What: Coconut Palm Bowls

Features: These brightly colored coconut shell bowls are absolutely delicious! Once the coconut meat and milk is harvested, the shells are cleaned, polished and coated with a food-safe lacquer. Each bowl is uniquely shaped; sets of four come in Mango, Cayenne, Basil Green and Spearmint Blue

Green Factor: Turning coconut shells from by-product waste to pretty dinnerware is a brilliant way to use what would otherwise be sent to the landfill

Bonus: These babies come from a totally renewable, sustainable resource and would make a fabulous wedding gift for your fave green couple!

Find It Here: re:modern

What: Sketchbooks, notebooks, journals and more

Features: Stylin’ sketchbooks from ecojot have sturdy, durable covers and bright, funky designs!

Green Factor: All of ecojot’s wares are made with 100% recycled paper, free of acid and chlorine. They’re decorated with vegetable-based inks, protected by corn-based packaging, and no new trees were cut down to make them

Bonus: Check out their Buy One, We Give One campaign. With a goal to promote literacy in developing countries, ecojot donates a notebook for every sketchbook, journal and jumbo journal sold

Find It Here: Amazon.com

What: Paper Culture modern announcements, cards, stationary and more.

Features: Exclusive announcements, invitations, cards and stationary personalized just for you! With inspiration taken from brands like Kate Spade and Marc Jacobs, each Paper Culture design is fresh and unique, printed on high-quality card stock and backed by a 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee

Green Factor: Paper Culture’s entire catalog is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper that was produced using wind power. Envelopes and packaging are made from recycled material, and best of all? Paper Culture plants a tree for every order they receive!

Bonus: Save time & headaches by using their Mail & Message service–you cover the postage and leave the rest to Paper Culture. They’ll address, stamp and mail your cards on your behalf! Wow! Check their web site for more details.

Find It Here: Paper Culture

Win It: We’ve partnered with Paper Culture to give away THREE $25 voucher codes for the Paper Culture web site to THREE lucky winners!

Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter PC05 as the giveaway name and name two ‘Life Events’ that Paper Culture creates designs for. Giveaway ends 05/31/10; $25 value. Open to US residents only. Official Rules

What: Polar fleece hats

Features: Environmental Studies grad Ryan Williamson runs his business, The Mouse Works, out of his studio in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. His polar fleece winter wear is available in baby, youth and adult sizes and comes in a wide variety of bright colors and funky styles

Green Factor: Ryan’s philosophy is a green one: do all we can to lower the environmental impact of our daily lives. With that in mind, he uses only discarded fleece from factories, ships his products in recyclable material and has seriously reduced his waste output (in 2004, he was able to fit ALL of his business trash in to one paper bag!)

Bonus: Head to the site to see photos of Ryan’s studio, read about his dedication to the environment and check out what else is up for grabs (including fleece overalls and a full-length skirt that has comfort written all over it)

Find It Here: The Mouse Works

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

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

As the old saying goes, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade (or, if you’re like me, you scrap the lemonade all together and mix up a lemon drop cocktail instead). With that thought in mind, if my husband handed me my favorite wool sweaters–sweaters he’d accidentally shrunken–I’d probably struggle to look at things from the lemonade-making point of view. When it happened to Sue Burns, however, she didn’t see a pile of ruined sweaters, but an opportunity instead.

Instead of freaking out on her husband like I would have, Sue put her old sweaters to good use by creating funky, original clothing for children. What started in Sue’s basement as a laundry mishap has since blossomed in to baabaaZuzu, where old wool is given a new lease on life in the form of unique  jackets, vests, purses and other nifty things (like posy pins and Christmas stockings) using 100% recycled wool (and cool vintage buttons, too).   BaabaaZuzu’s recycled wares are quite fetching, albeit a bit pricey, but if you’re in the market for something recycled, handmade and just really cool, it may be worth a few extra Benjamins!

Find It Here: Baabaazuzu

What: Extra soft t-shirts, onesies and thermals for kids (tees for adults, too)

Features: Designs with a vintage southern flair; cool without being too hipster-ish

Green Factor: Southern Brand uses water-based, soy & vegetable inks and offsets the carbon emissions of their shipments through the purchase of carbon offset credits.

