Earth-wise

I'm a firm believer in the idea that knowledge is power. Hey, I'm a scientist - I can't help myself! But in all seriousness, there is no way that any of us can be expected to make the best choices for our health, our families, our wallets, and our environment without access to information that can help us with those choices. In honor of Earth Day I've assembled some online resources that I've found particularly useful for saving green:

1) Environmental Working Group's Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides
Sure buying organic produce is better for your body and the environment. But, as I'm sure you've heard, we're in a bit of a slow economy right now (shocker, I know) and everyone is watching their wallets. That's no excuse to bring home pesticide laden fruit thanks to this handy guide. The EWG tested the most common produce and came up with the top 12 you should always buy organic. Thin skinned fruits and veggies, like peaches and bell peppers, top the list. Other "conventionally" grown produce doesn't hang on to pesticides either by design - like thick skinned avocados - or because they just don't need pesticides to grow period! I know, kinda sneaky to call something organic when they never actually needed pesticides to begin with. There's a handy dandy printable PDF or iPhone app available at the site so you can have the list on hand when you shop.

2) Ideal Bite
This is a fun little site that has a lot of random bits of eco information, and you can sign up to get them sent to you by email. Fun to read, and great cocktail party conversation starters!

3) Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database
Another effort of the Environmental Working Group, this database analyzes the chemicals in different cosmetics and rates them on their safety (or non-safety I suppose). An eye opener for sure (ha!). I recently switched to mineral makeup as I was totally creeped out by all the crap in my foundation. (as a side note, I totally love the mineral makeup as all my occasional breakouts have become a thing of the past!) I'm slowly working my way through my lotions and potions and replacing them with ones that don't feature mecury, lead, nanoparticles (really creepy, but that's another story), phalates, and the mysterious "fragrance". It's a struggle, as many of this is unregulated even though we absorb a lot through our skin. I wouldn't freak out and throw everything away, as a little exposure won't kill you, but it's worth spending a few minutes on this site when you are ready to replace your moisturizer or mascara and see if you can find a "less bad" alternative.

4) Greenopia and GoodGuide
I haven't spent a lot of time on these sites, but they look like great resource for all sorts of info about different products. You can waste a lot of money chasing every item that is branded "green" but in reality some aren't really as good as they seem. Buying less is always best for saving both kinds of green, but it's nice to have options when you want to save the green in your pocket without losing the green outside.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Online fabric stores

I'm a stickler for fabric matching. Hence why, despite buying everything else online, I shop for fabric mostly at brick and mortar stores. You can't capture correct colors in a photograph for the web, I've found. HOWEVER, if you know what you want or just want to build your stash with cute things that you'll match up later, online stores are the best. Even with rising shipping prices, those online stores don't have to pass on their overhead to you and you end up with a slightly lower price per yard. No free advice or oohing and ahhing over your latest project like in the stores, but awesome when you want to shop for fabric in your pajamas.

Now where oh where would you shop online for fabric? Read on, read on....

Fabric.com - by far one of the best organized online fabric stores. Great for when you are looking for something specific (Amy Butler fabric, anyone?). However, colors in their photos are notoriously off--at least on my computer. But they have a fantastic, no questions asked return policy complete with free return shipping if you are way surprised by how something looks when its arrives. Sign up for their email list to get coupons and sale announcements.

Buyfabrics.com - crazy extensive collection of home dec fabric. Some brand names, but easier to browse when you have a color scheme or general idea of what you want than a specific fabric need. I haven't ordered from them, but I've heard good things.

Reprodepot fabrics - a favorite for super cute fabrics--retro/vintage, designer, imported, etc. The fabrics they showcase aren't cheap, but their prices are competitive. I missed out on the Marimekko sale, which is a huge bummer! Definitely great for those unusual things you can't find anywhere else.

Textile Arts - I admit I've only browsed here, never bought, but they have a lovely collection of Marimekko eye candy. I so should live in Scandinavia.

Thousands of bolts and only one nut - Mom turned me on to this one. Prices are definitely VERY cheap, but you have to just pick a color and browse through. Maybe you'll find a gem!

