Eco Friendly Product Guide

Instead of just throwing stuff in the garbage, why not make something out of it in which you can store garbage or throw your dirty laundry?

A certain designer was sitting around thinking and came up with this very pertinent question.

I am happy to report that he/she came up with a riveting answer to this conundrum and immediately employed a bunch of disabled and disadvantaged Cambodians to make his/her dream a reality.

The solution? Laundry “bags” and wastepaper “baskets” made out of discarded plastic rice and feed sacks of Eastern origin.

You can like it or lump it but these startling-looking objects are now being manufactured and imported to our dear land so that we can make an environmental statement every time we chuck away a tin can or deposit our dirty jeans in the wash bag … using junk reconstituted and imported from Cambodia.

New junk from old

If you do not mind your place looking like, well, a place where foreign garbage is disposed, then you will probably love these items.

Made from durable fabric used in authentic feed and rice bags (not the other, ersatz type of feed and rice bags) we are told that these containers provide “an unconventional, stylish alternative to standard containers. Handles on the laundry bag make it easy to tote.”

So bear in mind that you will have to tote this laundry bag in public as you wend your way to the laundromat.

If you must have a Rice & Feed Laundry Bag or Wastebasket, then buy one.

VivaTerra will let you have a Laundry Bag for $36 and/or a Wastebasket for $20.

If you are in the catering game, this is an eco-friendly product you might want to consider — dinner plates that you can discard with a clear conscience after use.

Whether these plates end up in the garbage heap or in the compost heap, they will eventually return to the earth. It takes 30 days for them to biodegrade in a commercial composting facility and about 90 days for them to turn to compost in a domestic composter.

You can’t really argue against the manufacturer claim that this is “a far superior alternative to styrofoam and plastic, which is non-degradable, a petroleum product and causes pollution, as well as paper plates made from cutting down trees.”

No more doing the dishes

And this is definitely a product worth considering if you find yourself baulking at the dish washing budget or the act of washing dishes itself.

Each 9″ plate is made of bagasse, the proper name for sugar cane fiber. You can buy the bleached type (white) or the natural-colored plates (pale brown). For some unspecified reason, the unbleached type is slightly smaller at 8 3/4″.

You can order these plates in packs of 20 to 1000s — depending on your requirements.

Order these nifty plates from Ecowise for $11.99 per 50 Pack. Bulk discount: $8.99 per pack for 20 packs or more.

In case you were thinking of having a herb plant growing in a paper bag, the eco-conscious folk at Branch have arranged just that for you. A Herb in a Paper Bag.

No black plastic bag, no molded plastic holder. Just a paper bag with the dang plant growing right in it.

Plus you get to choose from Basil, Lavender, Parsley, Chives, Oregano and Feathery Dill.

These gorgeous little window-sill delights come from Potting Shed Creations, Troy, Idaho. Each bag comprises a plastic-lined Kraft-paper bag, soil, herb seeds, and each bag also includes a few styrofoam packing peanuts for drainage.

Now I do not want to be regarded as a naysayer or a wet blanket but what are plastic linings and styrofoam peanuts doing in an eco-friendly product?

I do not want to alienate or needlessly offend the good people of Troy, Idaho so I will refrain from harsh criticism at this point, but these good folks should pay attention to this matter when next there is a slow period in Troy, which I assume is most of the time.

Each Garden In A Bag is 6″ wide x 7″ tall x 3″ deep — fine for sill or desk.

Order from Branch for $9.00 each.

Remember that old cliché about wine, that you will be “amused by its presumption”? Well, you will be amazed by this wine carrier’s lack of pretension.

In times past if you wanted to take a bottle of wine on a picnic, to a friend’s house or to a restaurant you had to convey it in a chichi little wicker basket or a tooled leather holder. These days you go right ahead and carry it in a raw-looking pocket made of factory waste.

The purveyors of this wine pocket actually try to pitch it to you as “a communion of bottle and wine”. Gosh, This pocket is made from stuff that resembles the felt used under wall-to-wall carpets. Indeed, these pockets are made from “grey industrial wool felt made from factory excess (85% wool and 15% mixed fibers)” according to the blurb.

Bottoms Up

Not just any old creation though, we are told. With a straight face the creators say this super-plain bag is “the result of an exercise in reducing the amount of material and labor required to protect wine during transit”.

It does have one huge positive characteristic. The Wine Pocket stores flat (a great space saver for those endless months when you never take a bottle of wine anywhere) and expands to fit most bottles.

What would you expect to pay for this modest little item measuring 6.5in x 16.5in. and made in the USA? I would expect to pay very little.

Well, Natural Territory is asking $29.00.