Green & Clean

Before you head out to your local boutique to purchase your valentine’s day evening wear consider these Eco sexy lingerie pieces:

Enamore

Bring out your inner pin-up girl with Enamore’s flirty Annabel camisole and short set, made with white ruched stretched organic silk camisole and fastened with a pink satin bow.

Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney’s Clara Whispering Chemise is an understated classic with detail. It can be found — along with fair trade sex toys to mix it up — at the Roddick sisters’ upscale sex boutique Coco de Mer in New York City. McCartney’s collection is made with made with organic cotton, silk, and chiffon and her elegant designs show that sustainability and high fashion can go hand-in-hand.

Eco Boudoir

Eco Boudoir’s organic padded bra with French knickers are ideal for the fierce at heart.

Loup Charmant

Loup Charmant’s organic cotton designs are simply elegant. Wear this sheer slip with next to nothing or nothing at all and exude sensual pleasure.

T-Luxe

T-Luxe lingerie uses sustainable fabrics including soy, organic cotton, and organic silk, all colored with low impact, natural dyes. Energy consumption during production is offset through carbon offset programs.

Pictured: T-Luxe organic “Anniversary Nightie.”

g=9.8

White it may be hot inside it is still winter–and quite nippy outdoors. Suit up appropriately with g=9.8’s sexy thigh-high leg warmers.

g=9.8 lingerie is made from LENPUR, a sustainable textile made from white pine tree clippings processed with enzymes into fiber. The wood fiber is made from sustainably managed wood and only certain parts of the trees are chosen, while harvesting coincides with normal pruning.

Jonano

Jonano’s organic cotton and bamboo Ecolux Kimono Wrap is ideal for the slow reveal, try 50 Ways to Please Your Lover.

Knickers in a Box

Panties by Knickers in a Box are handmade with the Designer’s collection of rare and vintage fabrics — from jute to organic Indian paper silk. These undies are individually designed, limited edition, and come wrapped in eco-friendly tissue paper–the option to forgo the special packaging is also available.

GreenKnickers

Bring out your inner child with these ruffled panties by GreenKnickers, locally made with organic cotton Gusset with recycled fabrics.

Luva Huva

Luva Huva’s hand made Magnolia knickers with a matching bra are hand made with end of line fabrics, remnants, and cut-offs that would otherwise go to waste.

So there you have it..10 options for a green & sexy lingerie.  Read more from Treehugger

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I’m so tempted to open this post with a series of football clichés and metaphors. You know, something like this:

It’s fourth and goal for Planet Earth. Thirty seconds on the clock with no time-outs left. Down by 3. Do we kick the game-tying field goal or go for the win?

But I’d never, ever stoop so low. Besides, unlike my usual fare, this is definitely a game-tying field goal kind of post.

So, if you find yourself at a party on Sunday, February 7 and the flat screen home theater is displaying images of steroid-pumped men crashing into each other in pursuit of a leather-covered object, hey…at least you’ll know the chips and dips are forward-looking (and organic).

DIY Chips

Make Your Own Tortilla Chips
As Kelly Rossiter explains, all you need is some masa harina flour, water, and salt.

Raw Curried Potato Chips
Hey, even football fans can sometimes go raw. For this eco-treat, you’ll need: 8 large potatoes, curry powder, salt, freshly cracked pepper, cumin, and one organic lemon.

DIY Dips

Lemon-Walnut Hummus
According to our resident expert, Kelly Rossiter, whipping up this popular party dip will require: 1/2 cup walnuts, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cayenne pepper, 15-ounce can chickpeas, extra-virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 garlic cloves, and sea salt.

Overtime Guacamole
This recipe comes courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, so gather the following: 2 ripe avocados, yellow onion, jalapeno or Serrano chilies, 2 cloves garlic, fresh cilantro, 2 limes, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Salsa Mexicana
Once again, Kelly has the scoop. This dipping favorite uses: 12 ounces tomatoes, 1 medium white onion, 2 to 8 serrano or jalapeño chiles, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, and coarse kosher salt.

Once you’ve dazzled your football friends with these DIY delights, you might be able to kick-off a rational discussion on the concept of leather.
By Mickey Z.

Make a dent in holiday waste this year by “recycling” your fresh Christmas tree after you are done celebrating.

Instead of taking up valuable space in landfills, where decay is painfully slow because of a lack of oxygen, Christmas trees can be readily ground into wood chips or made into useful compost. Considering that nearly 29 million households opted for a real Christmas tree in 2006, that’s a lot of wood chips!

To make it easy, the industry group National Christmas Tree Association has teamed up with Scottsdale, Arizona-based conservation group Earth911 to point consumers in the right direction with their trees. On their Website, you can enter your zip code to find the nearest of 3,800-plus spots nationwide that accept old trees.

All those holiday cardboard boxes—the ones that your online orders came in, the shirt-boxes that your grandmother used to wrap your new sweater, the packaging from all those kids’ toys and new electronics—don’t have to end up in your recycling bin on December 26; instead, take your inspiration from Australian site Makedo and its ten ideas for reusing cardboard on Boxing Day.

Cardboard boxes become everything from drink coasters to Christmas tree ornaments with the suggestions on the site, though there aren’t step-by-step instructions, so novice DIYers might need to leave some time to complete the projects. Some of the simpler ones? Round ornaments made from flexible cardboard boxes, holiday angels with corrugated wings, and simple reindeer faces to brighten your winter decor. Intermediate crafters can add wrapping paper to make pretty fans, customize a picture frame (with its own stand), and create a cardboard train using bubble wrap as steam.

