Eco-Friendly & Green Living Blog

Pump up the volume on sustainability – Magno’s AM/FM two-tone Wooden Radios are made with love (of the earth!) and a commitment to building sustainable jobs and forestry in Indonesia.

Based out of the small Indonesian village of Kandangan, the man behind Magno, Singgih S. Kartono, builds sustainable industry through carpentry and craft – the radios are made by farm labourers-cum-craftsmen in communities hit hard by declining agriculture.

Kartono fights for forests by raising community awareness (for example, by starting a tree-planting program with the local high school by making his radios with only locally harvested new-growth wood, and replanting every tree used by Magno).

“As a wood consumer, I feel morally responsible for replacing the wood I’ve used,” Kartono says. “Currently, Kandangan has almost no forest land. The population is about 4,000 people. If we were to employ the whole population of Kandangan, we would abolish unemployment but most important, for every [person] we employ, we’d generate more woods through our forest regeneration programs.”

Pairing retro charm with social and environmental sustainability, these radios are playing my tune!

Available at: www.ministryoftheinterior.net

Price: $235 small (5 x 7.5 x 3.75″), $295 medium (7.5 x 7.5 x 4.25″), $352 large (7.5 x 12.25 x 4.25″)

More Information: www.magno-design.com

Green & Black’s organic chocolate goes Fair Trade and I, for one (crazy chocolate lover that I am), couldn’t be happier! The line will be converted starting this year, and Fair Trade labels will begin popping up early in 2011, with full conversion expected by the end of 2011.

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Put your best foot forward on some eco-friendly floors this year. Here are a few of our faves!

1.  Torlys Recycled Leather Planks

Sleek, elegant and eco-friendly: these leather tiles are available in a variety of colours and textures. Available in tile or plank format, the rich flooring is made of 100% recycled leather with cork backing and is completely VOC free!

Price: $11 per plank Available at: www.torlys.com

2. Recycled Metal Tiles

And now for something completely different: These recycled metal tiles are often used for bathroom and kitchen walls, but also make for a chic surprising new floor accent. Tile sizes range from 2×2 to 12×12 and are available in either 100% recycled aluminum or brass. Colour accent tiles are also available, a great way to add an unexpected and eco-friendly element to home.

Price: $35 US  per sq. ft. (aluminum); $70 US per sq. ft (brass) Available at: www.ecofriendlyflooring.com

3. Olde Wood Limited Reclaimed Wooden Planks

Add centuries of history to your home with reclaimed antique hardwood. Available in wide-plank oak, hickory, maple, pine and more, the wood was salvaged from old American barns dating back to the 19th century, and has a beautiful weathered look. Visit their warehouse to custom-choose planks with markings like saw marks and insect and nail holes.

Price: From $7 US per plank Available at: www.oldewoodltd.com

Presenting some exciting products for your wall-to-wall eco overhaul!

CLD Pure Wallpaper

CLD PURE wallpaper (Carey Lind Designs, Crown Wallpaper) covers your walls with natural, non-PVC product. These stunning, subtle solids and loud patterns are printed using low-VOC water-based inks so you can breathe easy in your own home.

Price: $80–$100 per roll Available at: www.crownwallpaper.ca

Bamboo Wall Flat by Inhabit Living

For a touch of texture, try these bamboo wall flats by Inhabit Living. Made from 100% bamboo pulp with no chemical additives, these tiles are a wonderful way to make your walls pop! They’re also 100% biodegradable. Customize your look with placement (you can rotate, mix and match the tiles) or paint colour (eco-friendly paint, of course).

Price: $86US per box of 10 panels (each panel 18” x 18”) Available at: www.re-modern.com

Milk Paints by Homestead House

Toronto-based Homestead House is all about natural products and cultural heritage – we like! Great for indoor or outdoor use, these milk-based paints are made with natural ingredients and pigments boasting Canadiana names like Voyageur Red and Rideau Blue. They’re 100% biodegradable, durable, and only take about a ½-hour to dry! (We really like!)

Price: $37.00/1 lb Available at: http://homesteadhouse.ca

Cannot say enough about the work that Boomerang Paint is doing!

The Quebec-based company takes unused paint and stain (even the hardened stuff!), reformulates it and repackages it, then sells it in a recyled plastic container. In 2008, the company recycled some 4,000,000 litres of paint.

About 1%  new material is added to ensure good quality re lustre levels (which are low across the brand), viscosity and drying time. The finishes are washable and the alkyds can be used on exterior surfaces, including wood.

