Eco Friendly Product Guide

Furniture designer Robert Craymer has an eye for detail and contemporary style. His furniture is not only stylish (and would look great in that uptown loft you’ve been eyeing for quite some time), but it is environmentally sound as well! Craymer uses both natural and organic materials when creating his furniture. In addition, metal products (screws, springs) come from recycled steel, and the glue is non-toxic. Even the fabric used is organic; just the way nature intended it to be.

Vivavi.com has The RC Green “Alexander” sofa for sale. In addition, don’t forget to check out RobertCraymer.com. You can get info on all of his wonderful furniture designs, and even keep up with his personal blog, as he riffs on new innovations to his furniture.

Now go update the look of that living room! This sofa typically runs around $4200.

Let’s face it: there’s nothing quite like giving a “green” gift to someone. If you care about the environment and “going green” is your thing, then it’s certainly an easy way to help push your friend (who may not be the greenest of individuals) to be a little more eco-friendly, too, or if you have a friend who is environmentally conscious, it’s an excellent way to commend them for happier living in a cleaner earth. That being said, we all know that sometimes giving eco friendly Christmas gifts can be a bit expensive. However, there’s no need to immediately run to the dollar menu of gifts and stray away from green gift ideas – there’s plenty of stuff out there that can easily tailor to an eco-friendly lifestyle – and for just under $50 as well. Alright. Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s get down to business, and look at some of these items, shall we?

The Kleen Kanteen Water Bottle. As we all know (or you might be aware), thousands upon thousands of little plastic bottles end up in landfills every year, taking years upon years to break down (over a thousand years for a typical water bottle). If you have a friend who drinks a lot of bottled water, this is going to add up to a lot of unnecessary waste. Alleviate that problem by looking into a Kleen Kanteen water bottle. If you purchase this for a friend, they can fill it at home (if filtration is their vice, no worries…just tell them to get a filter for the tap at home, and the problem is solved). Thus, there will be less of a need to buy and use plastic bottles. This way, they are saving themselves money and saving the rest of us (and generations to come) the annoyance of what to do with all of these leftover plastic bottles. It’s a perfect, practical, environmentally friendly gift idea for holiday gifts, birthday gifts, anniversary gifts, or “just because.”

This stainless steel bottle costs $17.99, is made from #304 stainless steel, and holds 27 ounces of fluid.

Recycled Bottle Earrings. Gigglefish gifts is known for selling a decent amount of recycled and eco-friendly gifts. Sometimes, they can get really interesting – certainly a unique way of looking at things. These recycled bottle earrings are a great gift idea, and are sure to turn heads. The earrings were designed by Kathleen Plate, who is the artist and designer behind the Smart Glass company. The earrings run for $40, and the premise is simple – they are made from recycled bottles. These make an excellent Christmas gift for the eco-friendly lifestyle junkie, or even just the person who is fashion conscious. In any case, they are a perfect conversation starter and really unique. This is a green gift, it’s a unique gift, and it’s definitely one that someone may not be expecting under the Christmas tree.

Eco-friendly Cleaning Gift Basket. Stay with me on this – everyone has to buy cleaning supplies (at least I hope so). There’s nothing worse than a filthy apartment, loft, townhouse, or home. Therefore, why not combine cleaning and the love of a healthier planet in one convenient gift basket? Perfect for the holiday season, this cleaning gift basket is $39.99 and features 3 travel size clean well all natural hand sanitizer, 3 biodegradable bamboo cloths, 3 biodegradable euro sponges, and 2 all natural sponges. It’s a perfect way to get a clean start around the house. In addition, the basket itself is even eco-friendly – it’s made of bamboo and comes with 100% recycled KRAFT tissue stuffing. This is a great gift idea for any occasion!

Whatever the reason for the season – Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa – there’s always a search for a gift. At times, it can be looking for that perfect gift that can become troublesome; especially if you are searching for an environmentally friendly gift idea. This is not to say that there aren’t plenty of eco-friendly products, goods, and services available for the season, but sometimes it takes a little bit of searching to find them. However, the searching can pay off in a big way this holiday season, when you give that perfect gift to a friend, family member, or lover and see the delight in their eyes. Lucky for you, we’ve done some of the legwork for you, and found an excellent eco-friendly holiday gift idea:

The Eco-friendly Gift Basket.

There’s no finer eco friendly gift than an eco-friendly gift basket. This gift basket comes with a few environmentally sound goodies: a 27. oz Kleen Kanteen stainless steel reusable water bottle, a set of 4 reusable nylon shopping bags, and a recycled bamboo utensil kit. The water bottle ensues that water can be used over and over and bottles can be kept out of the landfill. It’s an enviro-friendly solution to having those bottles end up there – it sometimes takes up to a thousand years for plastic water bottles to biodegrade. Just say that slowly – a thousand years! The reusable shopping bags have the same effect…they help keep plastic bags out of landfills as well! The recycled bamboo utensil kit is really great as well – it’s made in India, under fair wage standards – thus allowing workers to earn up to three times what they would normally make instead! This gift basket truly is an eco friendly mecca of greatness that just keeps giving and giving.