Robey's Fabrics - I haven't browsed their fabric site much, but I do know that their companion site has some great deals on pillow forms, especially the odd sizes that you can't find at JoAnn's.

And if you want your shopping to be greener:

NearSea Naturals - enviable selection of organic fabrics, including cotton. hemp, wool, and blends. I'm a sucker for the colorgrown cotton. Such pretty colors and not a drop of dye! Going green isn't cheap, but they offer nice volume discounts if you have the capital (or a lot of friends).

PM organics - lovely selection of knit and woven organic fabrics.

Anyone have any other online fabric shopping gems?

Friday distractions - Trouble

In honor of all the trouble that scooter-ing got me into, today I bring you fantastic internet timewasters almost guaranteed to get you in trouble. Hurrah!

Soundtrack for today: Ray LaMontagne - Trouble (Excellent CD-you should buy it!)

Mascot for today: Rascal the cat. A ridiculously cute furball who isn't all that bright, thus always getting into trouble but such a love muffin that you can't hate him for it. All together now: AWWWWW

Trouble 1: Cupcakes
I'm in love with cupcakes. Don't know why, they are just really cute. Like these, these, and these. I swear that I had the cupcake instead of wedding cake idea years ago, but now it has become almost commonplace and trite. I blame Martha Stewart for that one. But I still love them! This on the other hand, is kinda dumb. Isn't the point of a cupcake that you get your OWN little cake? I pity the person that tries to eat that one...

Trouble 2: Fabric
Um, I want it all. New Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, eco-esque Robert Kaufman, of course Harmony Art, and all the daydreams of my own head. I mean, of course the PERFECT fabric for what I've been dreaming up isn't available so I guess I'll have to make it myself. :) In my spare time, of course (ha!)

Trouble 3: Shoes.
It's sandal season! How much am I lusting over these, these, and these? Yeah. Not like those particular ones will ever be on my feet, but it's all good.

Trouble 4: Books
I like books that make me spend even more money on new hobbies. Like my cupcake obsession, embroidery, sewing, the cooking that I don't (read: can't) do, playing with illustrator, and abandoning science for crafting. I know, I know, I should go to the library, right? I totally do, but sometimes you just want to be able to drool over a book again and again. Although we are totally going to need more bookcases...

Happy Friday! Stay out of trouble! :)

Eco-friendly fixes to Craigslist finds

I love Craigslist. And thrift stores. And yard sales. And if I ever find anything good in my alley, I probably wouldn't be against dragging that home to.... My boyfriend is such a sport (he's into it too.)

Currently I have two lovely Craigslist acquisitions that need some lovin'. One is a lovely small sideboard with hutch. I've already decided they look better separated, with the hutch hanging on the wall. And I've replaced the pulls from a drab, ultra traditional brass to these lovely brushed nickel ones. Second is a desk soon to be vanity for the bathroom. Still looking for the perfect drawer pulls (I want recycled glass...hmmm...). The stickler is that both require a paint job to be perfect.

I stained an unfinished piece last year, and was completely put off by the awful smell and cleanup. Can't imagine what those VOC's (volatile organic compounds-aka the smelly stuff for the non-science nerds) are doing to our insides every time we paint/stain/recycle those thrift store castoffs.

Thus began my search for eco-friendly paints and stains. So far I found two companies that look promising. I'm going to try some of their products out and I'll get back to ya on how they stack up.

Company 1: Bioshield Natural Paints

They are one of the few places that have stains that seem to be more than just "less bad" normal stains. We'll see how they work, as the boy has them earmarked for his current reclaimed project (shhh, it's a surprise).

Company 2: Green Planet Paints

Ohhh, I'd love to try their clay paints for my next wall painting project. Soooo Pretty! I ordered some of their raw pigments to try in my new fabric printing endeavor, an alternative to commercial dye powders. I'm so excited I'm giddy!

In celebration of this green post, a pretty picture for your enjoyment:
Mmmm....clean air, clean water-I love the beach!