Eco-Friendly & Green Living Blog

This unique vase is made of newspaper, believe it or not! Each comes with a removal aluminum vessel in the centre to hold water. This shape is called the Double Belly; other lovely shapes are also available.

What a clever idea from Filipino designer Tes Pasola of Mind Masters, who was recognized for her work by a 2003 Good Design Award in Japan.

Available at: Indigo stores across Canada or email info@hghg.ca for more retailers.

Price: approx. $38

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Really want to know if what you’re buying is the best thing possible? Sure it might be from a company that touts its green values or organic wares, but is it really earth-friendly?

The GoodGuide is an independent organization that has set out to provide “the most comprehensive, credible, and useful information in the world, on products and companies delivered whenever and wherever you need it.”

You can search through some 60,000 personal care and household products that are ranked and use those rankings to decide what to buy. The rankings (10 is the best, 0 is the worst) are based on three areas:

• health performance The impact of a company’s operations on its workers and local communities, and the impact of using a product on your health.
• environmental performance The life-cycle impact of a product, from manufacturing and transportation to use and final disposal.
• social performance Compensation, labour and human rights practices, diversity policies and working conditions.

You can look stuff up on the site, but, really, the best thing to do if you have an iPhone is to get the free app to load on it, so when you’re out shopping, you decide what to do right then and there! The con: the guide is American, so some Canadian products aren’t listed.

Check the site out at: www.goodguide.com

Get the iPhone app at: iTunes

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I find some baby stuff just too cutesy and pallid for words but love the more grownup tones and patterns of the organic cottons quilts from Sewn Natural. Based in Ottawa, Sewn Natural was started when the founder became a grandma. She makes all kinds of baby things – from clothes to toys to bedding – out of cotton, wool, silks, bamboo and organic and upcycled* fabrics wherever possible. You can buy her beautiful crafts on the Etsy website, home to a treasure trove of wonderful handcrafted items from all over Canada and the U.S.

This beautiful Sienna Simmer baby quilt (top) is reversible and made from 100% organic cotton, with organic cotton batting. It’s washable in warm or cool water on the gentle cycle, and measures 31″ x 42″.

Available at: www.sewnnatural.etsy.com

Price: $35

*Upcycling: the practice of taking something disposable and turning it into something of greater value

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Tried out a product I’ve been meaning to for ages and was so happy with it I wished I’d tried it sooner!

It’s the Eco-Me Scrub Cleanser and it’s part of the whole Eco-Me line, which is built around the idea that you mix essential oils with simple ingredients and, voilà, you have effective cleaning products for your home and yourself. For the Cleanser, Eco-Me provides the reusable jar,  single use essential oil blend (tea tree, lavender, rosemary and lemongrass  – an antibacterial and antifungal combo), and microfibre cloth; you provide the baking soda, vinegar and water.

Mixing everything together is hugely fun. If you have kids, this is something you definitely want to do with them – it’s like a magic show/science experiment all rolled into one. Add water, vinegar and oil to the jar, then slowly, I repeat s-l-o-w-l-y, add some baking soda, and watch in amazement as the mixture foams up to the top of the jar in a spectacular fashion. The kids will be amazed and so will you! When everything has simmered down and you’ve stirred up the whole concoction, you’re left with a cleanser that’s ideal for your kitchen and bath.

I used it on my sink, counters and stovetop and it cleaned them all brilliantly and left my sink sparkling. I just had to be sure to rinse everything thoroughly.

Eco-Me sells a whole home kit that includes the scrub cleanser, all-purpose spray cleaner and wood polish spray cleaner. They also offer body- and baby-care products and items for your four-legged family friends, too.

Available at: www.eco-me.com

Price: $8 US; oil refill, $10 US (good for 6 refills)

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Washed with a new natural laundry detergent called Ecos recently, and since my whites turned out white, my darks stayed dark, and my brights were shining  brightly, suffice it to say, I was pretty happy when the laundry was done!

Ecos is a concentrated liquid detergent, one ounce of which will wash a full load of dirty fabrics, and you can use it in front loading and high-efficiency machines. It has a built-in soy-based fabric softener (which works for me, since I don’t used a dryer) and cellulose-based optical brightener (also good for me, since bleach is another no-no).

It’s also phosphate-, petrochemical- and formaldehyde-free, is plant-based, septic and greywater-system safe, 100% biodegradable, has a neutral pH, and the bottle and cap are both recyclable. Whew! That’s a whole lot of green cred goin’ on!

