Re-Jean Your Wardrobe

Those of you who love your jeans, and invest a lot of time in finding the perfect pair, can probably understand the disappointment I felt when both my denim jacket and my favorite pair of jeans got crazy holes in them this past week. Okay, it didn't happen overnight, but now the holes are certainly past the point of public wearability, at least for me. No lie, my whole arm can fit through the massive elbow hole in my jacket and there is now an inappropriate amount of thigh chub that can be seen when I wear the jeans. Not good.

There's a way to give life back to these precious items. Of course I could sew a patch in myself, which is a smart, guffly kind of option indeed. But because I am not much of a seamstress, or tailor, or whatever the title would be, I'm thinking about sending my stuff to Denim Therapy. This company takes your worn jeans, evaluates the material attributes (like thread weight, fade, wash, grain, pattern, weave, and wear), fixes the problem with closely matched materials, and sends them back to you like new. You'll be happy, you're jeans will be happy, and you're save the earth some resources by not running out a buying a replacement.

The service sounds expensive, but it's pretty reasonably priced. Their site notes that the estimated repair cost is $7/inch, but an estimate will be offered upon their inspection of the garment. You will have to pay for shipping charges as well, so if you're far from Cincinnati you might want to go with the neighborhood dry cleaner's classic old-man patch.

Recycled Beer Glasses are Guffly

What's your favorite beer? Mine is Hacker Pschorr Weisse; and now I can enjoy it and be guffly at the same time. I was searching through a great website called Uncommon Goods and found this product that got me pretty excited. It was a set of 2 beer glasses that are made from recycled automobile windshields. As the picture shows, the glasses have a blue tint to them because of the dye that was added to the original windshield to block the sun. I think they look sweet.

Two 15 oz. beer glasses retail for $20 at Uncommon Goods. If you love beer you should definitely check them out. Much guffly love:)

Trashy.

Last night I talked with one of my most favorite people, my Aunt Kelley. Other than being totally awesome in general, she has been eating organic food, using organic products, and been an all-around guffly individual for some time now. She asked me if I knew anything about eco-friendly trash bags. This got me thinking. A lot of green people are using reusable bags for groceries and shopping, are recycling what they can, but are still throwing out their trash in icky, regular old plastic trash bags. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought about this before. Turns out there are some pretty simple options. Check 'em out:


1. BioBags - 100% Biodegradable and Compostable. "BioBags are GMO free, certified for use in organic agriculture and certified for restricted use of metals in our vegetable-based inks and dyes. Their products meet the ASTM D6400-99 requirements, which is the gold standard for compostable plastic. BioBags are shelf stable, just like paper towels, yet biodegrade quickly when exposed to nature's elements and micro-organisms, leaving no harmful residues behind." These bags can be found at Drugstore.com, $6.19 for 12 count 13-gallon bags.


2. Nature Value Eco Safe Bags - biodegrade in 12 to 14 months. They are made from 10-20% post consumer recycled materials, are certified Kosher, and the box they come is also made from recycled materials. You can find their various products on Lets Go Green where they are very reasonably priced in comparison; only $2.99 for 15 count 13-gallon bags.

Good Stuff for Bamboo

I'm a softy for animals. I regularly find myself feeling depressed after seeing a sad story on TV about an animal suffering. The only good part about this is that my dog Bamboo brings me more joy than I could ever express. That's why I only buy him good stuff.

Last weekend I visited the Green Street Fair in Plymouth Michigan. At the event, I found a woman named Pam selling sustainable pet products. Her company Purrfect Play sells collars, leashes, chew toys, catnip toys, and pet bedding to name a few. However the one product that Purrfect Play sells, that really got me excited--for Bamboo--was a wool ball.

Bamboo's favorite thing in the world is a ball. He loves it so much that he's completely submissive to the very sound of the word. In fact, whenever I really want him to listen, the only thing I have to do is yell "Ball"; his ears perk up and he's at my feet waiting for a command (a trick that I try to use sparingly). He's so addicted to his balls that he'll stay up all night playing with them, if I were to let him. Bamboo has lots of balls, however he doesn't have a wool ball. So I listened to Pam as she explained why I should by one.

She told me that her balls are handmade from sustainably produced dye-free wool; which has only been processed with gentle non-toxic soaps. The wool is sustainable because it can be shorn from sheep annually, with no harm to the animal. It's biodegradable and has less negative impact to the environment--and ourselves--than oil-based synthetics.

So I bought a ball and brought it home to Bamboo. He loved it! He's been annoying me for the last few days with it, because he can't put it down. Here's a picture of him loving on it.

The Goodness of Crocs

This past weekend, Jordan and I went to the Green Street Fair in Plymouth, MI where we learned some new stuff and met some great people. Amongst the many small independent vendors (which was great) were some of the larger corporations, including the beloved shoe company, crocs. Though I'm not a participant in the crocs craze myself, I was pleased to hear about a great initiative the company is taking part in, called SolesUnited.

