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Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Our landfills are filling up faster than ever, and the garbage problem, is only getting worse. Recycling the obvious cans, bottles, and cardboard are the first step. Beyond that, it’s our job to develop green shopping habits that will help us lead a more sustainable lifestyle. I’ve listed some of the eco-friendly shopping tips that have come in handy for me, as I’ve tried to rethink the way I shop, and develop more sustainable habits in my life.
Tips for eco-smart shopping:
- Try out your local thrift stores. Second hand stores are great, and they’re full of things for you to reuse. I live in a very affluent area of California, and the thrift stores are full of clothes and books that have barely, if ever, been used. Plus they are dirt cheap! I can find the greatest button up shirts and cookbooks at thrift st
ores. I not only get to feel great about reducing my monthly spending, but I get to feel good about buying used products instead of adding to the landfill.
- Give your old stuff to charity. Just as thrift stores are great for finding great stuff, they’re also a more eco-friendly way of getting rid of your stuff. Most charities for the homeless, or lower income families, are always in need of used clothes, books, or toys. This is a great way to give back to the community while reducing your net output.
- Cut back on your purchases. With the economy the way it is, it’s the perfect time to cut down on your purchases. Reducing your “stuff”starts by reducing what you buy, and keeping it down to the essentials. How many times have we found a screaming deal on something at our favorite store, only to watch it sit in our house unused, and wasted? Supply increases with demand, so if we can keep our societal demand low, the supply will decrease as well, leading to less being shoveled into a landfill at the end of the day.
- Buy quality, not quantity. My mother is notorious for purchasing things over, and over, and over again. Instead of buying quality products that will last throughout the years, she buys the cheapest she can find. While I applaud her bargain shopping, if she had purchased the higher quality item for a higher price tag, she probably would have only had to buy it once, reducing her overall cost for the item, and making her shopping more sustainable. How many times do we buy the cheap thing, instead of the quality thing, and end up just repeating the same purchase over and over?
- Buy with the end in mind. When you buy something, really think about the entire life-cycle of your purchase. Where will it end up at the end of it’s life? Is it bio-degradable? Will your use of the product, justify it’s purchase? If we can be smarter about our shopping, we can cut down on our waste and make our lives and our homes more sustainable.
- Use a reusable bag. Most of us know to do this at grocery stores, as it has become more and more mainstream. But before you go patting yourself on the back, think of the last time you went to the mall. Did you bring your reusable bag when you walked into Nordstroms or Macy’s? Probably not. The grocery store isn’t the only place where we can put our reusable bag to use. Retail stores go through hundreds of bags every day\. But what would happen if we all took a reusable bag on our next mall trip? Think of the waste we could eliminate.
These are only a few ways to rethink your way of shopping and green up your habits, but they’ll get you started in the right direction. I’m one of those kinds of people that loves shopping. I love getting new clothes, trying new funky gadgets, and just the joy of getting things. However, as I’ve come to terms with the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle way of life, I’ve realized that my way of doing things is not environmentally friendly, to say the least. All these “things” I end up accumulating just end up getting thrown away most times. I can just think of all the things I’ve thrown away in my life, that I purchased without ever using, or only using once. It’s time to rethink our purchases and green up our shopping trips, one thing at a time.
Living Green Fashion – Woolly Pockets
I’ve been fascinated by green living walls and vertical gardens, but they have always seemed a bit complicated or labor intensive- at least for a small rented apartment. A company called Woolly Pockets has solved that issue, in some very interesting ways- the most bizarre is a mobile version.
Made especially for Lady Gaga this Vagabond handbag was created by Holly Flora and is filled with air plants.
Their Vagabond purse is actually a DIY version, so you are able to fill it with your favorite type of plants and will still keep your personal items dry thanks to a waterproof barrier.
They also make some great small hanging pockets of all sizes so you can hang plants just about anywhere, in any combination. Bring your walls to life literally in just about any space. My favorites are the Wally 3 and Wally 5 pocket which would be best suited for a patio or outer window sill.
