the recycled Curly Lamp from them a couple of weeks ago. Love it!

Um Carry Bag

FUZ uses recycled or excess materials whenever possible. Also, FUZ products are designed for efficient manufacturing, achieving the highest yield from standard units of raw material and reducing energy-consuming machine time.

Um Carry Bag

Josh contacted MEH this week to let us know Fuz was running an awesome UM Carry Bag giveaway. We couldn’t be happier to help him spread the Fuz word. Plus, it’s a giveaway, who every passes up on the chance to win something?

Here’s the Deal:

FUZ is giving away a free UM Carry Bag to one lucky Facebook fan. Simply ‘Like’ them on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/page/FUZ/103168463451?v=app_392248091048) and post a comment on their wall: what new product would you like to see FUZ develop next? Post by Sunday July 25, 2010 11:59pm. They will be selecting a winner on Monday July 26. It’s that simple. Good luck!

Let’s face it, a laptop sleeve is an unassuming accessory, easily overlooked, toiling in vagueness.  Functional to a fault, its sole important purpose in the world is to protect your flashy MacBook from the knocks of everyday life. Until now. Enter Looptworks Hoptu, the laptop sleeve that’s doing its part to save more than your shiny laptop. It’s doing its part to save the planet.

Upcycled Wetsuit Laptop Sleeve

Looptworks is a company that takes fabric scraps from clothing factories around the world and makes new, unique clothes out of it. They call it upcycling. We call it awesome. In the case of the Hoptu, it’s upcycled wetsuit neoprene. The inherent cushioning qualities of the nylon neoprene will provide an extra layer of protection for that precious laptop of yours.  The small zippered pockets hold flash drives, business cards or other small items.

The sleeve is available for laptop size 17, 15, 13, 10 and also for the iPad. It  comes in five different colors (depending on size you choose).

Sustainability with style is the mantra used at Merida Home. Their elegant area rugs are a popular choice for eco-friendly homes and green interior-design projects.

Their commitment to sustainability begins with using rapidly renewable materials (e.g. abaca, grasses, jute, paper, sisal and wool) and following eco-friendly design and manufacturing practices. It continues with their efforts to promote the social and economic health of the local communities where their suppliers and manufacturers are based.

Hemp Grass Matte

Merida is a super cool, eco company with tons of hip and green rug choices to choose from. The Hemp Grass Matte is our favorite.

Hempgrass is a rapidly renewable natural material that brings a touch of elegance and unusual texture to any room. The strong, abrasion-resistant yarns effectively repel moisture and are smooth and comfortable to the touch.

Head on over to Merida and check out their eco hip rugs. You won’t be disappointed!

A t-shirt doesn’t have to be just something you wear, with a shirt from SequentialT you can be a part of something awesome and make a difference with your purchase and fashion statement.

SequentialT is helping to make a difference through solidarity, by connecting each customer in a series of individually numbered shirts. Your shirt will be one hundred percent unique, because you’ll be the only one who has your particular number, but you’ll be forever connected in the chain of people who have purchased a SequentialT before you, and with all who buy one after you.

SequentialT is a global unity organization that connects people around the world through an expression of solidarity- that we are all connected in our desire to help others and make our world a better place. Proceeds from the purchase of the t-shirts are donated to causes selected by SequentialT members.

Think of it as a global social experiment- shirts will be worn from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe and from Uruguay to the Maldives. See if you can spot a SequentialT shirt climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, admiring Niagara Falls, or one at trendy Parisian bistro. Each time you see a SequentialT you can note the person’s number – were they an early adopter or did they just get theirs?

SequentialT t-shirts are made from eco-friendly materials and in environmentally friendly factories so you can rest assured that the product you’re wearing has been made in the most socially responsible way possible. It’s the world’s first wearable social network for the betterment of worldwide causes! Pretty cool don’t you think? Let us know what number you are!

Special Coupons:

• A special coupon for $10 off you order. Use coupon code SSAMB2010.

• For the entire month of May SequentialT will be offering 10% off all shirts sold with the US Flag. Use the code: MEMDAY10 to receive your discount.