It's pretty simple. A crocs owner can take a pair of crocs that are on their way to croc-heaven and mail them in to a crocs recycling center or drop them off at a participating retail location. These old crocs will be ground up into tiny pieces and made into new, SolesUnited recycled shoes. These new recycled shoes are sent to approved non-profit organizations all over the world. This year, SolesUnited anticipates donating a total of 2 million pairs of shoes to Armenia, Cambodia, Chad, Darfur, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Philippines, Romania, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Watch this info for more information on this guffly initiative:

Guffly Designs

Did you know that nearly half of the world's original forest cover is gone? Also, there is only 5% of the United State's natural forest cover remaining today. This tells me two things: 1.) the growing demand for paper is negatively affecting our Eco-system; and 2.) we need to be more responsible about using wood pulp for products. Cardboard Design understands this too. The company is truly innovative and responsible when it comes to making their wood pulp based products.


All of the products that Cardboard Designs makes are made from recycled post-consumer materials. Materials like old cardboard boxes, newspaper, kraft paper, and even straw. These products were once used by consumers and thrown away. Cardboard Designs collects these materials and make responsible and innovative products.

Cardboard Designs' products can be classified into four categories:

1.) Kids Products: These products consist of doll houses,playhouses, chairs, and forts for kids to hide out and play in.

2.) Furniture: You can buy tables, desks, space dividers, and shelving.

3.) Vases and Placemats

4.) Liquid Cardboard: This product is truly innovative. A single piece of liquid cardboard can move freely--flowing easily from one shape to another. Each item can transform into many different shapes from vases, bowls, platters, candle holders, a stress toy, or even stylish table-top decoration.


For every one ton of scrap paper that Cardboard Designs recycles they save: 17 trees, 4200 kilowatt hours of electricity, 7000 gallons of water, and 3 cubic yards of landfill space. Not one tree is cut down to make any of the products. The glue that is used to adhere the products is vegetable based; and does not contain any harsh chemicals or animal products. Finally, not one person or country is exploited when making Cardboard Designs' products. In fact, everything the company makes is manufactured in the United States.

And that is truly guffly.

Greenzer Goes Live

Last week, Greenzer's public beta site went live. Greenzer, like Evo, lists thousands of green products from several retailers and puts them in one place. After finding the product you want, you can click to be linked to the retailers website, where you can make a purchase. The site seems to have a limited amount of retailers so far, but they seem committed to making the shopping experience richer over time. What is great about both sites is the rating systems they use to score each product. These allow for simple understanding of how guffly the products are. Pretty cool.

Guster is Green

I've liked the band Guster for awhile now, but it was only today that I learned the they make a point to be more eco-friendly on their tours. Watch the fantastic video below from the Sundance Channel for info on Guster's guffly practices and some concert footage, too.




I knew they were extra special.

Why You Should Love Peace Love Earth

My usual random internet searching led me to find this great green jewelery company called Peace Love Earth. If you like letting the world know about your values or if you don't want to be like everyone else who has the same silver Tiffany's heart necklace, then these necklaces and bracelets are for you. The designer, Anna Mkhitarian, who also designs clothing and accessories, fuses her love of fashion with her passion for peacefulness, positive change, and her care for the environment.

The sterling silver designs are made with recycled, pure .925 sterling silver. The super cute pendant shown here is hand-polished, and other items in the store are hand-made in Los Angeles. I'm digging this pendant, but they also have more subtle designs, if that suits your fancy. The prices range from $60-275, which varies based upon how many charms go into each piece.

Peace Love Earth = adorable, sustainable jewelery with a great message.

Jewelery that Turns You Green

No, not cheapo jewelery that turns your skin green after wearing it. I'm talking about fine jewelery with an eco-conscious and people-friendly purpose.

There's been a lot of engagements and weddings going on around me lately. So, as with most things I don't feel like thinking about, there's been this constant stream of wedding and engagement info going on around me that I otherwise wouldn't have noticed. It always happens that way, right? I've seen TV segments on how to be a "green bride" and how to have a "green wedding," and lately I've even found some guffly engagement and wedding rings.

I found a store called greenKarat, an ecommerce jeweler of jewelery made in more ecologically responsible manner. The company has a strong philosophy and also goes deep on the issues surrounding gold and gems, like conflict diamonds and the impact of mechanized mining processes. Additionally, they go beyond taking issue with conventional practices and actually deliver alternatives. Each piece of jewelery they sell is evaluated on 8 characteristics:

1. Eco Metal: is it made of ecologically mined gold or platinum?
2. Eco Alloy: is the alloy a recycled metal?
3. Eco Findings: are the small parts of the jewelery comprised of recycled gold or platinum?
4. Eco Gems: are the gems ecologically mined?
5. Eco Other: are the other components of ecological origin?
6. Non-Eco: are there items used that are not ecologically responsible?
7. Eco Refinery: did the precious metal on the piece come from an ecologically certified refinery?
8. Eco Bench: did the jewelery maker use eco-friendly procedures in the workplace?

Using these guidelines, greenKarat gives each of its pieces a rating called a Green Assay Record. This allows the customer to view the characteristics of his or her jewelery, and understand how green it is. While they understand that each piece isn't ecologically perfect, because the system isn't yet perfect, greenKarat does pledge to be open and honest with customers about what goes into each piece of jewelery. Plus, the primary metal is every greenKarat design is recycled from another piece of jewelery.

greenKarat also has a section on their site called myKarat that allows customers to recycle their gold for store credit, to reuse their gold to make rings, or to donate their gold to benefit the environment. And with gold at premium value lately, now is the perfect time to start exchanging.