Wearing Trash? 10 Recycled Jewelry Designs That Demand Attention
March 13, 2009
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Recycled jewelry by Wired
“One man’s trash is another woman’s treasure” – especially when that trash is made into jewelry! Recycled jewelry is popping up everywhere, and the materials used to create it is just as amazing as the jewelry itself. From industrial trash thrown away in Chicago to bicycle inner tubes in Holland, recycled jewelry is eco-chic, handmade, and planet-friendly
Futuristic Green Transit: 10 Vehicles for 2010
November 11, 2008
Want to green your ride, but can’t afford a Tesla? That’s okay… there are plenty of cool (if not quite so flashy) new transportation options coming down the pike that will cost you less than $100,000. Some of ‘em you can even build yourself.
Read more
No more paper or plastic – 5 Great DIY ideas for Reusable Shopping Bags
October 14, 2008
So you are going green on a budget, or just want a bag that makes more of a statement than the branded shopping bag from your local store? Reusable shopping bags are an eco-friendly solution to a growing waste problem. Each year, 38 billion plastic bags are thrown away in the US alone. Only a tiny percentage of these bags are recycled – the rest:
- Make their way to the ocean and kill thousands of marine creatures each year.
- Some float through the air, endangering birds and littering the streets.
- Others sit in landfills and decompose, contaminating the water, soil, and food supply with harmful micro-toxins.
It costs more to recycle a plastic bag than it does to make a new one. Photo by TimParkinson
Plastic bags also increase our dependency on nonrenewable oil – the material polyethylene is derived from oil and is used to manufacture bags. Some grocery chains are doing their part by offering a green alternative to disposable shopping bags at checkout lines while others have decided to add a fee for the use of bags to encourage shoppers to bring their own tote. A number of areas are banning plastic shopping bags completely.
How to Make Your Own Reusable Shopping Bag
Handmade eco-friendly bags make wonderful shopping companions and are just as much fun to make! Some are extremely simple – perfect kid-friendly crafts – while other shopping bag patterns are more time-consuming and require a little skill. From recycling harmful plastic bags to reusing old clothing, these do-it-yourself ideas are as eco friendly as they are creative.
Green shopping bags are stronger and roomier than their harmful disposable counterparts, not to mention much better looking. Be sure to make a few for friends and family too – consuming fewer bags saves oil, saves animals, and improves the landscape as well.
Make a Tee-Bag
A great use for your favorite old tshirt. Photo via WildOnion
This reusable shopping bag pattern is so easy a child could make it – in fact, the 10 year old behind Tee Bags contributed the simple steps needed to make your own eco friendly bag from a t-shirt!
A Rogan Gregory Exclusive
Show your eco-fashion sense with this unique bag design by Rogan Gregory. Photo via TeenVogue
A fashionable crocheted tunic can create a one of a kind reusable shopping bag that looks chic and sophisticated, even when its brimming with your favorite fruits and veggies. While this pattern is a bit more involved than the tee-bag above, its stylishness makes the extra effort worthwhile. Visit TeenVougue to learn how to make your own Rogan Gregory eco tote
Reuse Colorful Sheets to Make a Unique Shopping Bag
Turn your old curtains, sheets, and blankets into creative Morsbags. Photo by notsogoodphotography
Morsbags have taken homemade reusable shopping bags to a whole new level. Not only are these eco friendly bags easy to make, they cost next to nothing! Best of all, Morsbags encourages us to spread the environmental love by forming a pod and donating bags throughout the community.
Another Way to Reuse Your Favorite Tee
T-shirts make durable shopping bags that are easy to clean. Photo by Quartermane
Another way to reuse your old t-shirts, this green shopping bag pattern includes pocket designs to make your tote more functional. Durable straps and a fold-over flap add to the appeal; rescuing old t-shirts from the garbage makes it even better!
Reusable Totes Made From Recycled Bags
Colorful, intriguing, super strong, and removes up to 100 plastic bags from the waste stream per tote! Photo by Natalia Trico
Crocheted shopping bags typically expand easier than cloth totes. This pattern offers even more elasticity and is stronger than 50 plastic shopping bags. Turning plastic bags into recycled yarn is a tedious process, but the eco friendly shopping bags they create are stylish and extremely durable.
There are hundreds of reusable shopping bag patterns available online – these are just 5 of our faves. Feel free to share your own resources and thoughts on eco friendly shopping bags in the comments!
Top Ten Green Fashion Blogs
August 28, 2008
Last week saw the launch of the very first green fashion magazine called boho. It is printed on 100% recyclable paper with soy-based inks, and unlike other magazines that have a green theme, this one is devoted entirely to fashion. Real fashion–not just hemp and Earth Shoes. We’re talking haute couture here.
For those of us who have an interest in both fashion and ethics, this marks a great milestone in our efforts to green up a notoriously un-conscious industry.
But boho isn’t the only source for green fashion news and information. A handful of dedicated bloggers have made it their mission to publicize the independent, sustainable designers and manufacturers that are making the world a beautiful place, in more ways than one.
Here are the best of the best in the world of Green Fashion Blogging: The Top Ten Green Fashion Blogs!
Victoria Everman is a “creatively versatile eco-powerhouse.” She’s a freelance writer, fashion model, on-camera personality, public speaker, and official U.S. spokesperson for Twice Shy Clothing. She’s got an industry insider’s view of sustainable fashion and beauty!
2. Eco-Chick
Starre Vartan has been writing Eco-Chick since 2005. This month sees the release of her new book, The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to Be Fabulously Green. She and her team of editors cover the green movement from the female perspective, focusing on young, urban, and hip women with a passion for green.
3. Green Girls Global / Green Guys Global
A blog based in the UK and contributed to by style-loving ladies around the globe (hence the name), this blog has one of the most extensive ranges of topics I’ve seen. It’s is always fresh, with plenty of up-to-the-minute news about the world of green fashion.
4. Green Cotton
Written by Shana Yansen, the founder of Jute & Jackfruit, a new sustainable clothing company. Yansen not only writes about fashion, but has great insights on the manufacturing process for organic clothing.
Vintage, recycled and second-hand clothing are a huge part of the sustainable style movement. DCGFB documents the pursuit of high fashion that has been derived from the mother of all second hand stores: The Goodwill!
“A style blog for the eco snob,” brings fashion and sustainability together through interviews with designers and retailers, coverage of current events, and plenty of humor.
Focuses on recycled, reused, second-hand, vintage, and re-purposed fashion. The author also writes about general ‘green’ topics and her pursuit of an organic lifestyle.
This site focuses mainly on the manufacturing and processing of organic fabrics, and it is a veritable goldmine of information for anyone who is really interested in educating themselves about the industry.
A huge collection of features about and interviews with sustainable designers; along with coverage of green fashion news, current events, and shopping!
10. Eco Fabulous
A comprehensive look at the world of eco style, including regular posts on women’s fashion, shoes, accessories and handbags.
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