Method Is So Fresh And So Clean, Clean

Message: When did clean become so dirty? Method believes you deserve to know what chemicals are in your “cleaners.” Support the Household Product Labeling Acts at People Against Dirty.

Dayna Decker Eco-Couture Candles

My girl Fawn Dang (best name ever!) recently gifted me this candle and I’m infatuated with its scent and the crackling wick.

Unlike most candles, Dayna Decker – Chandel candles emanate the sound of soft crackling firewood because they use clean-burning and eco-friendly wooden wicks. That’s right. These cool candles have an EcoWood Wick set in a gel-like natural resin-based wax infused with botanicals encircled in a hand-blown, glass container. Very cool as far as scented candles go.

Why EcoWood Wick?

• Organic and Healthy
• Burns Clean
• Emits a soothing crackling sound
• Intriguing horizontal “teardrop” shaped flame
• Remains rigid and upright
• Less post soot dispersion with diminutive carbon build up
• Longer Burn hours due to a cooler flame

Thanks Fawnita! xx

Thanks To The Recession..

Sales of polluting, plastic water bottles are down.

And sales of home water filtering systems are up. Yay! Target is having a sale on Brita filters (which are now recyclable) and pitchers until September. On top of that, you get a $5 Tar-jay gift card with every Brita purchase.

Then all you need are some of these eco-friendly, good for the planet, non-leaching (good for you,) reusable bottles and ta-dow! How you like me now?

Hello.. Keith Herring Sigg bottle?? So much sexier than a plastic water bottle. (I got mines at Whole Foods.)

Posted by thuy

Recycling Dead Media

Wanna buy a storage cabinet made out of over 900 used cassette tapes? You can for the low price of €999 (I’m too lazy to google a money conversion site.) Or you could make your own.

See video and get more info about the storage cabinet at Creativbarn.nl.

Source Lost In A Supermarket

Posted by thuy

Let Krylon Light The Way

How dope is this lamp made from actual used Krylon cans? The other cool thing is the cap is the on/off switch.

Choose your color and cop yours on Etsy/BBLock

Source Urban Art Warfare

Posted by thuy

Carrot Mobbin’ NY

We posted a video previously featuring Carrot Mob spreading their Midas touch on a liquor store in SF. Check out their recent work in Brooklyn.

Posted by thuy

Shop Local At Unique May 2/3

SATURDAY, MAY 2—SUNDAY, MAY 3
WHO: Unique Los Angeles
WHAT: Independent Design & Gift Sale, featuring 200 local designers, artists and merchants, including Humble, Sub_Urban Riot, Rojas, Good Friday and many others; $5 donation at the door
WHERE: California Market Center, 110 East Ninth Street, Downtown, Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm (Saturday); 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (Sunday).

Posted by thuy

You Call That A Trophy?

Having something like this on your wall is not a good look. Trust.

Source Truestar

Hug It And Squeeze It And Call It Obama!

My talented friend Kristie Thinnes of Humble Collection, bought an Obama bandana and crafted it into this adorable pillow. Love.

source Viva Humble and Hand Over Fist

Posted by thuy

Best Swag Bag Ever

My sister brought this bag in on Monday and said they were on everyone’s doorsteps, all up and down our street. What a nice gift for those of us that did and even those that did not participate in (this is the last time you’ll hear me mention this, until next year) EARTH HOUR! CFL’s what what?

LADWP, you rock and thanks for the mini reusable bag which will now become my traveling lunch bag.

Notice Kobe posing up in the flick. He’s the best Boxer rescue dog in the whole wide world. How could you not love that underbite?

Speaking of Boxer’s.. big ups to Azul for rescuing Ricky off the streets last week and finding him a home. I found out yesterday that he’s moving on up…to a beach house and will be uniting with his new family tomorrow. Azul, you the bomb baby..and this instantly makes you my flavor of the week.

Posted by thuy

Rock Row: Eagle Rock Townhomes

These fifteen fee-simple townhomes finally provide a realistic opportunity for quality homeownership. Priced from $463,000 to $529,000, Angelenos can now afford sustainable, sizable homes of superior quality. Located in the historic Eagle Rock neighborhood, these brand new homes are 40% larger than the typical bungalow home for competitive prices.

Each unit has a series of decks and balconies arranged to guarantee privacy, while affording the occupant abundant usable outdoor space. Reacting and adjusting to its neighbor, the townhouses each have their own character while fitting into the whole.

