Pretty Little Green Things

Archive for November, 2010

For me, the holiday season is all about spending quality time with friends & family – not necessarily giving a huge pile of gifts.  And over the last few years I’ve become a bit disheartened with the rampant commercialization of Christmas.  So this year, starting with last week’s Buy Nothing Christmas post, I decided to take back the holidays and return to what makes them so special in the first place.  We’ve covered why this is so important in the first place as well as charitable donations as gift ideas.  So today, on to new topics.  No cost or low cost gift ideas!  All of these take a bit of elbow grease on your part, but what you’ll get in exchange is so much worth it.  I guarantee that if you make an effort to give really meaningful gifts this year, your family & friends will notice and appreciate it.

• Make a winter warm up basket filled with hot chocolate & marshmallows or apple cider & cinnamon sticks plus eco-friendly mug all wrapped up in an organic kitchen towel.
• Go to your local thrift store and get a collection of mismatched tea cups & saucers.  The contrast of shapes, sizes or colors will make the collection unique and beautiful.

Chic handknit scarf from PhylPhil on Etsy

• If you knit, sew or bead, put your creativity to work!  I’ve always found that the hardest part of giving away things I’ve made is that I undervalue them.  Be proud of your accomplishments because your family & friends are!
• Bake – everyone on your list will appreciate a batch of cookies, brownies or pumpkin bread.  Just skip the fruit cake!  Try these cooking blogs for inspiration: Smitten Kitchen and Simply Recipes are two of my favs!
• Dip. Anything. In. Chocolate. (okay only food products that is).

• Try your hand in canning or pickling.  It’s not as hard as you think!  Plus antique looking Bell jars tied with a pretty ribbon make a really nice and long lasting gift.
• Give the gift of time because that’s really what most people want anyway.  Make dinner for your significant other, take a niece or nephew out for a day of fun just the two of you, plan a museum day for a parent…

Cookie mix in a jar from Linaloo

• Cookie mix in a jar. I actually got this once as a gift and thought it was just about the coolest do-it-yourself idea.  What you give is a large jar (find a cool vintage one!) filled with all the dry ingredients needed for cookies.  Write up the recipe directions including the wet ingredients they’ll need to add later.  Add a bow & voila!  Not into just chocolate chip?  Try here for tons of different cookie recipe options.
• And finally from one of my readers, she’s giving reusable shopping bags to encourage her friends & family to make Mother Nature a priority.  Way to be eco conscious in a not at all preachy way!

What about you?  What sorts of eco gifts will you be giving this holiday season?

I’m starting this series of meaningful and creative holiday gift ideas with charitable donations.  What better way to show you really understand someone than by supporting something that’s important to them.  I’ve gathered a list of sixteen pretty amazing green, fair-trade and social causes (I couldn’t narrow down these good causes anymore than that).  There are plenty of other charities out there for just about every interest or cause so if you don’t see something perfect here for someone on your list, do a quick google search for your loved one’s favorite activity.

Green Building/Environmental Causes

• Architecture for Humanity: A non-profit design firm that taps into more than 40,000 professionals willing to lend design services for global projects that most need it.  Their members have done extensive work rebuilding New Orleans as well as projects throughout Africa, India & areas affected by the tsunami of 2004.
• Charity: Water: A non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.  Why donate?  Because one in eight people doesn’t have access to clean water, and that’s a scary fact.  But $20 can provide one person with clean water for 20 years.
• Green for All: This organization is working towards a clean energy economy throughout the United States by partnering with businesses, government & grassroots organizations to increase awareness, create jobs and develop green policies.  Their goal is two fold: to create a healthier environment as well as more domestic jobs.
• Global Green USA: This is the United States arm of Green Cross International.  Their mission is to fight global climate change through green affordable housing initiatives, National Green Schools Initiative, national and regional green building policies, advocacy and education.
• Nature Conservancy: The leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.  Their Plant A Billion Trees campaign is working to bring the Atlantic Forest back from the brink of destruction by planting a billion trees by 2015.  You can help them plant one tree for one dollar.
• Garden Harvest: Has two farms of 105 acres with a goal to alleviate hunger & improve nutrition of this country’s economically disadvantaged citizens.  With only volunteer help, Garden Harvest grows and donates produces to over 100 shelters and food kitchens throughout Maryland.  They also have an education program that trains youth sustainable agriculture procedures.
• Natural Resources Defense Council: The NRDC is an environmental action group with 1.3 million members and a mission to “safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals and the natural systems on which all life depends.”  You can give a membership as a gift to your loved ones.

