Part of living an environmentally friendly life includes buying products that are long-lasting so you don't have to continually replace them.

100% linen tea towels are a perfect example. I have a set from my family that is at least 60 years old (unbelievable, I know, but it's true!) and you'd never guess it to look at them. Plus, linen is the perfect material for tea towels, since it's lint-free and fast-drying.

When new, the material is quite crisp and stiff but it softens with age and use. And while it is more expensive than, say, cotton, because it lasts forever it ends up being less expensive in the long-run in terms of monetary and ecological costs and really is an heirloom item that you can hand down to a younger generation.

Canadian company Rawganique's organic linen tea towels are certified organic and sweatshop-free. They come in Ivory, which is whitened with hydrogen peroxide, or Evening Sand Dunes (which is shown in in the background of the picture above and is the natural, unprocessed colour of the linen).