It comes in three scents: Magnolia & Lilies, Lavender, and Lemograss. I tried the Magnolia & Lilies scent, and while I found it very appealing, I also found it a little strong. I think I’ve grown accustomed to other eco-friendly products that are either unscented or quite subtly scented, so to tone it down a little I’d just mix it with some of the company’s Free & Clear Liquid Laundry Detergent (it doesn’t contain any essential oils for fragrance). That way, it would be just perfect for me; others will find it just perfect the way it is!

Available at: www.ecos.com for stores

Price: approx. $18.69/210 oz.

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Could these notebooks by Cartolina be any more appealing? I wrote a couple of posts back that I can’t get enough of stationery and these just feed into that addiction with their fantastically exotic graphics reminiscent of lushly coloured botanical studies.

The notebooks are designed by Fiona Richards out in British Columbia. She spent her childhood with her grandparents in Scotland, surrounded by images of their travels as textile dealers in India, and also was influenced by her uncle’s work as an illustrator.

They’re 100% recycled, measure 4″ by 6″ and come in nine different patterns that are printed using vegetable ink. I love the blue ones pictured above, but also couldn’t resist the red-tone ones, so included the pic of them below.

To have a look at more of Cartolina’s products, click here.

Available at: Buk & Nola, Montreal, www.buknola.com; Pistachio, Toronto, www.epistachio.com; Country Furniture Vancouver, www.countryfurniture.net

Price: $4 each, or $12 for a bundle of 3

FYI: Cartolina also does birthday, thank you and various holiday cards that you can find at www.greetq.com, a U.S. company. You can not only buy a card from them, but have them send it to the recipient, with a personalized message in either the font of your choice or handwritten by a member of the GreetQ staff! How’s that for service when you’re pressed for time? I’m impressed!

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Worried about all the paper you’re using up every time you have a cold and there are tissues littered all over the house?

With Scotties’ new EnviroCare tissues, you’ll still be using paper products, but at least these are 100% recycled ones, Canada’s first!

The tissues come in four box designs, two of which are shown here. There are 152 sheets per box, and the box itself is, of course, recyclable.

Available at: stores across Canada

Price: from $1.25

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I just can’t get enough of fabulous stationery and love journals, paper and cards to the point of obsession.

In particular I love letterpress stationery, which has a 3D effect because the ink is pressed into the paper, and now love Smock stationery, which is based in Syracuse, N.Y.

Its designs have a chic retro flair and are fashioned by Amy Graham Stigler, who was an art historian prior to working at Smock; its papers are pure bamboo – perfect for the letterpress technique, since it’s soft and thick, and, from an ecological point of view, it’s absolutely appealing because it doesn’t need fertilizer or pesticides or as much water as cotton, and it’s incredibly fast growing.

You can get everything from note cards to invitations in all kinds of lovely ready-made designs. Or looking for something more specialized like wedding invitations? Smock will happily handle that, too. They also do gift wrap, which is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper – sheer bliss!!

Have a peek at some of the company’s work below, or check out their website here.

Fun Canadian connection: Smock owners Debbie Urbanski and Harold Kyle named their son Jasper, after the Canadian national park!

Available at: www.smockpaper.com

Canadian eco hair-care brand Live Clean expands its line with a batch of new products, including two hand soaps and two body washes, but also some styling products that I think are really exciting, simply because it’s not that easy to find widely available eco-friendly styling products out there.

The Strong Hold Styling Gel and Firm Hold Styling Spray and Firm Hold Styling Mousse are all paraben- and silicone-free and completely vegan with no animal or animal by-products and the packaging, even the gel tube, is recyclable.

I don’t normally use products like this on my hair, since it has plenty of body on its own, but I did try out the mousse for the fun of it, and was impressed with the added volume and texture it did provide. My sister, Jamie, who has dead straight hair, will be thrilled I’m passing it on to her!

Styling products available at: Shoppers Drug Mart

Price: approx. $6.99 each

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The designers behind Vancouver-based Propellor Design took 120 mismatched old tumblers they’ve been collecting for years and created this stunning light sculpture, the Dram Chandelier, out of what many people would consider junk or trash.

If you’re looking for something to make huge impact in a modern loft space, this would do it – and if you think it must look stunning during the day, just imagine how brilliant it would be at night with all those colours of the different glasses scintillating during the twilight hours!

The piece is approx. 32″ in diameter; for more about Propellor Design, click here.

Available at: Made, Toronto, www.madedesign.ca

Price: $6,000

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