Freestanding pockets can replace pots and can be arranged in wonderful border-less patterns or even as a faux green roof. All options are flexible, breathable, and modular gardening containers for both vertical and horizontal applications. The great thing is that they are almost entirely made from industrial felted recycled plastic bottles and made by a pretty green company.
Stylish Sustainable Furniture in Tel Aviv – Ubico Design Studio
With so much trash and waste in the world, it’s great to see individuals like Ori Ben-Zvi turning into something beautiful and useful.
With stylish and thought provoking designs, Ubico Design Studio has been converting reclaimed materials into works of functional art since February of 2008.
Materials are collected from dumpsters, renovations works and the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel with the intention of urban gathering and reclaiming.
Offering sustainable furniture and accessories from recycled materials with environmentally conscious finishes, Our focus is on generating high quality design with good craftsmanship made solely of recycled and reclaimed materials.
High Flying Recycled Retro Furniture
Vintage planes are like vintage automobiles, they have a certain class and distinct style about them. Some people like them, and some people love them. I personally love all the polished aluminum, patterned rivets and sleek forms of the aircraft from the past- back when you used to wear a suit on the plane and they used to fly to places like Havana.
MotoArt brings that feeling right into to your living room, bedroom or office with their vintage aircraft furniture. Sourced from actual pieces of aircraft history, each design incorporates a meticulously cleaned and polished piece of and truly unique vintage plane. More than recycled or reused, these pieces are re-fashioned to accentuate their beauty and design.
Most pieces are modernized into desks, beds and office components- a meld of vintage technology with modern technology into a wondrous work of art. If automotive is more your thing, you may want to check out these vintage car furniture designs.
Valcucine’s 100% Recyclable Kitchen
If you love Italian design and have the money for it, then have i got a kitchen for you! Valcucine has come up with a 100% recyclable kitchen made primarily from Aluminum and Glass, both 100% recyclable materials. Not only that, but the kitchen is extremely durable allowing it to last for years and years bringing to mind all of the 3R’s, Reduce (limited materials and replacements due to its durability), Reuse (so durable, it can be used for years) and Recycle (100% recyclable at its end life).
Featuring a Modern Italian design, the Invitrum by Valcucine features recycled aluminum, mechanical connections (no glue needed!), and easy to clean glass surfaces. Several other designs are also available all boasting a recyclable design and incorporating renewable woods and water based lacquers.
The wooden and glass elements are varnished with water-based varnishes that drastically reduce the emissions of solvents and completely eliminate very cancer-inducing aromatic solvents. All the colorants used do not contain heavy metals, including extremely toxic lead. All glass parts are tempered for very high resistance and safety.
Plyboo Bamboo Plywood and Durapalm Palm Tree Sustainable Flooring
I love bamboo. Its beautiful, its durable, and its a great sustainable and renewable resource, so I am pretty excited about Plyboo by Smith and Fong. Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and available for LEED credit by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), these surfaces and flooring are all about sustainability. Made from FSC certified bamboo and palm, these flooring and paneling alternatives have a beautiful and unique modern but warm look.
Smith & Fong’s Plyboo flooring, plywood and veneer are derived from Moso bamboo harvested from a forest that requires no irrigation, fertilizers or pesticides. Each year, only 20 percent of the plantation’s bamboo (or only the five-year growth) is cut, ensuring the forest canopy remains intact and the ecosystem is not disturbed.
Both the Durapalm and Plyboo flooring, veneer and plywood use a urea formaldehyde-free adhesive called PlybooPure™ and pass the California Air Resources Board (CARB)’s formaldehyde regulations for composite panels. It also earned the world’s first non-wood FSC certification for its bamboo resource in China, providing third-party validation of a truly sustainable industry. Additionally, Smith & Fong retain a relationship with the actual bamboo farmers, to ensure the quality and sustainability of the operation.