Have you made your own cardboard projects from leftover boxes? Leave other ideas and suggestions in the comments and help the entire community increase reuse and decrease waste.

If you are a gardener, and the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season — the traffic, the crowds, and the department stores — wears you down, you can venture into your garden to soothe your soul and to make gifts for friends and loved ones.

You don’t need to spend a lot of time to create beautiful, thoughtful, and easy gifts. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. If you are already making food items for the holiday season, include your herbs or fruit in your favorite recipes; use your own lemons for lemon bars, or add your own herbs to your famous barbecue sauce, jelly, or bread. For the gourmet in your life, give decorative, matching bottles or jars of your herbs, or make flavored vinegars from your thyme, rosemary, or cilantro. Add raspberries, oranges, or other fruits. You can top them off with matching ribbon and gift tags that say “From My Garden.”

2. For those lucky enough to be in more temperate climates, give a basket full of your winter bounty, and make a traditional fruit basket using your winter citrus, apples and other fruit. You can also supplement your own produce by shopping at the farmers’ market and include persimmons, nuts, and dried fruit.

3. Put together a living salad bowl by planting leaf lettuce seedlings in a container. You can include some great leaf varieties such as Arugula (a peppery green usually served raw in salads and sometimes cooked in soups or pastas), Mache (with small, dark green leaves), and Frisee (pale, long-stemmed, and curly), to create your own Mesclun (mixed) salad mix. In a few weeks, the container should be full of tender green plants that can be snipped as needed and will continue to grow new leaves as long as they are harvested from the outside leaves first.

4. If you are looking for a unique hostess gift, collected natural items (branches, seeds, leaves, fruits) make great door ornaments, wreaths, and swags. Read my story on easy ways to make these.

Thanksgiving is about celebrating all the things you’re thankful for. But it’s also about celebrating the fall harvest, giving thanks for the food the earth has provided. So what better time is there to support and encourage sustainable living?

Instead of picking up the usual hostess gift, which is probably not green, look for eco-friendly alternatives. It may sound like extra work, but with so many green products available, it’s more about thinking green as you shop.

Here are seven great ways to naturally show thanks to your host or hostess this Thanksgiving.

1. Plants (Not Flowers)
Flowers are an easy hostess gift, but the cut flower industry isn’t exactly eco-friendly. Instead, spend the extra couple of dollars to get a potted plant that will help cleanse the air in your host’s home, or herbs your host can cook with over the winter.

2. Vegan/Vegetarian Cookbook
Encourage your hosts to eat greener by bringing them a cookbook that helps them reduce the amount of meat they eat —even if it’s only once a week or once a month. For a book that includes recipes and information about veganism, you can’t go wrong with Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet.

3. A DIY Recipe Box
Pick up an ugly recipe box from the dollar store and decoupage on beautiful pictures of food from magazines. Want to make it extra special? Ask your friend’s mom for childhood photos of your host cooking, and use those to cover the box.

4. Homemade Jam or Preserves
Nothing says appreciation like something made by you. If you made jam or preserves in the summer or fall, why not give a small selection to your hostess? It’s a personal and sweet treat.

5. Soy or Beeswax Candles
Everyone loves candles this time of year, but paraffin candles contribute to indoor air pollution. A nice soy or beeswax candle with a ribbon tied to the box or tin is a simple and sweet way to show appreciation to your hosts.

6. Organic Tea
There’s nothing quite like a hot cup of tea on a cold night — which is why a selection of organic loose leaf teas is the perfect autumn gift. Don’t forget to also buy an infuser if your host doesn’t have one already.

7. Organic Wine
Wine is the universal last-minute hostess gift, and a general crowd pleaser. So if you find yourself popping into the store to grab a bottle of wine on the way to Thanksgiving dinner, do the planet a favor and make it an organic wine.

We’re all for making your own gift wrap with upcycled scraps, or simply skipping it altogether. But if you really want some professional wrapping paper, we suggest Earth Presents.

Everything About Earth Presents Wrapping Materials Considers the Planet

The paper itself is 100% recycled, and recyclable. That’s a big deal considering many wrapping papers use materials that render it impossible to recycle it again. Earth Presents, on the other hand, is made from paper that is 100% recycled content, 100% post-consumer waste and processed chlorine free with vegetable-based inks so that it can be put safely in the recycling bin.

The gift tags are also made from 100% recycled and recyclable paper, and are printed on green raw materials using a green powered factory. The bows are made from recycled water bottles, and even the packaging is green(er), being made from biodegradable plastics, and 100% recycled corrugate and mailing labels use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper and recyclable adhesive.

What makes Earth Presents Extra Special

Another reason why we like Earth Presents as a greener option for wrapping goes beyond how eco-friendly the actual product is. The company is dedicated to the arts and helping students.

The artwork on the papers are from the artwork of students at WVSA Arts Connection, a nonprofit organization serving Washington, DC area children and youth with special needs, special skills, and special talents. Having their art featured on an actual product is a big boost. And Earth Presents contributes to School of Arts in Learning (SAIL) – part of WVSA – by donating paper to the school to sell and allowing it to keep all the profits. along with 5% of the proceeds from the sale of our products derived from the students’ artwork.

Promoting the creativity of art students through an undeniably greener product is definitely admirable. So, if you are desperate to buy paper instead of creating alternative wrapping, here’s one company we give a thumbs up to.