Busting Five MORE Green Myths

Myth #6: Changing over my lightbulbs will save me money, but the payback on everything else just takes too long.
Actually, many changes (like rechargeable batteries and energy star appliances) payback quickly too...often in less than 3 years.

Myth #7:  Small changes won't make any difference.
Actually, I did a post earlier this year talking about the difference that small changes make when you multiply it by millions of people who are making them.  Everything you do either helps the environment or hurts it.  Something as simple as planting your own garden (even a small one in pots) can reduce your carbon footprint.  Substantial amounts of fossil fuels are used to transport fruits and veggies to you.  You can't grow all the food you need, but you can grow some.

Myth #8: Keeping my old appliances is more eco-friendly than replacing them.
There is a bit of truth to this if you take into account the energy used to produce and transport your new energy efficient appliances.  However, the amount of energy you will save beginning as soon as you install them will dramatically reduce your energy consumption, far offsetting this over the life span of the energy effient (energy star) appliances.

Myth #9: It's better to leave my computer on, turning it on and off wears it out faster.
This may have been true of old computers, but today's computers do not suffer from the same issue.  Turn them off when you are not using them. You'll save money and energy by doing so and your computer will not have a shorter lifespan.

Myth #10: There is nothing wrong with buying things made of plastic, it's all made of recycled plastic now, right?
Wrong. Only certain kinds of plastic get recycled. Vinyl and PVC plastic do not get recycled and leach heavy metals into our landfills.

Busting Five Green Myths!

Many people think it's just too hard to go green. I'm here to tell you that it's far easier than you think.  Here are some common myths about going green:

Myth #1: I can't afford to go green.
You can't afford not to! This can be true for somethings, but is definitely not true for most. Eating organic can be a bit more expensive.  However, using eco-friendly lightbulbs and following some of the tips posted in this blog can actually save you money!

Myth#2: I can only be green if I drive a hybrid.
Are you kidding me? Making some very simple changes to your life like eating one more vegitartian meal a week or washing with cold water and hanging your clothes to dry can benefit the environment more than a hybrid car ever would.

Myth #3: We just need to build more power plants and we'll be fine.
Guess what, we have all the energy we need right now if we would just become more energy efficient. Something as simple as every home in North America changing over their lighting to CFL's (energy efficient bulbs) would remove the need for 24 power plants.

Myth #4: I can't switch to CFL's. I've heard they contain mercury which is a bigger problem.
Yes, they do contain a teeny tiny bit of mercury...but it is less than the amount in a watch battery.  You are in far more danger from the Coal and Gas burning power plants that spew mercury into the air when they make electricity than you'll ever be by using CFL's.  These bulbs are so energy efficient that they use two thirds less energy than a standard incandescent bulb. Less energy used means less mercury spewed into the atmosphere!

Myth #5: Solar panels are so expensive, I could never afford them.
That's ok.  You don't need them.  You'd save far more money and energy by making simple changes around your house to make it more energy efficient.  We've given lots of tips in earlier blog posts.

Contest! Help Us Choose Our Charity T-Shirt Logo

As we, at EcoStylish living, prepare to launch our new website on Earth Day, we've put together a fun contest!

Below you will find potential logos for our 2010 environmental fundraising campaign. YOU get to decide which logo we'll use this year!

Once the votes are in, the T-shirt will go up for sale on our website and we will donate 100% of the profit to the World Wildlife Fund to address global warming.

Please leave a comment and let us know which T-shirt logo should win.  Everyone who leaves a vote in the comment section will be entered into a draw and we will randomly pick one winner (must live in Canada or the United States to win).  The winner will receive an organic cotton T-Shirt printed with the winning logo!

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Good luck!!

Admit It, You Aren't Sure That Going Green Will Make A Difference

This year, why not make the choice to join the One Million Acts of Green initiative that allows you to watch the difference that small acts make--one by one.

Log in and pick an act of green--like replacing your light bulbs with CFLs--that you can commit to doing and then witness firsthand the difference one small act can make.

So far, in Canada alone, we have passed 1.8 million acts of green that have saved over 410 million pounds of greenhouse gases. You can make a difference, one green act at a time!

Green Is The New Black Volume IV

Here are five more green tips for living a green lifestyle. You can also check out our past tips in Volume I, Volume II and Volume III.

16. Eat locally as much as you can.  The average distance a piece of fruit or vegetable has travelled to get to your plate is 2400km.  That has a heavy cost in CO2 released into the atmosphere.  Check out local farmer's markets or specialty stores to see what is available in your area.  Even your local grocery store will have products grown close to home when they are in season.  In Canada, there are regulations requiring that signage identify country of origin so you can see where your food comes from.  You can also check out the website for The 100 mile diet for more tips on eating locally.

