Blogs

Aren’t these reusable mesh bags fabulous? Buy a few, take them with you to the grocery store for your produce and never again use those flimsy plastic bags that just get tossed in the garbage later.

They have a drawstring for easy closure, checkout clerks can see what’s in them, and they’re made in Canada of 100% washable cotton. What’s not to love?

Price: from $5 each (small)

Available: check out www.credobags.com for stores and online retailers

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

Matt & Nat, based in Montreal, create amazing vegan purses that will have you thinking twice about buying leather again. The materials include vegan leather (textile with a polyurethane coating) and faux suede made from recycled plastic bottles, and the look is pure style.

The new collection includes the first two purses shown below, but if you’re looking for a bargain (and who isn’t these days?), there’s a ton of stuff on sale on the site, and the Duomo below is one of the sale items – love its pretty pink colour and sassy styling! Product descriptions are as per the Matt & Nat site.

Tracy Marrow: White vegan leather handbag with 100% recycled grey faux suede lining, tone-on-tone stitching, antique silver and black nickel hardware and Matt & Nat logo bar. Features top zipper closure, 2 front external magnetic pockets, and 2 external magnetic pockets on back. Interior features a zip pocket, cell phone and PDA pockets. Price: $250

Hamburg: Pewter vegan leather handbag with light grey faux suede lining, tone-on-tone stitching, antique silver hardware and Matt & Nat logo bar. Features a double zip closure and 2 shoulder or hand held straps. Interior includes a zip pocket, cell phone and PDA pockets and a detachable key chain. Price: $220

Duomo: Magenta vegan leather handbag with tone-on-tone stitching, magenta nylon lining, antique silver and black nickel hardware, and Matt & Nat logo bar. Features top zipper closure, 2 top handles, 1 shoulder strap and 1 external zipper pocket on back. Interior zip pocket, cell phone and PDA pockets, and detachable key chain. Comes with additional detachable shoulder strap. Price: on sale for $129

Available at: www.mattandnat.com and stores across Canada

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

This book from the whimsically named Sheherazade Goldsmith is a wonderful read, covering off all aspects of holiday celebrations. She says, “The book is about having a simpler, more home-spun Christmas….I hope [it] will inspire you to take a different approach to Christmas and spare you the stress of excess consumerism.”

From welcoming your guests with beautiful decorations for the outside of your home to setting up and embellishing your tree, making gifts, cooking for the holidays, and setting your table, Goldsmith has it covered.

The crafts are simple, yet beautiful (templates are included), the recipes yummy-sounding (the Nougat Sweets are ones I absolutely have to try out!), and the eco tips on recycling and composting are sound. Where else can you get such an interesting mix of ideas! Plus, at the back, there’s a directory listing places to find info on green items and services not just in the U.S., which is often the case, but some in Canada, too! Hurrah!

Available at: bookstores across Canada

Price: $28

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

When I saw these bowls at the newly renovated Art Gallery of Ontario shop in Toronto I was just amazed by their beauty – the marriage of rustic log and sleek, sophisticated high-gloss centre is nothing short of visually stunning.

They were designed by the incredibly talented Doha Chebib of Edmonton’s Loyal Loot Collective and come in a huge variety of beautiful colours. They’re made using only locally reclaimed, hand- selected trees; the paint used is water- based acrylic; the sizes range from 2 to 10″ in diameter; and the heights vary.

They’d be a perfect gift for someone who has everything or is on the lookout for something unique. Personally, I’d love to get one – now if only I could decide on a colour!

Available at: Loyal Loot Collective, www.loyalloot.com; Provide, Vancouver, www.providehome.com; Kit Interior Objects, Calgary, www.kitinterior.com; 29 Armstrong, Edmonton, www.29armstrong.com;  Made, Toronto, www.madedesign.ca; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, www.ago.net

Prices: $64 to $290

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

If you’re going to wrap presents this year, buy recycled gift wrap, or even better, choose something that can be reused later, like these mock-croc-top leather-look boxes from Indigo, to put prezzies in.

They come in Chocolate and Red in different sizes perfect to accommodate all sorts of items, and they’ll look fab afterward stacked on bookshelves in living or family rooms, dens and offices.

Available at: Indigo stores across Canada, www.chapters.indigo.ca

Price: From $16.99 (for the second box from the top; the smallest-size box is no longer available)

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

UpCountry releases the Bond Sofa, the first piece in their Green Upholstery Initiative, fast on the heels of the latest Bond pic, Quantum of Solace.

Like Daniel Craig, this sofa is sleek and good-looking, but it’s also Canadian-made and eco-friendly.

