Green Patchwork

Fair trade companies are growing at a fast rate and you can find just about anything your heart desires fair trade. Chocolate, coffee, clothes, sugar, tea, or bananas. Co-op America has put together a fair trade resource list for us - I love looking at the crafts and clothing.

Wool sweaters are great! They are warm and durable and last a long time and when they are too far gone to wear anymore you can turn them into new things like bags, blankets, slippers, mittens, or hot pads for the kitchen. You can get wool sweaters from thrift stores and craft them into something new and useful. Or, if you find a wool sweater that is too big you can shrink it in the washer and stretch any part of it before it dries. I found a tutorial some time back on how to make a sweater bag, I haven’t made it yet but it looks fun. Let me know if you try it.

Last month we purchased an organic Vivetique cotton mattress from Satara Inc. here in Madison. We went the organic route because the mattresses that you buy in most stores have flame retardents and many other toxic chemicals. Check out Green Sage’s website for more information about the differences between natural mattresses and toxic mattresses ( what most people sleep on at night). Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t bought paper towels or disposable napkins in years. I bought a few sets of cloth napkins at Savers Thrift Department Store many years ago and I’m still using them. We use them when we have messy buy yummy tofu-walnut burgers (Nature’s Bakery) or any other kind of mouth messing foods. We were just gifted with new French terry cloth napkins in various beautiful colors. Read the rest of this entry »

I just recently found this neat site, Sustainable Style Foundation, full of fashion, trends, designers, and new materials for the eco-aware. I found it while I was looking around online for possible internship opportunities for this summer. Well, I didn’t find any good internship leads, but I did find a ton of other information. I also found a 20 minute video called “The Story of Stuff”. After I found it I sent the link to all of my friends and family to help spread the word about the real cost of all the stuff out there. If everyone watched 20 minutes less t.v. or surfed online 20 minutes less then they would have enough time to fit the video in. Please give it a watch and pass it on.

We all like to get new stuff, but I don’t think buying brand new stuff is always the best way to go about it. I love to get new stuff, but I also love thrift shopping and the challenge of finding what I want somewhere other than the big box stores. Read the rest of this entry »