17. Green your renovations. We live in an old farm house (circa 1854) and renovations have become an ongoing part of our life. I love restoring the house while also being able to incorporate some some green principles into what we are doing.  Wherever possible, we've restored the original floors. Not only are they gorgeous, but by refinishing them we were able to avoid chemically treated carpets. In places where we can not refinish the floors because they are too damaged, we've installed bamboo flooring.  Also beautiful, but from a sustainable resource.  The other advantage of an old farmhouse is the big windows.  They allow more natural light into the house which reduces the amount of time our lights need to be on. We've replaced our old windows with low-e glass. They have a higher R value so they reduce heat loss in the winter and keep the house cooler in the summer. Another, less obvious tip is to check out salvage yards and antique dealers for antique building supplies and decor.  Don't cringe. Even the designers are doing it these days. I've had more compliments on some of the antique doors and door handles in our house than you can imagine. It adds character and restores the feel of an older house.

18. Use the car wash.  You may be surprised to find out that washing your car at home can be much less water efficient than going to a drive through. An average wash at home can take between 80 to 140 gallons of water.  On the other hand, water efficient equipment at a car wash can take water usage down to 45 gallons per car wash.

18. Buy rechargeable batteries. This is one of the best investments our family has ever made.  Sure, they are more expensive initially.  However, the shear number of times you can use them, combined with the materials used, make them much more environmentally friendly than disposable batteries.  In a 2007 study by Uniross rechargeable batteries were found to have 32 times less impact on the environment compared to disposable batteries. The members of our family are big fans of gadgets, so it's been ridiculously convenient to have rechargeable batteries on hand rather than having to run to the store every time a digital camera goes dead. Here's my big tip--pick a spot in the house for the charger and keep it there permanently.  Put a small box beside it for charged batteries. Every time someone goes for batteries, the old ones go into the charger, the charged ones come out and go into their device.  Extra batteries stay in the box so they don't get lost.  Losing the batteries defeats the purpose...we've learned that through experience. At the end of their life when they won't hold a charge anymore, you can recycle them through Call2Recycle if you live in Canada or the United States. They have an extensive list of drop off points so most people will be able to find a location that is very convenient to use.

19. Cut your grass less often. Grass that is greener and requires less water when you let it grow to a minimum of 3 inches. Think of those emissions you'll save by running your gas powered lawn more less often.

20.  Get involved.  It doesn't take very much to have your voice heard by the politicians and to take action on climate change. If you are Canadian, there are some quick tips on Climate Action Network.  In a matter of minutes you can send a message to your Member of Parliament to show your support. You can also take less than 5 minutes to send a note to the Prime Minister and the leaders of parliament through the David Suzuki website.  There is a pre-written email that you can use (though you'll want to do a quick change to the lines about Copenhagen now that December has come and gone). If you are American, a quick search of the web will give you plenty of options. Here are a few different ways to contact the President. Interestingly, he even has a Twitter account.

Fashion Takes Action!

We are proud to announce that EcoStylish Living is now a member of Fashion Takes Action. FTA began in 2007 as a Green Gala fundraiser in support of Environmental Defence. Ten of Canada's leading fashion designers each made three outfits from sustainable fabrics for the event. The goal was to demonstrate, both to consumers and to the fashion industry, that sustainable materials could be used in high end garments.

The organization has grown from this event and now both educates and supports fashion related businesses to become sustainable.  They believe that: 

"If we all make one small change in the right direction--the greener direction--then collectively we believe it can have a positive social and environmental impact."

We are proud to partner with an organization that not only has such a worthy goal, but act on it.

Eco Friendly Fresh Start for Spring!

With Spring quickly approaching, a fresh start to going green may be on your mind.  If so, here are a few quick tips that you may find helpful:

1. Talk to your children about ways to make your life a little bit greener.  You may be surprised by what they already know. Brainstorm with them and come up with ideas that they can actively do to help make a difference for the environment.  With warmer weather approaching, perhaps they can spend more time outdoors and less time watching TV.  As the days get longer, why not leave the lights off until you really need them. Try not to waste water by leaving taps running while brushing teeth.  These are all types of things your children can participate in doing (or not doing).

2. Talk to your children about recycling and composting. Even in urban areas, there are often opportunities to do both.  There are even counter top composting buckets with filters to eliminate unwanted smells.  Why not turn a lesson about composting into an opportunity to garden with your children using the composted material as fertilizer. Even if you don't have a yard, a small herb garden is possible.  Some "green" or "Leed Certified" apartment buildings even offer the opportunity to have rooftop gardens.

3. Walk the Talk.  Teach your children not to litter by setting the example.  Teach your children about endangered animals by doing research with them on the internet or taking them to see them at the zoo.  Teach your children to care, by showing that you care.

And, as in all things, make sure you have fun!

Green Is The New Black Volume III

The "five green tips" series continues!  To see volume I click here.  Volume II in the series can be found here.