The Boomerang paint colour palettes are shown below; the selection, not surprisingly, is somewhat limited, but for a lot of people who are racked with indecision when faced with thousand of paint chips, that will be a total bonus!

Price: approx. $15

Availability: For a retailer near you, click here.

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

Crate & Barrel does houseware basics beautifully, and these bamboo salad bowls are no exception.

Made of pressed natural bamboo grown without fertilizer or pesticides, they’re handmade, foodsafe and waterproof!

Available at: www.crateandbarrel.com

Price: $32.95 US (serving), $9.95 US (individual)

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Not eco so to speak, but my pal on Twitter, @meljones77, found this and it made me laugh so much I had to share it with you all. Sometimes, it pretty much sums up the way I feel…

Not available yet in Canada or even North America, so if you want it really, really badly, you’re going to have to order it from the U.K. My twitter friend found it at www.hunkydoryhome.co.uk, but they don’t ship here, so try the site below.

For more on the original motto, check out this article.

Available at: www.pedlars.co.uk

Price: £8.50

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I’m not generally into room sprays, preferring to just keep things clean and fresh smelling that way, but we work right next door to the Canadian Living Test Kitchen, and sometimes when they’re cooking something fishy, garlicky or overwhelmingly greasy first thing in the morning, it’s all we can do to not flee from our offices.

Smells Life a Flower Shop Body & Room Spray has been a saviour on those occasions.

Made by Canadian company Mythical Matters, this spray is so natural you can use it as a perfume, and it really does smell just like a flower shop – truly evocative, but in a really subtle way, of fresh-cut greenery and beautiful blooms.

It’s made of water, alcohol, witch hazel distillate, aloe vera extract, glycerin and perfume and comes in a recyclable amber glass bottle; a percentage of every sale will be donated to the Toronto Wildlife Centre.

Available at: www.mythicalmatters.com

Price: $24.99 (8 oz.)

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I don’t know about you, but when I travel, I like to carry as little as possible! Since I wear contacts, my toiletry bag is already weighted down with my glasses case and contact solution before adding things like shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, blah, blah, blah….You get the picture.

So I was super excited when I got a press release yesterday about worldPRODUCTS created by Brian Phillips of Toronto’s worldSALON and hairstylist to celebrities like Kim Cattrall, Terrence Howard, k.d. lang, James Marsden, Norah Jones and Jessica Stam.

worldCLEAN, worldPROTECT and worldBELIEVE are products that can be used on both hair and skin and so cut down on the things you need to lug around with you when travelling, plus they have no artificial colours or fragrances, sodium lauryl sulphates or parabens and the packaging is recyclable. All of which made me a happy camper even before trying them out. And when I did try them out, I was impressed.

worldCLEAN is a hair and skin cleanser, worldPROTECT a hair and skin moisturizer, and worldBELIEVE a salve you can use anywhere to relieve skin inflammation, chapping, and cuts and scrapes (and it’s gentle enough for babies!). There’s no fragrance, so that might take some getting used to if you’re accustomed to things that smell. But I loved the fact the products are multiuse (take the worldPROTECT: I used it as a conditioner, dabbed it in my hair as a styling product, and also as a cream on my legs!), plus they do a great job. Who could ask for anything more?

Available at: www.world.ca or worldSALON, 132 Adelaide St. E., Toronto

Price: Limited time offer until Aug. 31, 2009 on the worldPRODUCT trio, $75 (worldCLEAN, 360 mL; worldPROTECT, 360mL; worldBELIEVE, 60mL); bottles can be brought back to the salon and refilled for 20% off (not including limited offer price)

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OK, there are loads of reusable bags on the market, so I’m quite particular about ones I’ll use. They have to be lightweight and not bulky, so I can tuck them easily into my purse. For a long time I’ve been using Envirosax bags for those very reasons, but Flip & Tumble’s 24-7 bags win on both those counts, too!

The colours are lovely (there are lots more), the wide strap is built for comfort, and check out how the bag rolls up into a teeny-tiny ball in this video.

Here’s some info on the bags direct from the Flip & Tumble site:

bag size = 12” x 14″ x 5” = large enough for 3 half gallons [2-litres] of milk and then some

ball size = 3” in diameter = the size of a peach

weight capacity = 25 lbs. = strong enough for a bowling ball or two

material = ripstop nylon

felt patch = keeps the bag on your shoulder

washing instructions = machine wash cold, drip dry

plastic bags spared = 1,000+ [how many bags you can potential save by using a reusuable bag!]

Available at: www.flipandtumble.com

Price: from $7 (US) per bag, depending on how many bags you buy!

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