Recycled Felt Pillows by diffractionFIBER
I got a great email the other day from Beth of diffractionFIBER, a pillow artist on Etsy. Each of her pillows are hand-made to order and are not only unique and beautiful, but they are also green. The designs are created with a recycled plastic bottle felt, helping to reduce plastic waste.
With several quirky designs, some geek pillows with your control-alt-delete keyboard buttons would look great on any techie couch. At $35.00 for many of her pillows, they won’t break the bank, and you will end up with a one-of-a-kind, unique handmade piece.
ECO Recycled Countertops by Cosentino
Consisting of 75% recycled content from post-industrial or post-consumer materials and held together by an environmentally friendly corn-oil resin, ECO by Cosentino countertops will keep your kitchen green. Similar to the Vetrazzo Recycled Glass Countertops, ECO is made up of recycled glass and mirror, but also includes porcelain, crystallized ash and stone scraps from regulated quarries under strict stewardship programs.
The countertops are produced in an environmentally friendly way as well, with 94% of the water used in manufacturing being recycled, thus minimizing the consumption of a very important resource. All of the minerals used in the production of ECO by Cosentino come from quarries that are fully restored and the manufacturing process is strictly controlled to avoid emissions of any harmful particles into the air.
Green Flooring – Eco-Leader Tile by Refin Ceramiche
Let’s face it keeping up with the “green movement” is not easy especially when replacing your tile floors. However with companies like Refin Ceramiche and new product like Eco-Leader and X-Stone, the search just became a whole lot easier.
Eco-leader is a color-body porcelain tile; manufactured using 40% pre-consumer recycled material. It is this 40% recycle content which enables Eco-Leader to meet the requirements for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, the most important and strict American certification for conservation of energy and the environment.
Although many have tried, Refin is the first Italian factory to create a tile awarded LEED certification. It is this first step–and Refin’s commitment to their mission of becoming a forerunner of environmental policies through conscious consumption and production–which sets them apart from other tile manufacturers.
LiT Lampshades – Promoting Green Home Design
Lampshades are not usually something you think of when designing green, and it is really hard to find environmentally friendly shades. Most shades have a plastic styrene backing which in no way is biodegradable. They are then coated with toxic glue then the fabric. Let’s think what happens when this glue gets hot,….toxic glue….hot light bulb….your baby’s room….hum? None too good for the earth, and on the aesthetic side- most plastic based shades are ugly, thus none too good for your decor.
LiT, a not only local but green designer lampshade company (based in Seattle, Washington), is taking a stand against ugly toxic shades by making their shades earth friendly through careful consideration in the materials used in producing LiTshades. Instead of plastic owner Dawn Bassett uses only paper backing. The backing is laminated using water based, non-toxic adhesive and then the reclaimed, recycled or re-purposed fabrics and papers give the shades their final touch. She also insists on only using natural fiber textiles like silks and cottons.
Dawn makes all her shades by hand, usually sitting quietly or rocking out to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in her shop. Her shades are not mass produced in Vietnam, Indonesia, or China in large crazy factories by little kids for two cents a day.
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Vetrazzo Recycled Glass Countertops
When I think of what impacts me the most in a kitchen, I think of 3 things: Cabinets, appliances and counter tops. Beautiful counter tops can be the crown jewel of your kitchen – an essential focal point that just ties everything together. Granite was the standard for a very long time followed by manufactured stone, then came a ‘greener’ fly-ash concrete alternative, now Vetrazzo just raised the bar with their recycled glass surfaces.
Made with up to 85% glass by weight in a non-resin cement binder, these counter surfaces consist primarily of recycled wine, beer and mineral water bottles processed in California. A smaller portion of the glass is recycled from traffic light lenses, glass windshields, shower doors, architectural window glass, stemware and art glass. One 5 ft. by 9ft. panel of Vetrazzo can recycle up to 1,000 glass bottles.
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