It truly is easy being green.  Anything you do to improve your carbon footprint is a win!  You don't need to go "off grid" and become a vegan to live lightly. It's all about making good choices that are easier on the earth. Regular people like you and I with busy lives, children and careers who have been entrenched in a society that promotes consumables and waste CAN make a difference! Here are some more easy ways you can help:

11. Meatless Monday's. Eat just one less meal that contains meat per week and save 300lbs of CO2 per year.  You don't need to become a vegetarian, but if you replaced one steak dinner per week with a meatless alternative, you would not only save CO2, but you'd save 40,200 gallons of water in a year--that's roughly equal to the water used to take 1300 showers. For more information you can visit the Meatless Monday website.

12. If every North American citizen recycled only half of their annual waste, we'd recycle a 280 million TON mountain of trash--the equivalent of 550 Empire State buildings.  Here are some quick stats on recycling to explain the benefit: recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a 100 watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours or a TV for 2 hours. (EPA, 2008). Glass can be recycled forever.  Americans throw away enough glass bottles and jars every week to fill both the former world trade centre towers...imagine the impact to our landfill sites.  Plastic is also prime for recycling.  If every North American recycled just one out of every 10 plastic bottles, it would keep 200 million pounds of plastic out of landfill sites. 

13.  Paying bills online saves time, postage and trees.  If everyone switches to online banking, we could cut 2.1 million tons of CO2 a year!

14. Use cloth shopping bags. Over 500 billion petroleum-based plastic bags threaten wildlife, waste energy, pollute oceans, and clog our landfill sites each year.

15. Install ceiling fans to keep you cool in the summer. When winter rolls around, run the fans in reverse to push the warm air down and conserve heat. Remember, a two degree adjustment to your thermostat can prevent a TON of CO2 per year!

Do you have any ideas or tips, leave a comment and let us know about it! You can also tweet with us on Twitter.

Carbon Brutal To Carbon Neutral In 4 Easy Steps

I just posted a new article on Squidoo about living a greener life.  You can check it out by clicking on the title of this blog post. Let me know if you find it helpful!

Green is the New Black-Is Back! (More Tips for a Green Lifestyle)

Here are a few sticky notes off my wall with tips I've come across for living a greener life.  To see the first five tips click here.

As always, we'd love to hear your tips for living a greener lifestyle.  Please leave us a comment or chat with us on Twitter.

ANGeLRoX Partners with EcoStylish!

We are so very excited to share with you the launch of ANGeLRoX products at EcoStylish!

The ANGeLRoX collection is designed by Roxi Sugar who is, by the way, an absolutely delightful and brilliantly talented lady.

Not only do we love her beautiful designs, but we are delighted that Roxi is so committed to sustainability and the impact of her clothing on the environment. Her designs are timeless in a way that transcends the wasteful fashion engine that encourages consumers to buy trends for one season.

Her fabrics are naturally derived bamboo, and organic cotton fibres that are sumptuous on the skin and also biodegradable. Most of the collection is made in Brooklyn, NY using locally sourced fabrics. The few imported items in the collection are made in sweat shop free facilities that guarantee fair wages.

Roxi is committed to philanthropy and has a solid portfolio of charities that ANGeLRoX supports. With her collection, Roxi hopes to inspire people to treat themselves, others and the planet with equal respect and harmony.  We can't think of many goals more worthy than that one!

Green is the New Black!

You don't have to wait until Earth Day to make some relatively small changes to your habits that can have a big effect!  Here are a few of my favorite "green" tips:

1. When you are in the market for a new computer, why not consider a laptop.  It saves space, is portable, and uses 5 times less energy than a desktop!

2. This is one of my recent favorites! Instead of sending your old rugs to the landfill, check with local animal shelters to see if they can use them. Old towels, blankets and sheets are also appreciated.

3. Buy shade grown coffee. It's grown naturally right under the rainforest canopy, preserving forests from clear-cutting and leaving more trees to absorb CO2.

4. The power of one: If every North American home replaced just one light bulb with a CFL bulb, we'd save more than enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year!

5. Washing clothes in cold water eliminates 2lbs of CO2 per load. In my household full of kids, that really adds up over the year!

Do you have any green tips you'd like to share? Please leave us a comment or chat with us on twitter.

Gifts That Give Back!

My family is slowly beginning to understand my desire to be a socially conscious consumer and it shows in the gifts I received this year!

I'm a gadget geek and the number one gift on my list this year was an iPod touch.  Not only do I love Apple's intuitive designs and cutting edge technology, but I wholly support their mission to report the environmental impact of their products in a comprehensive manner. I can easily pull up the CO2 emissions created in the manufacture of my iPod and offset accordingly. My iPod is highly recyclable when it reaches it's end of life, has a mercury free display, is PVC free and is made with power-efficient components.  On top of all that, my family gave me a Novothink Surge hybrid solar charger. Not only are these great gadgets, but they reflect a definite focus on respecting the environment on behalf of Apple and Novothink.

