What: USB rechargeable batteries

Features: The numbers are staggering—over fifteen billion batteries are tossed into the trash each year, yet now more than ever, batteries are in demand. From Moxia Energy comes a forward-thinking solution: USBCELLs, batteries that can be charged via a USB port, allowing you to recharge virtually anywhere, without having to rely on a portable charger. Currently available are AA’s, with triple A’s, 9V and cell phone batteries on the way

Green Factor: With proper use, USBCELLs can be charged several hundred times before losing capacity, saving you money and reducing your household waste output! Batteries are sent back to the company (free of charge if you’re in the UK!) for recycling

Bonus: Check their web site – it’s packed with information on the batteries, their various uses, how to recycle them and much more.

Find It Here: USBCELL

What: Ol’ Macs Story Building Barnyard

Features: Imagination rules with this 95-piece barnyard building set from Sprig Toys! Kids will have a blast building their own farm, and creating a fun storyline to go with it

Green Factor: Made out of recycled Sprigwood, a bio-composite material comprised of reclaimed wood bits and recycled plastic. Sprigwood is free of paint, soluble heavy metals, phthalates and endocrine disruptors

Bonus: This toy is 100% battery-free!

Find It Here: Sprig Toys

What: Goodie Boxes

Features: The crowning touch at children’s birthday parties? The goody bags, of course. But more often than not, those bags are filled with cheap, plastic junk from the dollar store that no doubt winds up in a landfill somewhere. Check out this greener alternative: Goodie Boxes!

Green Factor: Each re-usable box is made from recycled cardboard and is printed with soy ink

Bonus: There are several different patterns to choose from and Green Party Goods also carries a great selection of non-toxic, fair trade and earth friendlier goodies to put in your Goodie Boxes

Find It Here: Green Party Goods

What: Paper Loop Greeting Cards

Features: L.A.-based Paper Loop is an eco-friendly, wholesale stationary company that offers up a variety of fun and funky greeting cards for all occasions

Green Factor: Using recycled paper and envelopes, biodegradable sleeves, wind-powered printing and domestic suppliers are ways this company keeps it green

Bonus: Can be found in the US, Canada, the UK, Chile and Japan; will ship via buyer’s preference

Find It Here: Paper Loop

I’ve always been kind of bothered by disposable razors. I mean, you use it a few times and then you just THROW IT AWAY. It’s absurd. What really pushed me over the edge, though, is when my husband tried the free Gillete Fusion we got in the mail and decided he really liked it. Yes, it worked nicely but the replacement cartridge heads? Cost a freaking fortune (around $25 for 8 heads). Shaving had suddenly become not only bad for the environment but ridiculously expensive, as well.

After succumbing to his pleas to buy the overpriced, ungreen foolishness a few times I decided there had to be a better alternative and I started looking at real razors like my dad used to use, also known as double edge safety razors. Usually made of stainless steel, chrome or nickel-plated brass, you use stainless steel blades that are generally inexpensive (and recyclable) and you DON’T need to replace the head or handle at all.

After much research, I settled on one and ordered it for my husband (it came with 100 blades) for $37 and change and guess what? HE LOVES IT. Even better? I love it—no more dull blades, no more throwing the whole thing away and no more buying new razor heads at an average price of $3 per head. And as an added bonus…my legs have never been smoother.

Find It Here: Amazon.com

What: Titi Collection

Features: A fashionable, functional line of clothing made exclusively for nursing mothers—blouses, hoodies and gowns are made from stretch silk and feature a built-in Italian lace bra

Green Factor: Each item is created using salvaged fabric

Bonus: As opposed to factory production, all garments are sewn by a local seamstress

Find It Here: Titi Collection

What: Weebit Hemp Baby Slippers

Features: These snazzy slippers come in a variety of colors and patterns; the tops are adorned with a wee little piggy face made of wool felt

Green Factor: Weebits boast hemp tops lined with organic cotton and sturdy, recycled rubber soles (they used to be car tires!)

Bonus: Fits up to 18 months. Each pair is shipped in a super cool box that look like a truck!

Find It Here: Buy Green

On Our Blog: Disinfectant Overkill

Reason # 386 why recycling is a good thing: outdoor furniture that’s can last a lifetime and? It’s made out of recycled water bottles and plastic containers.

