Sunday, November 23, 2008

Good value in green apparel

For her, we couldn't resist telling you about this lacy, light but warm alpaca investment for $29, marked down 80% from $149 at Viva Terra.

He'll be a soft touch in the organic hemp/flax jersey longsleeve crewneck sweater in natural ($56) or natural dye colors ($64), including manly oak and licorice black (yum) at Rawganique.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Green gifts for presidential pets


History in the making: the first African-American president, the first non-Southern Democrat president since JFK, and news that the soon-to-be first family is getting a puppy—which has so many news anchors and bloggers speculating about the breed that we’ve nearly forgotten about the dismal state of our economy.

Despite plummeting stocks, it appears that all pets will be getting extra attention this season, according to a new Consumer Reports survey. Fifty-nine percent of polled respondents said that they plan on giving fewer gifts this season, but only 23 percent said they’d give fewer gifts to their pets. So how are you going to make your pup feel presidential? I’d suggest some Eco Bones from West Paw Design ($9.50 each). These colorful, nontoxic squeaky toys are made from the company’s trademarked fiber, ItelliLoft, which is a polyester made from recycled-plastic soda bottles. And if cats are your fancy, West Paw uses its Intelliloft in toy pumpkins, fish, flowers and turtles stuffed with certified-organic catnip ($5 and up).

For more info, see http://www.westpawdesign.com/. And as far as my vote for the Obamas’ dog of choice, I’m casting my ballot for a Shih Tzu, although in his first press conference after the election , Barack Obama, who incidentally graduated from Punahou, the top green Hawaiian school, he was leaning towards a mongrel, which in Hawaii is called a poi dog.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Affordable green warmth: throws


Something new: Certified organic Vermont merino "O" wool throws, colored with heavy-metal-free dyes, are marked down to $99 from $130 at BlanketsnMore.


Something recycled: A one-of-a-kind Welsh plaid for $29! These gorgeous 45 x 60" throws for picnic, child's bed or couch (or wrapped around shoulders, as Dickensian shawls) are made by Tweedmill Textiles in Wales, and sales benefit Britain's non-profit National Trust, which conserves all those drafty castles and heritage gardens.

Made from recycled wool that's re-spun and woven with random colors (so no two are alike), this is a gift to warm the heart (and toes) of everyone on your list, including, should he be so lucky, the green-minded Prince of Wales. From Royal-oak.org.

Something itch-free: Green (or blue or pink) Eco-fleece throws, made of 50% post-consumer-recycled soda bottles, are made in Costa Rica with fair trade standards under the auspices of the Fair Indigo Foundation. $34.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Green Gridiron Gift


Any non-sports greenies with die-hard, football-fan relatives know how difficult said relatives can be to shop for come birthdays and holidays. This year, however, I found salvation in a small publisher out of Delaware called Asgard Press that prints reproductions of vintage college football programs on notecards and calendars. AND they do it on 100-percent recycled paper with soy-based inks! They have most of the big sports schools covered—Auburn (my brother-in-law’s reason for being), Michigan, Army, Nebraska—as well as the Pac 10 and Ivy League. Classic rivalries such as Stanford/UC Berkeley and Harvard/Yale are also depicted.

Asgard also prints vintage Marvel Comic and Mad Magazine covers. The reproductions are such good quality that the calendar pages are frame-worthy once the year is over. Calendars are $18.95 and a set of 20 notecards (4 different images) is $19.95 at http://www.asgardpress.com/.
By Green Shopper