Microfinance & Social Charities

• Kiva: “Kiva’s mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.”  This microfinance organization was borne out of the belief that impoverished people with an entrepreneurial spirit are highly motivated and just need a bit of help to get started.  As a lender, you can pick a specific business you’d like to give money to and follow them as they grow.  This charity is especially great for kids to teach them the basics of finance and the realities of worldwide poverty.  You will receive your payment back when the loan is repaid, which you can then use to lend to another business.
• Microplace: Similar to Kiva, although your donation is pooled with others, which means that you can’t follow a specific business.  You will, however, earn interest on your loan and then give even more next time around (should you decide to continue donating that is).  Microplace is associated with eBay & Paypal.
• Women’s Microfinance Initiative: Also similar to Kiva, but this charity loans only to women and so far only in Uganda.  They believe that by supporting impoverished women, it’s possible to raise their standard of living and help their entire family rise out of poverty.  Your donation is not returned but after being paid back stays with the organization and continues to work for other women.
• The Girl Effect: I don’t think I could have summed up their mission any better – “If you want to end poverty and help the developing world, the best thing you can do is invest time, energy, and funding into adolescent girls. It’s called the Girl Effect, because girls are uniquely capable of investing in their communities and making the world better.”  I firmly believe that girls in these communities are the future and deserve all the help we can give them.
• NextAid: I may be a bit biased about this NextAid because a good friend has been an integral part of the organization, but I can tell you firsthand what a worthy cause it is.  NextAid’s mission is to ”improve the lives of children, youth, and women in Africa by promoting and implementing sustainable solutions.”  These solutions have included small scale sustainable building projects, community causes, health care education and much more.

Animals & Farms

• Heifer International: This non-profit donates livestock to disadvantaged families throughout the world with a goal to alleviate poverty and hunger by providing self-reliance.  And as most of the livestock produce offspring, it’s truly a gift that keeps on giving.  With your donation, you can sponsor a specific of animal or goal.
• Farm Sanctuary: With farms in both New York & California, Farm Sanctuary works to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.
• World Wildlife Fund: The WWF has been around for more than 45 years and is the world’s leading conservation organization.  They work to protect natural areas and by 2020 will conserve 19 of the world’s most important natural places, such as rain forests, coral reefs & endangered animals.
• North Shore Animal League: They are the world’s largest no-kill companion animal rescue and adoption organization.  Although located in New York, North Shore Animal League rescues animals and provides education throughout the country.  To date they have saved almost one million lives.

I have to admit, I’m always somewhat of a Grinch come Christmastime.  Don’t get me wrong, I love traditions, family, holidays and giving.  But Christmas has just become so overcommercialized and all about how much stuff you got (and you know how I feel about stuff).  There’s so much pressure to have the PERFECT holiday that people lose themselves and what’s really meaningful this season.  I had been going back and forth on whether to put together an eco-friendly holiday gift guide this year and have finally decided against it.  If you read last week’s post on Buy Nothing Christmas, you’ll probably understand why.

Now to be perfectly clear, before you all hate me for ruining the spirit of Christmas, I’m not saying presents and giving aren’t important at all – actually just the opposite.  Giving meaningful gifts to the most important people in your life is absolutely rewarding and a wonderful way to show how much you love them and understand them.  But why give those people a pile of mediocre gifts that will end up collecting dust (or *gasp* end up in a landfill!) when you can give them one perfect gift instead?  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a few untraditional gift ideas to help spark your inspiration & creativity for a truly meaningful and rewarding holiday.  And keep your comments coming on how you’re going to make this year the best yet.  I’ll be including the best ones in some upcoming posts.

But lest you think this post is all me babbling on about gifts and the holidays, I won’t leave you hanging.  I’ve gathered a few of my favorite holiday decor photos to inspire your holiday spirit.  Enjoy!

Gorgeous pinecone Christmas tree via Something Green

And why not hang your pinecones from pretty ribbons rather than the traditional wreath.  Another gorgeous idea from Something Green.