• Father’s Day is June 20th. Celebrate in style with matching SequentialT shirts. Receive 15% off your purchase by using coupon code FDAY2010.

I have a correction regarding my Paper Culture post from yesterday: I stated that Paper Culture plants a tree for each order placed on Birth Announcement and Baby Showers. However, Paper Culture Plants a Tree on EVERY ORDER in honor of you! Through their Cards to Trees Program, any order placed at Paper Culture will result in you helping grow trees. Head on over HERE to get all the details.

Recycled Glass Lantern's

If you’ve ever been to a garden party with lanterns, you know how much beauty they can add to the scene. These Recycled Glass Lantern’s cast a glow on outdoor or indoor spaces. They’re designed to sit on a flat surface or suspend from a hook. They look beautiful strung from tree branches or across a table. The set of three includes green, coral and clear. Buy them from West Elm ($9.00 – $25.00) and receive free shipping.

As the calendar turns toward summer, Paper Culture, a leader in eco-friendly modern stationery, is helping celebrate by introducing Cards to Trees, a program that promotes American reforestation. Through this program, Paper Culture will plant a tree in honor of you for all orders that you place. Paper Culture is uber committed to a “no new cutting” philosophy.

Every Paper Culture card is printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper that is both FSC Certified (FSC-SECR-2003) and generated with renewable energy. The Card to Trees program takes their commitment to being truly eco conscious to the next level by actually turning stationery into new trees.

Cards to Trees is part of an exciting new partnership between Paper Culture and the Arbor Day Foundation, which for nearly 40 years has inspired people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. Our country’s forests do more than look beautiful; they clean the air we breathe, provide natural wildlife habitats, and their root systems ensure that topsoil runoff does not pollute our nation’s water supplies.

And as if Paper Culture isn’t cool enough, more than 80% of the company’s employees take public transportation or drive hybrid vehicles, helping the company reduce its carbon footprint by conserving resources. Plus, to offset their carbon footprint that they cannot eliminate, Paper Culture is a CarbonFree partner of Carbonfund.org.

Through the Cards to Trees Program, any order placed at Paper Culture will result in you helping grow trees. Try Paper Culture, there are so many amazing card options to choose from. You’ll love them! Get $5 off your first purchase with code: ECOMOD. Or receive FREE Shipping, on $150+ order with code: SHIPFREE.

Similar to Kristen’s experience with SodaStream, I was asked to try out some of the products offered by O’Bon. O’Bon is a purveyor of eco-friendly school and office supplies, offering everything from sugarcane notebooks to pencils made from recycled newspapers. The company was founded on the green principle that the simple products we use daily – like pencils – could be made in a more environmentally-friendly, responsible manner. Given that precept, I had a hunch these were going to be products I most definitely liked. I was sent four separate products:

• The L’Artiste Art Set ($10) – The pencils in this professional art set are made from recycled newspapers and each ones contains a different grade of graphite hardness, ranging from softer to harder.
• 2B Pencil Pack in the Wildlife Series ($5)- Apparently their most popular series, these are also made from recycled newspapers.
• O’BONanza Color Pencil Pack ($6)– Each of these eco-friendly colored pencils features a different corresponding fruit design (e.g. banana for yellow).
• O’BONanza A5 Strawberry Notebook ($5)- This notebook contains 80 pages of O’Bon’s eco-friendly bagasse paper and a cover made from 100% recycled cardstock. On a side note, this happens to be my favorite product of the bunch. Not only is it made of eco-friendly materials, I’m the kind of person that constantly carries a small notebook in her purse (you never know when you’ll need it!) and at approximately 8 by 5 inches, this one fits just perfectly! In addition, it costs only$5, which is just as much as the ordinary (read: boring and ungreen) notebooks you’ll find at the store.

My initial thought when I received the products was, “who knew recycled newspaper could be so…pretty?” The pencils (both the wildlife series and the “fruit” colored pencils) come beautifully packaged (with eco-friendly packaging, of course) and each one has a very distinct, intricate design that features rich and vibrant colors. I can’t imagine any kid (or some adults, for that matter) not being completely enthralled with the vivid designs.

