daily earth love: 350.org

this video from 350.org is going to knock your socks off! it is totally inspiring and creative, and the message is accessible to everyone around the world because it uses images instead of words.

here's what 350.org is all about:
"350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. the most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth." (quoted from 350.org website)

check it out!

also, another perk about 350.org for us artsy-craftsy types, is that they're having a contest! they've teamed up with 5 awesome crafting websites (craftster, burdastyle, etsy, thrifty fun, and craft magazine) to create "the creativity 350 crafting challenge," and it's actually 2 contests in one!


here are the details:

part 1. create a crafting project that conveys the importance of the number 350. you can use any crafting technique that you please.

part 2. a t-shirt design contest! create an original t-shirt design that expresses the importance of the number 350.

*enter your designs by august 15th, and then the public will vote on their favorites! if you win, you'll get all kinds of sweet prizes from the likes of etsy, fred flare, envirosax, and sublime stitching.

you know i'll be entering! i can't wait.

you can read more about the contest here and here.

earth day: part 2

keeping on the earth day theme, i received an email from greenpeace today about 'greenwashing' in businesses. greenwash is "used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.." (cited from stopgreenwash.org)

greenpeace has launched a new website called stopgreenwash.org, where people like you and me can submit ads that we see that we suspect to be not so green as they claim to be.

you can see some examples of greenwashing corporate ads from the website right here .


you can also sign a petition against "clean coal" right here.

don't let them fool you!! check out the website-- the ads range from hummer ads yeah- so environmentally friendly!) to a clean coal success story.

happy earth day!

on this 38th earth day, i find myself wondering what difference i can make today.

the one that is coming to mind first thing this morning is COMPOSTING. when i lived in boulder i was an avid composter-- i'd keep the compostables in the freezer (i know, that sounds really gross!) until it was time to take them to the community compost pile. i tried the bucket method, but it was soooooo stinky! when i lived in ithaca, ny, my college roommates and i would take our compost out to a pile we made behind some bushes in our yard. but since moving to georgia and into an apartment complex, things have changed. i have never lived in an apartment complex before, and i have certainly never lived in a place that does so little in the way of recycling and taking care of our earth as duluth, georgia. when i asked the apartment complex people if there was recycling pick-up, they looked at me like i had 2 heads. there are a few newspaper recycling bins near the overflowing trash compacter in the complex, but no one uses them. so ryan and i faithfully truck our recyclables to the county recycling center every few weeks when it really starts to pile up. at least when we go there it looks like there are quite a few other people in our town recycling as well, but i still end up feeling so sad.

and i am not proud to admit this, but since moving to georgia, i have stopped composting. we don't have a yard in which to start a pile, and i think i've just gotten lazy. which is no excuse.

*so, my earth day commitment today is to start composting again.*

i've seen some composters that you can put under your sink that seem quite nice, but the downside is that they are a bit pricey.

like this one from greenfeet:


$299.00

or this one, also from greenfeet:


$139.95

or this one from composters.com:


$169.50

or this one, also from composters.com, which is made from recycled plastic soda bottles:


$95.50

does anyone have any ideas for more affordable options?

green feet is having a 20% off sale for today only, so i may just bite the bullet and buy one of these babies.

here are a few other earth day links to check out:

here, here, and here.

what are you going to do for earth day?

earth hour 2008

i just pledged my name to participate in earth hour 2008, which means that tomorrow, march 29, 2008, i will turn off all my lights and electricity for one hour, from 8-9 pm, in an effort to reduce our environmental impact as humans.

the first earth hour occurred last year in sydney, australia, and had the effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for an hour. incredible, huh? this year's event is global, so imagine the impact it will have!

you can pledge your name on the earth hour website and get more info on ways you can reduce your footprint. (earth hour was created by the world wildlife fund). they also have a great list of things you can do while your lights are out (don't you think candlelight is romantic??) and beyond, to help our earth.

you can also watch this youtube video for more information about earth hour:

guest blogging on indie fixx!

{photo via spring_peeper's flickr photostream}

happy monday!! and happy st. patrick's day!

are you awake yet? i just had a couple cups of coffee in my favorite little pink mug, and i'm slowly coming out of my sleepy haze.... ryan and i stayed up too late last night watching old episodes of 'lost'... we are, to say the least, obsessed, and catching up on 3 seasons worth of shows that we, for some reason, never watched.

so, i have some fun news to share with you all this morning-- this morning you can read my first guest blogging post on indie fixx! i will be writing a weekly 'green'-themed column (as in eco-friendly), and i am oh so excited. my first post is an interview with anne of relove projects (from my hometown of boulder, co!), and you can read it right here. indie fixx is going green all day today in honor of st. patrick's day (don't forget to wear your green, or you might get pinched!), and it is overflowing with great finds that you won't want to miss.


as part of the column each week, there will also be a green challenge, and anyone can participate! how it works: i give you a challenge for the week, you complete the challenge, photograph your results, post them in the 'indie is the new green' flickr group, and we will choose a winner that will be posted on the following week's blog! fun, huh? and the real kicker: the winner will get a prize! (not every week.... but often!) this week the prize is a reusable coffee cup sleeve made by textile fetish- they are adorable, and help your take-out coffee cup (if you just totally spaced bringing your own mug) be a little more eco-friendly.


happy reading, creating, and happy st. patrick-ing!

rockafeller going green!

this is so inspiring: i just read that the rockafeller center christmas tree is going green this year! instead of the traditional bulbs (which use mucho power, i'm sure you're aware), they are using energy efficient LED lights, and, as if that wasn't cool enough, they installed 363 solar panels on the roof of the rockafeller center, and that's how the tree is going to get some of its electricity!

i'd like to give mayor michael bloomberg a hand. i love when people change traditions to make them more eco-friendly. every step in the right direction is helpful, and hopefully this will inspire new yorkers and beyond to think about the footprint they leave on this earth.

here's to an eco-conscious holiday season!

{via dori and val at greenfeet}

*loving* the biobanger!

i've always had a thing against hand-painted cars. i'm not sure why- i think it has something to do with the fact that it usually looks like a really artistically untalented person went at it with some acrylic paint, and i don't know how they're not completely embarrassed to drive it around. that being said (sorry to anyone that has done this by the way..... don't take it personally, i'm just not a big fan!), i loooove this car. i love the elephant pointing his trunk at the vegetable oil "gas" tank, and i love that the folks that created it are driving it to rome. this is not a car to be embarrassed about driving around in! i love that they're promoting a more eco-friendly, gas-free car, all over europe.

check out more from candeo collective, the creators of this fine vehicle- they are all illustrators and pattern designers.

{via print & pattern}

i'm not a plastic bag

i love this idea. what a great way to raise people's awareness without being nazi-ish about it or judging people for what they are or aren't doing. i have been using canvas bags for years to haul around groceries and other miscellanous things for which canvas bags are tres useful, but mine are certainly not designer bags-- they just have the boulder museum of contemporary art logo plastered on the front. i have a black one with a gigantic image of the earth on it, too!

but these bags= hip and trendy. and if all the cool kids are carrying them, well, you better believe everyone is going to want one. designed by anya hindmarch in london, they were launched in the uk to wild success, and just yesterday were launched in the US!

there are a couple of issues, though: 1) they are made in china (but they claim all the workers are paid minimum wage...) and 2) they are not organic cotton. hmmm..... but not wasting all those plastic bags that go directly into landfills means this is a step in the right direction. better than no step at all in my opinion.

check out their site for information on where you can get your very own "i'm not a plastic bag."

{via paper lily}