It’s called HDPE (High Density Polyethlene) furniture, and it’s taking the outdoor market by storm. This isn’t your mother’s patio furniture. HDPE is extremely durable–it can withstand the harshest elements without rusting, cracking, splitting or peeling. There’s a huge selection that includes single pieces, entire collections and outdoor accessories, and unlike other more traditional patio sets, this furniture is available in a variety of FUN colors.

And if that sounds good, then check this out: HDPE furniture is super easy to maintain. A quick wipe with a wet cloth or a spray with the hose keeps it clean, and thanks to its rockin’ durability, HDPE furniture holds its own all year round, without having to be covered or stored.

Why waste your hard-earned greenbacks on wimpy, flimsy outdoor furniture that’s only going to wind up in a landfill when you can have HDPE furniture that will last, while soothing your conscience with the fact that it’s durable, as well as recycled?

Find It Here: Premium Poly Patios

On Our Blog:  Bite on This: More Grocery Store Secrets

If I could change one thing about my kitchen, it’d be the countertops – they’re not hideous, but they’re not exactly my style, either—I could really go for something jazzier; something a bit funkier… Enter Vetrazzo, an award-winning company that makes countertops from recycled glass.

Eighty-five per cent of the glass used to create these countertop masterpieces comes from curbside collection programs, though Vetrazzo’s got lines on other types of glass, too: stained and laboratory glass, dinnerware, and old traffic lights (cool!). Their eclectic color palette boasts a wide array of gorgeous surfaces that are made up of specific glass mixtures -for example, Alehouse Amber, a calming blend of rich brown, amber and olive-green glass, comes courtesy of wine and beer bottles. Soda bottles, condiment jars and water bottles make up the Bistro Green palette, whereas Millefiori (my personal fave) highlights leftover bits n’ pieces from one of the world’s largest art glass manufacturing companies.

These stunning countertops are made in Richmond, California, in the same building where Ford Model A’s were first manufactured some seventy-eight years ago. Since Vetrazzo’s taken over, the historic building, which sat vacant for over fifty years, has been transformed in to a green facility where discarded glass is transformed from garbage…to glorious!

Find it Here: Vetrazzo

From Green Toys comes this sweet 15-piece toolset, a must-have for any budding carpenter. Kids can get right to work with the functional box and variety of tools, and will learn along the way because the hand-held tools bear their names on the handles. Not only is it made in the USA of recycled milk jugs— it’s also BPA, phthalate and lead free and is packaged in recycled cardboard without those super-annoying, impossible-to-undo twist ties. In other words, this is a toy that won’t take twenty minutes and a pair of pliers to open. Just open the box and PLAY! Fab green fact:  For every pound of recycled milk jugs used to make the products from Green Toys, enough electricity is saved to run a television for three weeks, and a laptop for four. Wow—plastic you can actually feel NOT bad about buying!

Find It Here: Lavish & Lime

You probably don’t think much about your old t-shirts once they’ve outlived their usefulness as, well, shirts. I know mine generally go to charity and if they’re not even fit for that, I’ve thrown them away. I know. *shameface* But I was recently introduced to to this awesome resource at Hide Your Arms where they have compiled a frillion different ways you can re-fashion and recycle old t-shirts. Seriously, you can make rugs, quilts, tote bags, pet clothes, yoga pants, cloth diapers, wrist warmers, halter tops, toddler dresses and SO MUCH MORE. I challenge you to NOT find something cool to do with your old tees. Now go…get busy. Gift-giving season is right around the corner.

Find it Here: Hide Your Arms

It’s that time of year again…the most wonderful time of the year, if your kids are heading back to the classroom. This fall marks the first year that both of my children are in school full-time, and I’m trying to make a conscious effort to make it a great green year. Here are some ways that we can all keep the earth in mind as we get our kids settled in to school again and throughout the year.

Use the goods you’ve already got – Take stock of what you’ve got at home and can use again (such as clothing, shoes, knapsacks and school supplies) before you buy everything new.

Reusable lunch containers – Instead of sending sandwiches and snacks in plastic baggies, I picked up a couple of sandwich containers, a compact water bottle and several small reusable containers to pack my kids’ lunches with. I’m not only curbing my household waste output this way, I’m saving money by not having to constantly buy plastic baggies. Read the rest of this entry »