The Wildlife 2B Pencil Pack

For those weary that purchasing green school supplies for the kid is going to blow your budget, take heart! All O’Bon products are reasonably priced. For instance, the wildlife series pencil pack (which contains 10 pencils – each a different animal) is just 5 dollars.

I’m no art aficionado but all the pencils seem high-quality and durable and to my surprise, upon researching the products I found out the newspaper actually protects the graphite of the pencil better than a traditional wood pencil does (this review video explains why…skip to the 1:18 mark). Thus, the pencils will last twice as long as wood ones (which justifies the few extra bucks, doesn’t it?).

O'BONanza Color Pencil Pack

My verdict: I’m a big fan. Needless to say, I’m a supporter of any products that are made and distributed in environmentally- and socially-responsible ways. The (nominal) extra cost of the products – compared to that of conventional office and school supplies – is a small price to pay considering the light footprint they have on the environment during manufacturing. They extend the life cycle of old newspapers and help fight deforestation. Plus, despite living in this digital age, pencils, notebooks and other similar products are far from becoming obsolete (just ask any middle school student). So, why not opt for ones that are good for the planet?

When I decided to begin making the switch from certain conventional foods to organic, I found myself completely confused and overwhelmed at the number of green labels found just at my local supermarket. “All natural,” “fair trade,” “organic”…what does it really all mean? And how in the world was I supposed to tell which were legitimate and which were merely greenwash? Whether you’re a new convert to green living or a seasoned greenie, here’s a little insight to help you make sense of it all.

Make sense of all those green labels amid a sea of greenwash hype.

“Biodegradable” – You probably know what biodegradable means but do you know what it means when the term is placed on a product? There are no formal regulations that regulate the use of the term biodegradable on products and it is up to the manufacturer’s to backup their claims. Furthermore, some products fail to clearly define what exactly is biodegradable (actual materials in the product or the packaging?) and when placed in landfills, certain products take much longer to degrade than expected. Look for products with a “certified biodegradable” label issued by the Scientific Certification Systems. The label indicates at least 70 percent of the product with degrade within 28 days and the remaining product is not detrimental to the environment or wildlife.

“Cage-Free” – The vast majority of hens that produce eggs for sell in the U.S. are confined to small battery cages for the span of their lives – less space than a single 8 x 11 sheet of paper, according to the Humane Society. Poultry products labeled cage-free means the birds are able to walk, spread their wings and lay their eggs in nests without the confines of a cage. While cage-free doesn’t always necessarily denote cruelty-free, it does offer better animal welfare than battery cages.

“Fair Trade” – Found on agricultural goods such as coffee and flowers, the Fair Trade Certified label allows consumers to identify products that originate from farms that have been certified to provide fair pay and safe, humane working conditions (forced child labor is strictly prohibited). Fair Trade Certification is overseen by FLO International, a non-profit organization that develops and reviews fair trade practices, and FLO-CERT, which is the international inspection and certification body for the fair trade certification label. A member of Flo, TransFair USA is the only third-party certifier of fair trade products in the U.S. Given the high standards and independent auditing process, goods that display the label are legitimate, fair trade products.

“Natural” – The term “natural” seems to be everywhere these days but unlike the term “organic,” which is highly regulated, anyone can slap “natural” on virtually anything – from fruit juice to potato chips and everything in between. Be wary of any food product that makes claims to be natural or all-natural; take a peek at the ingredient list to ensure it lives up to the label or look for products certified by the Natural Products Association.

To help you decipher the barrage of labels you’ll find on food, cleaning products, toiletries, paint, and more, check out the Label Lookup app for the iPhone. This handy app – launched by the Natural Resources Defense Council – helps you determine what a particular certification or label on a product means and allows you to distinguish between legitimate certifications and greenwashing propaganda. Another resource worth mentioning is Ecolabelling.org, a site that helps companies use ecolabels and educate consumers on their value.