GREEN BUILDING. This project will also be the first Small Lot Subdivision in the City of Los Angeles to be LEED Certified under the new LEED for Homes program, incorporating many environmentally conscious features, ranging from a permeable driveway of grass pavers to instant hot water heaters. LEED Certification also guarantees excellent indoor air quality, very low utility bills, and an energy efficient and sustainable design and construction. An ecological viewpoint is carried from schematic design to the finishes and fixtures.

NOT CONDOMINIUMS. Rock Row is one of the earliest projects to be entitled under the new LA City Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance. This ordinance encourages homeownership through smart growth practices. These homes are structurally independent from the foundation to the roof; these are not condominiums, there is no HOA, and the owner actually owns the land.

I want to live there!

Open house this Sunday from 1-4 p.m. For more renderings, floor plans and info, click here.

Posted by thuy

Recycled Skateboards For Furniture

Newport Beach-based design firm Skate Study House takes its inspiration from contemporary design, California living and most importantly- skate board culture. Works like the Noguchi coffee table, the Nelson bench, the Eames Lounge and more are reproduced with the features of a classic skateboard deck. The “Jet Set Lounge” shown above, is a skateboard-inspired take on the original Le Corbusier Lounge. This version uses neoprene wetsuit material used by surfers and 8 skateboard decks as support.

A GearCrave favorite, the Noguchi coffee table inspired the skate style version by Skate Study House, theTokyo Lounge Table. Where the original employed dark, smooth, geometric wood as its base, the Tokyo table uses a split skateboard deck in the same fashion. The template for this skateboard deck is from the Jim Gray Pro Model, well known in the 80s.

Another all-time GearCrave favorite, the Eames Lounge and Ottoman are reproduced here with skateboard vision. The Godfather Lounge and Ottoman uses 7 walnut laminated skate decks with cushions on the metal frame.

Last, the classic, oft-copied Nelson wall clock has found its own inspiration from the half-pipe. The Skate Study House version, shown here as the Astro Clock, uses flourescent skate wheels and bearings in place of the bright painted wood pieces on the Nelson version.

More info and ordering details are available on the Skate Study House website.

Totally rad!!

Source ecofriend via Gear Cave

Postd by thuy

Alanis Morissette: Earth Hour Is A Turn-Off

I hate it when people clip their nails in public! Nasty!

There’s another PSA from Janeane Garofalo. Watch it on Huffpo.

Earth Hour 2009. March 28th, 2009. 8:30 p.m., local time. Turn out. Take action.

To sign up, visit www.earthhourUS.org where you’ll learn more including ways you can spread the word about Earth Hour, plus creative things to do when the lights go out.

Posted by thuy

Boys We Heart: Edward Norton

Playing the Hulk is not Norton’s only green claim to fame.

Norton was once named International Man of the Year by British GQ magazine, doing much before and since to prove the title’s accuracy, including signing a petition being sent to the U.N. for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality; creating and contributing to a Middle East Peacemakers Fund at Yale (his alma mater) in response to 9/11; holding benefit film screenings; hosting a National Geographic program, Strange Days on Planet Earth,about environmental issues; and being a continuing board member of Friends of the High Line, a group dedicated to saving an elevated green space in Manhattan.

While in the process of fitting his own home with solar panels, Norton came up with the idea of supporting others through his purchase. He convinced BP Solar to join up, offering free solar power systems to low-income families each time a celebrity buys a system for themselves.

To date, Solar Neighbors has helped numerous Los Angeles families, chosen by Enterprise. It has been supported by celebs such as Brad Pitt, Ed Begley Jr., Salma Hayek, Danny Devito and Rhea Pearlman and Alicia Silverstone.

And of course I’d hit it. On a bed of solar panels.

Posted by thuy

Shipping Container ‘Quik House’

The Quik House is a prefabricated kit house designed by Adam Kalkin from recycled shipping containers. It has three bedrooms and two and one-half baths in its 2,000 square foot plan. The shell assembles within one day at your site, you will have a fully enclosed building. From start to finish, it should take no longer than three months to complete your house.

The Quik House is 75% recycled materials by weight. Further green options include solar and wind energy sourcing, a green roof system and a super-insulating R-50 system.

The containers come in two colors, orange or natural “Rust Bloom”. For an additional cost, they can have your digs tagged by local graffiti artists.