These ridiculously cute twine snowmen were created by David Stark via Design Sponge.  Click here for the complete how-to.

Also from Design Sponge, I’m loving the simplicity of this wreath.

I love this wreath idea.  I never quite know what to do with all the holiday cards we get so I usually end up doing a similar concept above my mantle.  This one is from Amy at ABCD Design.

What holiday decor inspiration would be complete without Martha Stewart.  Here she takes magazine pages and repurposes them into chic Christmas trees spray painted gold.

Also from Martha Stewart, this wreath is made of Christmas lights and doilies.  I’m also thinking it could be a fun project to make with kids by making a bunch of hand cut snowflakes.

Yup, you heard me.  Buy NOTHING for Black Friday.  The day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, is my least favorite day to be out and about.  For me it’s the crowds, the ridiculous consumerism, and the realization that no one really NEEDS any of this stuff.  So when I found the Buy Nothing for Christmas movement as an alternative to Black Friday (and really all of Christmas), in the spirit of Smaller Living, I thought, “I’m in!”

Buy Nothing Christmas was originally started a number of years ago by Canadian Mennonites with a goal to discourage overconsumption and get back to the true meaning of the holidays.  And although grounded in Christian belief, it is, of course, open to everyone.  Realizing that most people are unable to give absolutely no gifts for the holidays, Give Nothing Christmas has tons of ideas online for truly meaningful gifts, such as recipe books of family recipes, baked cookies or homemade calendars.  There are also really cool posters to help spread the word (I’ve shown a few here) and a Facebook page where you can connect with them and other people working towards a more meaningful holiday.

I think this is a truly a refreshing concept for the holidays.  Getting away from a “I must buy the perfect present for everyone on my list” mentality to one of mindful & meaningful gifts for your loved ones is so important – the best things in life aren’t always found in stores.  So with that dear readers, I challenge you this holiday season to stay out of big box retailers and think of creative & amazing ways to give to your family & friends.  I’ll be doing the same right alongside you.  Leave a comment here or on Twitter about how you plan to ‘Buy Nothing’ this holiday season and make it the best one yet.

As an ode to Buy Nothing Christmas, I’ll be doing a few giveaways of eco-friendly items from some of my favorite retailers.  No cost to you, just a thoughtful gift for a few lucky readers.  Stay tuned…

My mom is in town (yay) and we’re all off to my cousins’ house today for another fabulous holiday dinner.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more updates.  Until then have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

If you remember, I wrote a post a few months ago about the Country Living 2010 House of the Year.  The magazine teamed up with New World Home to create an eco-friendly model home open to the public for two weeks.  What I love is that they plopped this pre-fab green showhouse in the middle of the financial district in Manhattan.  Small living amongst tall skyscrapers.  I got a chance to tour the house, but unfortunately they didn’t allow photos to be taken inside, so all I could do is give you a good look of the exterior.  But no longer!  The pictures are finally online so here goes.

I’m a big fan of Farrow & Ball so it was great to see it being used in the Entryway.

Here’s the living room.  As I remember, it was a bit more red than the picture shows.  But I’m loving the contrast of colors.

What a great idea to keep the walls simple & solid and put the wallpaper on the ceiling.

White kitchen, my fav!  And they grey island is super chic.

Even the mudroom is well designed.

This isn’t my favorite wallpaper but I love the use of bold pattern in powder rooms.

What a bright stairway!  And I’m loving the walls full of framed pictures.  This is a great idea to do in your own home.

Master bedroom with four poster bed!

Hello lover… (the walk-in closet that is, not the dress)

Not quite sure how the beadboard would hold up after a particularly splashy bath, but it’s a nice country touch.

Pretty guest bedroom

What a lovely porch.  I can just imagine enjoying summer mornings here with a cup of coffee and the paper.  Maybe I need to get myself a eco-friendly pre-fab home for the country!

Photos from Country Living

It’s not often that I speak with affection about stacking chairs.  I totally understand how useful & necessary they are, but most are SO ugly.  The Belloch Recycling chair from Santa & Cole, however, is different.  Reminiscent of some sort of mash-up of an Eames chair, a Wishbone chair and a Profile chair, its design is sleek, modern and with just the right amount of wood to make it interesting and fun.  But what’s truly remarkable about the Belloch Recycling chair is that it’s, well, recycled.  The plastic body is made of 60% polypropylene from post-consumer plastic waste and the wood legs are made of 40% recycled wood dust from sawmills.  Good design and recycled materials?  I’m sold.

