Walmart Coke Bottle Shirts April 28, 2008

Usually I try to focus on small companies or individuals who are doing their part to impact the world but today I wanted to explore an ad I heard on the radio.  While carting my two boys around, a commercial featuring two teenage sounding girls came on.  These two girls were talking about the new t-shirts from Walmart that are made from recycled Coke bottles.  (I have to admit, when I heard the ad, I did not realize the shirts actually advertise Coke on them.  I thought they were just made from soda bottles.) 

 Coca-Cola Drink 2 Wear T-shirts are produced from blended fabrics containing recycled plastic bottles and cotton.  Each t-shirt features a neck tag that tells the consumer the estimated number of bottles that were recycled to produce that particular shirt.  The ad girls go on to say that if every Walmart customer bought one of these shirts,  21,000 tons of plastic waste would be kept out of our landfills.  Obviously, that is a lot of plastic.

In the interest of disclosure, I will have to admit that I am fairly anti-Walmart anything.  I think it is VERY important to support small, local producers and shops to create a vital, thriving economy.  It is hard, however, to argue with the impact of those kind of numbers.  I have heard that Walmart is trying to improve their green standing but have little specific information to judge.  The cynical side of me wonders if big corporations are realizing that being “Green” can translate into big dollars and this knowledge is driving their changes.  I guess then you have to ask if it matters what the motives are if the action is making a big impact?   Tell me what you think.  

Don’t Forget Mom! April 21, 2008

 Mother’s day is quickly approaching.  Do you know what you are getting your Mom?  Don’t forget about Ananya Studio’s bargain hunting Mom’s day sale where they offer 30% off all of their jewelry.

Ananya Studio features quality sterling silver and semi-precious stone fair trade jewelry.  Each unique piece is lovingly handcrafted in rural workshops in Sri Lanka by artisans who are paid a fair price for their work.  This model allows the artists to create sustainable businesses for themselves and their families. 

So if you want to give your Mom a gift that is helping to change lives, visit Ananya Studio and enter mom in the coupon code box at checkout to receive your discount.

Clean Sheets April 7, 2008

 I just pulled my clean sheets out of the dryer.  The smell so yummy!!!! I fianlly got to use my new lavender scented Anti-static laundry spray from The Windsong company.  I love how fresh and clean they smell…….. is there anything better than the smell of clean sheets?  It was so easy to use.  I just put a few spritzes of spray on each side of the cute little frog patterned pillow that came with the spray and then threw it into the dryer with my sheets and clothes.  Hello fresh smelling sheets, goodbye fabric softeners loaded with chemicals!!!

Bunnies Galore March 22, 2008

   My oldest son got a pet bunny about a month ago.  He is sooo cute!  His oh so orginal name is Hooper.  Our family is very focused on the care and feeding of this little bundle of fur. With all this bunny love going on in our house and Easter being tomorrow, I decided to see what the amazing etsy artists are offering for Easter.

Checkout this print from the New York artist of Butterscotchlane created from vintage wallpapers.  I love the bright colors!

This handmade card printed on recycled paper by the artist at Mary Richmond Design looks   suspiciously like our little Hopper.  The talented creator of  these prints has a long history of making one of a kind ceramic tiles, greeting cards, woodblocks, illustrations and various other nature (more…)

Ruby Reusable March 3, 2008

In their Kindergarten years, both of my boys spent countless hours developing a Leprechaun trap to catch the leprechauns at their school on Saint Patrick’s day.  They used old shoe boxes, greased ladders, “gold” strategically placed on double stick tape and any number of other clever tricks to lure the unsuspecting leprechauns into their traps.  Alas, no child in the 80 plus year history of their school has ever actually caught a wee folk.  In fact, every year, the children enter their classroom on Saint Patrick’s Day to total destruction- overturned desks, papers strewn on the floor, glitter all over the classroom and notes taunting the kids with the most clever traps.  With discussion turning to the traps around the school, it has started me thinking about the season of wearing  green.  When I saw this trashion fairy doll  in Ruby Reusable’s store on etsy, it seemed perfect for the  season.  This adorable fairy with the bright red recycled garland hair is made of candy wrappers.  The artist started this series of candy wrapper dolls when her son was a bar mitzvah and they gently threw candy at him for “sweet wishes”.  This fairy is perfect for bringing “sweet wishes” into your life. (more…)

The Monkey Buzz February 7, 2008

The first small company I want to profile is filled with monkeys engaged in crazy monkey antics.  2Monkees offers vibrant organic cotton t-shirts with monkeys involved in all sorts of activities.  We have monkeys in a can can line, monkeys riding bikes, monkeys surfing, monkeys sipping martinis and monkeys engaged in just about any other activity you can imagine.  On Etsy, we offer two different styles of organic t-shirts- one featuring a monkey hugging the Earth and another with a family of monkeys holding hands in front of the Earth.  Here is the Love Earth t-shirt.

You can find more designs at www.themonkeybuzz.com.  Look for  more Earth Day designs and an incredible assortment of t-shirts, g- strings, boxers, dog sweaters, mugs and other items on which to imprint their impish monkeys.   Use the Monkey Buzz to express your inner monkey and don’t forget to wish that special someone a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Hello world!

Who am I you may be wondering?  I am just a mom of two active boys who enjoys spending time in the outdoors with my family.  I have been a mostly stay at home mom since my children were born.  (In my previous life, I was a Child and Family Therapist with extremely disturbed pre-schoolers and their families.  This was an amazingly rewarding job but one that also took a big emotional toll.)  In recent years,  I have become involved with a jewelry designer from Sri Lanka (see her work at Ananya Studio), who employs villagers to produce her designs.  She helps them set up their workshops, provides them designs and raw materials and then pays them a fair wage for their product.  My work with her has gotten me very interested in the idea of how our choices as consumers impact the people who produce our consumables and this production’s impact on the world.    I have been drawn into a web of Green/Fair Trade businesses.  What has been interesting to me is seeing how many people are doing small things everyday to create a better world.  Also, how many small producers and artists are out there that consider how their art impacts the world.  This blog will feature one of those small producers, artists or businesses everyday.  I believe through shining the spotlight on the individuals doing small things, we can cause big change in the world.