Source ecofriend

Posted by thuy

12 Year Old Wins 10 G’s, Designs For Homeless By Using Trash

When 12-year-old Max Wallack of Natick heard of WGBH’s Design Squad “Trash to Treasure” design contest, he was ready to give his best shot. The kid stole the show with his “Home Dome” innovation, which is primarily a shelter for the homeless made from plastic, wire and packing peanuts. With his project, he has shown his care for the people in need of shelter and on the other hand, it deals with the problem of increasing landfills. The makeshift dwelling is in the form of a Mongolian yurt and features a built-in bed. For this innovative design, Max won $10,000, a Dell laptop powered by Intel and a trip to Boston to see his design meet realism.

Source The Design Blog

Posted by thuy

Shepard Fairey For Earth Hour

Once again Shepard is lending his hand for another good cause. This time it’s for Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by WWF (The World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, and achieved worldwide participation in 2008.

Earth Hour will next take place on Saturday, March 28 2009 at 8:30pm, local time.

One hour, no lights, no electronics… let’s do it.

source Good

Check out the Earth Hour website for deets.

Posted by thuy

Boys We Heart: Van Jones

Van Jones is an activist working to combine solutions to social inequality and environmental destruction. He founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration, in 1996. He has won many honors including a Reebok Human Rights Award and an Ashoka Fellowship, and has served on the boards of many groups, including: the National Apollo Alliance, Social Ventures Network, Rainforest Action Network and Bioneers. The City of Oakland has adopted the Ella Baker Center’s “Green Jobs Corps” proposal, and Van is pushing to create the first-ever Green Enterprise Zone in Oakland.

Excuse me, I have some googling to do..gotta find out if Mr. Jones is married.

*UPDATE: Damnit, he’s married! I was ready to pack my bags and head back to my old stomping grounds in Oakland. Why are all the good ones taken???

Posted by thuy

Celebs Say “Thank You” And Go “Green” To Obama.

Gotta love Hollywood and the Sierra Club.

Posted by thuy

Breakin’ It Down: Greywater

Greywater is water that flows down sink, shower, and washing machine drains–but not the toilet. Greywater may contain traces of dirt, food, grease, hair, and household cleaning products. While greywater may look “dirty,” it is a safe and even beneficial source of irrigation water. If released into rivers, lakes, or estuaries, the nutrients in greywater (mainly phosphate from detergent) become pollutants, but to garden plants, they are valuable fertilizer. Aside from the obvious benefits of saving water (and money on your water bill), reusing your greywater keeps it out of the sewer or septic system, thereby reducing the chance that it will pollute local water bodies Reusing greywater for irrigation reconnects urban residents and our backyard gardens to the natural water cycle.

Posted by thuy

Eagle Rock Eco-Store Regeneration Closing

Thanks to this freakin’ recession. If you’re still short on your gift list, try to make it over for their going out of business sale. Sad.

1629 Eagle Rock Blvd.

Source LA Racked

Posted by thuy

Times Are Tough- Go To Craigslist, At Least For A Laugh

Memaw has a one bedroom in the east village. She has a really large bathroom she’s willing to rent out for the low price of $400 a month. It’s huge. You can fit a twin size air mattress in it. All she asks, is that when she needs to use the bathroom, you or your air mattress are not in it.

Click on the thumbnail below to read the entire post, or go to the original. Highlarious!

Kahi Lee: Unlock The Cure

Props to my girl Kahi Lee, a truly talented interior designer and host on HGTV’s “Design on a Dime.”

Kahi has teamed up with Botanist/Orange22 to unveil a new eco-friendly furniture line named “Unlock the Cure,” which benefits the Cancer Research Institute. The line consists of a cocktail table, bench and an end table with a cut out key design.

Kahi’s inspiration:

“I call my design “Unlock the Cure”. Cancer has affected far too many people in my life and I’m committed to doing something about it. The cure is out there, we just need to find the key. The light-reflective and luminous quality of the metallic finish symbolizes hope and optimism.”

Well, I too have a thing for keys..and a thing for being eco-friendly and I, like many, have been affected by a loved one suffering from cancer. Thanks to Kahi, for designing these beautiful pieces to remind us all to keep hope alive in finding a key to the cure.

Source Treehugger

Posted by thuy

Eco Gift Festival

What: Get your eco-friendly holiday shopping on. There will also be several performances and speakers throughout all three days. Check out our favorite lady, Arianna Huffington, who will be a keynote speaker on Saturday at 2:00 pm.