Find It Here:  Southern Brand

When I buy Basmati rice, I get it in the big, ten-pound bags that are outfitted with handles, a zippered top and a colourful, festive elephant on the front. When I get home, I dump the rice in a reusable container and save the bag – they’re sturdy and durable, and they’re great for lugging groceries around in.

With that in mind, I love the thinking behind these factory-reject rice bags that have been re-fashioned into fun and funky laptop bags! The Child Health Site has seen the potential these awesome bags have to offer and have come up with a great way to stop the duds from winding up in a landfill somewhere. Why carry your computer around in a dull black bag like everyone else when you can have a bag that’s not only unique and stylish but recycled, as well?

Each bag is hand-held and has two zippered compartments and compared to other options that I’ve seen elsewhere, are reasonably priced at $22.95. They’re made and fairly traded in Thailand, and not only that—with each purchase, The Child Health Site donates 20 cents to The Bamboo Watch Ring, an organization that benefits children who are infected or affected by the HIV virus.

Find It Here: The Child Health Site

What: “Not a Paper Cup” Ceramic Coffee Cup

Features: Double-walled porcelain (keeps it warm longer) and a non-toxic, BPA-free silicone lid

Why: Ideally, you would bring it to coffee places or to work to use instead of using a paper or styrofoam cup

Green Factor: Saves trees, non-toxic

Cool Factor: It doesn’t look like a Thermos

Find It Here:  Organize.com

On Our Blog: Food Inc: The Truth About What We Eat

I have a number of different reusable containers and bags that I use for my kids’ lunches and our snacks on-the-go and generally speaking, I like them all—they work well and do what they’re supposed to do. The reusable bags from Graze Organics, however, are about the cutest things I’ve ever seen! Made from 100% organic cotton with no plastic lining and printed with earth-friendly water-based inks, these adorable bags are festooned with simple but bright and happy food graphics that totally appeal to my inner graphic designer. Additionally, they are machine-washable, made in the USA and sweatshop-free.

Graze Organics’ motto is “because every bag matters” and without getting all lecture-y it’s true. Every plastic bag you DON’T use is one less piece of petroleum-based, hormone-disrupting plastic that will be here long after you’re gone. If everyone utilized reusable bags instead of the millions of plastic ones that are used EVERY SINGLE DAY, the impact would be staggering. Viva la reusables!!

Graze also carries the cutest organic cotton cloth napkins. When you pull one out of your lunch bag, you’ll look all fancy and totally shame the paper napkin users at your table. Wait. Did  just type that out loud? What I meant to say was you will be admired by all for your good taste and eco-friendly ways :)

We’ve partnered with Graze Organics to give away one set of their fabulous reusable bags! Details below.

Find It Here: Graze Organics

Win It: We’re giving away a set of three Graze Organic reusable snack and sandwich bags. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter GR08 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: Name the four different kinds of cloth napkins available from Graze Organics. Enter by 8/27/09. $26 value. Open to US residents. Winner to be notified by email. Contest Closed.

On Our Blog: Food Inc: The Truth About What We Eat

Buying things today is more than just the purchase. It’s about making smart choices—ones that aren’t harmful to the environment and you can feel good about, like buying from companies who are as committed to the earth as they are to their product. Take, for example, Print*Pattern*Paper, a handmade art and textile company that not only believes in environmental responsibility, but practices it, too.

Designer Rebecca Peragine takes the term ‘made from recycled materials’ to heart—all of her original prints are created from scrap materials. They’re packaged in biodegradable materials and Rebecca uses soy ink and recyclable materials and many, of her products are made in the United States using locally-sourced goods. Print*Pattern*Paper chooses to support smaller, local businesses, and donates both their images and designs to raise money for children and families around the world.

From wall art (prints and canvas), number cards, posters, cotton bags and stationery, Print*Pattern*Paper is original and stylish and philanthropic and totally ecoguilt-free—NO compromising required!

Find It Here: Print*Paper*Pattern

Bonus: Mention The Green Mom Review and receive 20% off your next purchase!