It’s a perfect pairing of gifts, for only $69.99!

No, you’re not on a cosmic trip. This is actually one in a set of greeting cards available from Aurora Visionary Art that are sensitive to the needs of the environment and give back to the world as well.

The cards are all printed on recycled paper, and the ink used on each card is soy ink. Keep in mind the greatness doesn’t stop there. A portion of all of the proceeds are donated to an organization that feeds children in India through the website Hamsa-Yoga.org. There is commentary on the back of each card describing the imagery and the artist responsible for said imagery.

The cards are available for purchase in a variety of ways, including by the dozen ($36), the half dozen ($18), a gift set ($20), and wholesale ordering if you are looking to purchase a mass quantity of orders.

The wine bottle is commonly welcomed as a gift with open arms at many social events. I’m not going to lie to you, if I see you show up at my door for a dinner party and you’ve got the trusty wine bag in your hand it means you have come bearing gifts…and ultimately, found the key to my heart.

Nubius Organics sells these Vintage Sari Wine Bags by Kismet, which win on many levels: they meet fair trade standards, are recyclable, and reusable. Not to mention, all Kismet products are handmade with eco-friendly items (stuff that is recyclable, vintage, you name it). This means that you also get a unique product each time you purchase one.

Each bag is made from a vintage sari by hand, so you are guaranteed a unique wine bottle bag every time.

In addition, it’s reusable, so you can think up all sorts of clever uses for the bag after the bottle of wine is out. This is one gift people will be ok regifting.

So going for $9.50 each, you get a one-of-a-kind bag that holds a standard bottle of wine, and is good for the environment. I’ll toast to that!

The brown-bag lunch has long been an American staple, from school kids to even the office worker throwing his/her lunch in the fridge at work (commonly also with things such as “Steve’s lunch…DO NOT EAT” written all over it).

In keeping with the green lifestyle, lunchbags should be a simple thing to come by. The Recycled Paper lunch bags from NaturalValue.com are a great alternative to the traditional brown paper lunch.

Take your lunch to work, or send the kids to school with these bags. Doing so will provide a good feeling, knowing that even something as simple as packing up that lunch can be good for the environment. When you are done, you can just toss the bag in the recycle bin and send it back to which it came. It’s the perfect lunchtime scenario, really.

These recycled paper lunch bags are available through Greenfeet.com for only $1.79 per 50 count of bags.

More than just handbag fashion, the Coupe Handbag is made from 100% recycled tire inner-tube.

This product is eco-friendly simply for that reason: it is made entirely of recycled material. What a great idea, turn those old truck inner tubes into a fashion statement! As is any handbag, it’s perfect for holding all of your valuables/products of interest when you hit the town for the evening. In addition, it’s got a bold look to it.

The Coupe costs $115.99, and is another environmentally happy product that you can add to your wardrobe.

I can remember the Simple Shoe Company starting out when I was a kid. We were skaters, and it seemed like a great idea to have another skate shoe on the market. Since then, the Simple Shoe Company has stepped up it’s game considerably. They have come out with the Green Toe Shoe Line, which is very eco-friendly and is a perfect way to keep your wardrobe stylish, while still doing something good for the environment.

One shoe in particular that comes to mind is the Men’s Toemorrow. This stylish shoe is made from washed organic cotton and linen uppers, has bamboo linings, uses water based chemicals, has 100% post consumer recycled paper pulp foot forms, and jute shoe laces!

Lots of information is available on the website relating to Simple’s commitment to creating eco-friendly, green products. Have a look around, chances are there is a shoe that will be exactly what you are looking for.

The shoes are $90 a pair, and come in a variety of colors.

There are other styles offered by simple as well, for both Women and Men.

With more innovations in style, and more uses for recycled bottles comes more interesting products. Combine your love of beer and your love of earrings with these Recycled Bottle Large Hoop Earrings from GiggleFishGifts.com!

They are light weight, and easy to wear, not to mention they look really cool, and are totally unique. Dress to impress is the key…finding products like these ensure you will always be on top of your game.

They are an amber color (yes, from a beer bottle), and are $40…a totally new twist on recycling those bottles at the end of the night, or the next day after a long party.

Recyclables and paper should really go hand in hand. Therefore, when it comes to the Birdbrain Journal Notebook, it’s easy to see how this can be a clear choice for the eco-friendly shopper.

Perfect for keeping your notes, poems, daily tasks or anything you need to jot down in one spot, these 5″ x 7″ pads are so cute and were designed by Carolyn Gavin. These journals are made from 100% post consumer waste recycled paper, and in addition, all glues and inks used are vegetable-based.

They would make a great gift, are made from 100% recyclable material and are totally recyclable, as well. Not a bad find at all.

Buying recycled products helps to close the loop of recycled materials. This recycled material journal will cost you $11, and is available through JournalsandBooks.com.