Where: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. 1855 Main Street. Santa Monica, CA 90401

When: December 12 & 13 from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm. December 14: 11:00 am to 7:00 pm

Cost: $ 10 per day

Website: Ecogift

Posted by thuy

Green With Glamour Sale

Go green and stylish with some of your favorite eco-friendly brands such as Popomomo, Del Forte Denim and Good Society. As a special nod to this eventful election day, use the code “GWGVOTE” for 20% off almost everything!

Green With Glamour

Posted by thuy

Humble Beginnings

My dear friend Kristie Thinnes is an amazing interior decorator. She’s also a fellow greenie and an animal lover so I wasn’t the least bit surprised to find out that she had started an earth, human and animal friendly home furnishings line called Humble.

Humble products are inspired by the environment and respect the environment. All handmade printed designs are assembled in the USA and are 100% organic, vegan and made of sustainable materials. Humble is committed to supporting organic cotton farmers and keeping all products animal free, therefore creating hypo-allergenic, moisture resistant and pesticide free products. All products are biodegradable so they will eventually absorb back into the earth, where they came from.

Printed graphics are Kristie’s original illustrations, hand screen printed with eco-friendly, water-based non-toxic inks that have a soft feel. Humble graphics follow the lines of geometry, animals and color.

Humble pillows are meant to be small, soft pieces of art for your home. Kristie will be expanding the collection into home furnishing textiles and bedding in the near future and I can’t wait to see it.

Handmade. Organic. Made in the USA. Vegan. Sustainable. Supporting farmers. Animal & chemical free. Biodeagradeable. Damn Kristie- gold stars all across the board! Congrats baby girl.

Posted by thuy

Don’t Mess with Asbestos

Asbestos is categorized as a carcinogen and can be extremely hazardous to your health, potentially leading to some fatal forms of cancer. Now according to the experts, it’s best to leave this toxic substance alone. Asbestos is generally found in flooring and building products in older buildings and is used in floor tiles, furnace insulation, textured paints etc.

When dealing with asbestos tiles, the advice is to simply lay other flooring or carpet over the older tiles as opposed to removing it. It is also recommended that popcorn ceilings be repainted rather than scraped and removed.

Yikes, popcorn ceilings are NEVER a good look, but I guess from a health and safety perspective we might have to learn to live with them.

For more info about asbestos in your home, consult the EPA’s Basic Information on Asbestos Sheet.

Image and info via green daily

Breakin’ It Down: Off The Grid

The term off the grid or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities.

Off-grid homes do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid or similar utility services. A true “off the grid” or “off-grid” house is able to operate completely independently of all traditional public utility services. The idea has been recently popularized by celebrities including Ed Begley, Jr. and actress Darryl Hannah, who constructed her home in Colorado according to those principles.

Electrical power can be generated on-site with renewable energy sources such as solar or wind; with a generator and adequate fuel reserves; or simply done without, as in Amish communities.

Source Wiki

Posted by thuy

Farewell To Cardboard Boxes

I loathe moving, but after learning about Recopack, I’m now looking forward to my next move. Ok, not really. How many of us have spent hundreds of dollars on moving boxes that you use for a week or so and then toss into the trash? I’m guilty of it. I know I should have put them up on Craigslist, but back then, my priority wasn’t doing my part for the environment, it was to get the move over and be done with it.

Rent A Green Box offers boxed tubs, made out of recycled household cleaning bottles from landfills. They also offer packaging materials that are made out of cardboard & newspaper sludge, cereal boxes, bottle caps, and they even have pallets that are made out of recycled baby diapers.

They deliver all the supplies to you in trucks powered by waste vegetable oil. Once you’re done with your move, they pick everything back up to be re-used or recycled. Save time, money and the environment by using this zero waste company. Click here for green packing and moving tips.

rentagreenbox.com

* update- I have since exchanged emails with Spencer Brown, the founder of rentagreenbox and asked him if his products are safe from toxins and leaching. This was his answer:

I totally understand your concern about potential toxin issues with our product since it is made from 100% trash.

When we process out the trash from the landfill and make the NANO resin to make the boxes, the process to convert trash to the green box is very extensive.

We have to clean the plastic in a closed looped system to remove all of the chemical residues and contaminants, then we apply the NANO technology to the plastic and when we heat it up to make the green little nurdles, the heat exchange eliminates any toxins, posions, leaching, the list goes on and on.

The plastic is so safe, that the Department of Conservation has asked us to make the same box for agricultural applications for loading and transporting fresh veggies from farm to market instead of using a waxed based cardboard box.