Photos from Santa & Cole

If you saw last week’s post about Cisco Pinedo’s gorgeous home in California, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of his company, Cisco Home.  Their furniture is not only well made and stylish, it’s also eco-friendly!  So when I saw that one of the furnished model units at the W Hollywood Residences was done in partnership with Cisco Home, you can probably guess that I got pretty excited about it.

The whole project is a mixed use building comprising hotel rooms, residences, a restaurant, spa and many other facilities, all operated by the W.  But what’s even more impressive than the legendary first class service from this hotel chain are the eco creds.  The whole building is slated to received LEED Silver for environmental initiatives including: energy & water efficiency, proximity to mass transit, use of local & green materials and more.  In order to show off their commitment to sustainability, W has turned one of the seven model units into an inspiring example of stylish eco-friendly living, designed by econnect grp. and Kelly Van Patter.  I’m loving the mix of luxurious materials and furnishings with bold modern touches – true W style.  Enjoy!

I must find out where that wallpaper comes from.  Love!

Such a nice color scheme.  I’m loving the mix of cool & warm tones.

Hello balcony!  How I wish I had thee… (although c’mon if you’re selling this unit, wait for a nicer day to take the picture.  Or is that smog on the horizon?  Hmm, looks like someone needs some photoshop help.)

Such a bold red wall against the distressed wood.

I am LOVING those wood hooks.  If anyone knows where I can find these, let me know!

Photos from W Hollywood Eco Residences

One of the first posts I wrote on Pretty Little Green Things was about Cisco Brothers.  They’re definitely one of my go-to resources not just for eco-friendly furniture, but for beautiful and stylish pieces as well.  So you can probably guess that the home of Cisco Pinedo, founder of Cisco Brothers, is just as gorgeous as his inventory.  It was featured quite a while ago in Sunset Magazine, but I figured it’s never too late to bring out a chic interior.  What I love the most about the Pinedo house is the airy feeling achieved through open spaces, easy transitions and a neutral color scheme.  You can tell this is a home where the entire family can gather and enjoy being together.

If you missed the post I wrote about Cisco Brothers and their beautiful green furniture, you can take a look here.  Enjoy!

See?  A lovely house for a lovely family.

I love the light flooding their dining room.  I wish you could see more of the view in this picture.  I bet it’s amazing.  Oh and those chairs?  They’re upholstered in cork!

The gorgeous kitchen is made with recycled granite counters and unfinished wood (maybe left over from their workshops?).  This is definitely a kitchen I could cook in!

Two pictures of the bathroom from slightly different angles so you can get a sense of the whole room.  I like the shape of that large shower, which is covered with petrafied wood.  And I’m loving the modern sinks against the natural wood.

The shape of the pool structure is really interesting and unique.  I could definitely hang out here!  I’m just wondering what kind of pool they have.

Here you can see how that pool structure is situated in relation to the house.  I really like how they’ve used white and warm toned woods to make the entire property feel seamless.  Now if I could just get an invitation to see it in person!

Photos from Sunset Magazine & LA Times

I feel like I’ve been running around like crazy since we got back from our trip to SE Asia (the price you pay for a vacation, right?), that I haven’t even gotten a chance to take a look through any of our photos.  But I made a point to look through the pictures of Hong Kong today because I wanted to share a stylish home store we happened upon while wandering the streets of Soho.  Tree is Hong Kong’s first eco-chic furniture boutique, started in 2005 by Nicole Wakley.  I’m loving the clean lines and simple design of their pieces.  Plus their wood is all responsibly sourced – either certified wood from Indonesia or reclaimed wood from the Philippines.  And because they’re located in Hong Kong, this is actually local!

The pictures I took in the store give you a good idea of what Tree does, but make sure to check out their website too for more inspiration.  Enjoy!

Yup, that’s Trove eco-friendly wallpaper behind.  And this is my absolute favorite pattern of theirs.

How cool is this coffee table?  Love!

Eco-friendly Wishbone chairs!

I love the shape of these pendants all hung together.

I have a soft spot in my heart for red home accents.  These side table are just the perfect amount of red.

I love the white side table version as well.