• The upholstery fabric is a 100% cotton/bamboo blend available in 5 nature-inspired colours – Slate (shown), Flax, Lynx, Pine and Coffee – created with environmentally low-impact dyes certified by the Organic Materials Institute.

• The primary upholstery foam is soy-based.

• The sofa frame is constructed from a combination of Canadian oak, maple and cherry and engineered wood panels. The engineered  panels are made from recycled fibres and zero VOC, zero formaldehyde glue.

• All glues, stains and finishes are non-toxic, low VOC and water-based where possible.

• The sofa is made the Greater Toronto Area, so if you live here, buying it means a low carbon footprint, since it’s not being shipped long distances.

The next product to be introduced in the initiative will be a daybed sofa in late January ‘09. As well, the soy foam will begin to be used other products and, if the bamboo fabric proves popular, Todd Childerhose, president of UpCountry, says it will be introduced into other ranges, too.

Available at: UpCountry, Toronto, 416-366-7477; Burlington, Ont., 905-333-3088; www.upcountry.com

Price: $1,795

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

Want to save energy but have no clue how to go about it?

Check out the Power Monitor from Black & Decker. It measures real-time energy consumption in dollars and cents so you can see exactly how and where you’re using energy. Turn off a light, unplug that little-used old fridge in the basement, switch off the air conditioner in the summer and watch your savings grow right before your eyes!

The Power Monitor consists of a an easy-to-install sensor you put on your hydro meter outside (works with both traditional and smart meters) and a handheld display monitor inside. You can program basic information from your electricity bill into the system to ensure the projected monthly energy cost accurately reflects the rate you actually pay.

Then, with just the press of a button, you can see your electricity use in real-time, your month-to-date costs, what your estimated bill will be at the end of the month, and the incremental costs of individual electronics. How cool is that!

Available at: Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, Future Shop, Best Buy, Rona and Home Hardware across Canada.

Price: approx. $99.99

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

Thinking of sending Christmas cards this year? If you are, be sure to make them green cards. There are lots out there, but I love the idea of Notes to Nourish.

They’re limited-edition card sets featuring original art by Lower Mainland B.C. artists and designers. Each set consists of four cards printed on chlorine-free 100% recycled, postconsumer waste paper, and money raised from them will go to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society and British Columbia SPCA.

Artists whose work is in Set 1 (shown above, at right) are Sarah Cavanaugh, Jean Lee, Anne Pearce & Robyn Sommerville; in Set 2 (left) it’s that of Chris Allen, Nova Hopkins, Luke Krienke & Kathryn Wright.

Available:

1. Email order@notestonourish.com to order and arrange for pickup
2. Order through www.katwright.ca
3. Pick them up at:
   West Vancouver Museum
   750 17th St.,
   West Vancouver
   604-925-7295
   Tues. to Sat.: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
   Sun. and Mon.: closed

Price: $10 per set

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

Sapadilla, a Vancouver-based company, is rocking the Western Canadian market with their green cleaning products, featuring two essential-oil scents, Rosemary + Peppermint and Grapefruit + Bergamot (my absolute fave — it makes me want to wash dishes and that’s saying something!).

The products boast impressive green credentials since they’re non-toxic, biodegradable and free of the following common chemicals:

• synthetic fragrance or dyes
• petroleum-based solvents
• phosphates
• ethylene Glycol Ethers
• chlorine
• ammonia
• EDTA
• formaldehyde
• parabens

Plus, 1% of all revenues from the products is being donated to 1% For The Planet (www.onepercentfortheplanet.com), which is a network of environmental organizations around the world.

And soon, Sapadilla hopes to spread out across the rest of Canada (keep your fingers crossed!).

For retail info: visit www.sapadilla.com

Prices: $6 (dish soap), $7 (countertop cleanser), $9 (all-purpose cleaner)

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

The winners of the Toothbrush Contest from my Nov. 3 contest post are K. McGlennon, Laurel Radley and Alisa. Congratulations to them all!

To win, entrants had to comment on the best thing they’ve done in their life to make it more eco-friendly and green. All the comments and suggestions were wonderful and a big thank you to everyone who entered. I had a really hard time deciding on just three finalists.

Each winner receives toothbrush set with a Source toothbrush, which has a handle made from 50% recycled wood fibre or flax and 50% post-consumer polypropylene, along with one extra replacement head, one Toothbrush Travel Case and one Silk Floss (each set is valued at $13.85 US ).

To read the winning comments, click here; for a look at the toothbrushes, travel cases, floss and other products, check out Radius’s website.

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!