We also are approved by the FDA to use the Recopacks for hospital moves, due to the fact that they do not hold any contaminants on the surface of the plastic.

Posted by thuy

DIY Compost

Earlier I showed you my friend’s fruit and veggie garden she has on her patio. Well now she’s made a DIY compost bin. Worms and all. Can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for being an inspiration Jen!

Posted by thuy

Breakin’ It Down: Going Green

Going Green: A phrase referring to individual action that a person can consciously take to curb harmful effects on the environment through consumer habits, behavior, and lifestyle.

Posted by thuy

Hope

If you live here in LA or anywhere on planet earth for that matter, you have definitely seen the street art plastered around your city over the years of Andre the Giant, or the guerrilla marketing campaigns for the anti-war/anti-Bush movement or most recently, the Barack Obama/Hope campaigns. Shepard Fairey has long been known for his socially conscious illustrations as well as being a DJ, the co-founder of Swindle magazine, a husband and the proud father of two beautiful daughters.

I was so excited when I turned on Planet Green and saw the feature on Shepard and Amanda getting an eco-makeover for their daughters bedroom. Amanda picked up a new bed and mattress made of sustainable, pesticide free, organic materials from The Little Seed and they also painted the walls of the room with a 100% non-toxic, VOC free paint. Congratulations to Shepard and Amanda for their newest addition and for making the conscious effort in starting their family on the right path.

Posted by thuy

All Day Every Day

Woody Allen once said, “In Beverly Hills, they don’t throw their garbage away – they make it into television shows.” Well, Planet Green debuted today and I will gladly waste my time watching anything on this channel about garbage, composting, recycling, gadgets, food, drinks, cars, beauty, fashion…I’ll stop here but basically, it covers EVERYTHING under our beloved sun about going green and it’s on 24/7. The one show I really love is Alter Eco, with Adrien Grenier. It’s really informative and covers a lot of ‘green’ spots in L.A. It’s about time. Floss Angeles, RISE UP!

That’s about all I can write for now…need to get my sustainable crack fix and get back to the boob tube. Yea, it’s that serious.

Posted by thuy

Everybody’s Doing It

So according to all of the glossy tabloid mags, Jessica Alba is at the forefront of the new mommy green movement. Apparently she opted for an eco-friendly baby nursery for her soon-to-be born little one, and was recently seen at a farmers market carrying reusable tote bags for her purchases. Well actually her cutie patootie soon-to-be hubby was doing all of the heavy lifting… What a gentleman!

image jacked from i’m not obsessed

posted by jen

Fly The Friendly Skies

If you travel frequently, air travel, unfortunately contributes a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gases to your personal climate change footprint. But, if you happen to be flying on Virgin America between April 19 through the 22nd, you can let go of some of that green guilt thanks to Virgin and Method cleaning products.

The two San Francisco-based companies are pledging $3 for every guest flying on Virgin America on Earth Day, April 22. Each guest will have a pledge made on their behalf to support environmental restoration projects through the California State Parks Foundation. Along with the pledge, every flier on every Virgin America flight on April 22 will receive Method’s chic reusable “Plastic Bag Rehab” tote with the company’s new compostable cleaning surface wipes made from 100 percent bamboo. Damnit, why couldn’t my trip to San Francisco be this weekend instead of next? You can find out more about Virgin’s and Method’s Earth Day activities here.

Whenever you travel be sure to offset your carbon emissions from air travel. It’s easy, cheap and can be done online faster than it will take you to brew your fair trade, organic cup of coffee…here are a few sites.

• Terrapass
• Native Energy
• Carbon Fund

Lights Out

For one hour this Saturday, March 29th, 2008, millions of people across the world will be observing Earth Hour. Originating in Sydney in 2007, the Earth campaign has now gained global attention. The concept is to reduce electrical output by turning out all lights for one hour. Some of the key cities involved include Toronto, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago etc. The Sears Tower, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz will be turning off their non-essential lights from 8-9 pm.

Last year, the restaurant Chaya Venice (in Venice California) was a participant. They turned off all lights between 8 and 9pm, and served food by candelight. Unfortunately, we’ve been having a hard time finding any participating restaurants/businesses in the Los Angeles area… Stay tuned to see what kind of shenanigans we get into to celebrate this monumental “green” day. Check their website for details on how to create your own Earth Hour, and to find participating businesses and establishments in your city.

Posted by thuy