Another socially responsible gadget I received this year was a teeny tiny camcorder.  Not only is the Flip Mino HD a hip little gadget, but they have this amazing program called "Flip for Good".  In conjunction with Cafe Press, they've created a crazy variety of designs that can be printed on your Flip in order to support one of 17 different non-profit charities. A portion of the proceeds from my flip ($10USD) will support "Go Campaign" work for orphaned and vulnerable children around the world. Now THAT is something I can really feel good about.

It's easy to find socially responsible and earth friendly gifts that your family will love.  Every choice we make can have a positive impact.

Would you like to share your story about a socially responsible gift you gave or recieved this year? I'd love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment below or connect with us on twitter.

Four Fun Facts About Recycling (That Just Might Surprise You)!

I've heard a lot of statistics this year about recycling and some of them are outright jaw dropping.  Here are a few that stand out:

1. An aluminum can that ends up in a landfill site will still be an aluminum can 500 years from now. Recycling that very same aluminum can save enough energy to power a TV for 3 to 4 hours. Wow.


2. If all Americans recycled just 1/10th of their newspapers, it would save 25,000,000 trees a year. No kidding.

3. 4000 years.  That's the minimum length of time it takes for a modern glass bottle to decompose.  The energy saved by recycling that same glass bottle can power a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours.

4. 38 Million.  That's a very low estimate of the number of disposable water bottles that North Americans use each year--most of which end up in landfill where it can take up to 700 years for them to decompose. Recycling just five 2L PET bottles makes enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket. It's not hard to see that recycling is the better solution.

Have you read any fun recycling facts you would like to share? Please feel free to leave a comment or to connect with me on twitter.

5 Tips for Sustainable Living (That Real People Can Do!)

So often I come across blogs offering tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle, but the tips that they offer are not necessarily realistic for busy moms and dads.

It would be great if we could all ride our bicycles everywhere we go, but that's just not realistic for everyone. Electric cars? Another great idea, but not (yet) realistic for people who have to travel long distances.

I think we would all choose live in a way that is better for the planet provided it's realistic and convenient.  In light of that, I've put together five tips for sustainable living that are practical and realistic even if you have a crazy busy lifestyle.  It doesn't take a significant amount of effort to make a difference for the planet.

Here are my tips (in no particular order):

1. Buy a programmable thermostat. Did you know that this is one of the easiest things you can do to help fight global warming? They are relatively inexpensive (ranging from $30 to $300) and you can easily recoup the cost in the first year of using it. Create a program to lower the temperature of the house while you are at work and then have it start to warm up the house before you come home. Do the opposite in the summer.  Most will also let you create a different program for weekdays and weekends.  Once programmed, it takes no further effort. You'll not only save energy, but you'll save money too.

2. Buy Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFL).  They are a bit more expensive that normal lightbulbs but this is offset by the fact that they last longer and more than pay for themselves in energy savings. If every North American home replaced only one incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb, it would reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars in one year.

3. Use food grade stainless steel or reusable plastic water bottles that are tested and don't leach BPA.  I started using stainless steel bottles this year and my kids have been using BPA free plastic instead of disposable water bottles from the grocery store for a few years now.  I've found them far more convenient than expected. Not only are they BPA free but they can help reduce landfill.  You may be surprised to learn that North Americans sent upwards of 38 million plastic water bottles into landfill sites in 2006 alone.

4. Buy products that you know are better for the planet.  Fair Trade coffee now can be found in major Retailers at an equivalent cost to other good coffees.  Look for clothing, bedding, decor and other products from Retailers that screen their vendors for earth friendly practices.  You'll find a variety of eco-friendly, organic, fair trade items at EcoStylish Living. Shop smart. Spend your money with Retailers that sell products that are better for our planet.

5. Save money. Save trees. Go paperless.  Do your banking and credit cards online. Have them email your monthly statements to you instead of mailing them.  You could also move your magazine and newspaper subscriptions online.  Most major publications have this option available. The advantage is that you'll actually get your news faster than you did with a traditional newspaper.

I'd love to hear your ideas and tips.  Please leave a comment or chat with me on Twitter.

EcoStylish Now Carries Text Message Baby Organic Onesies!

We are excited to announce that we now carry hip organic onesies by Text Message Baby.

These trendy and hilarious onesies are a perfect gift for that little one in your life.  These silky soft 100% SKAL certified organic onesies are made with low impact dyes and are printed with natural inks (in chocolate or cream) derived from soy beans and orange oils, which are 100% biodegradable and non-toxic.

This humorous baby line was designed with two groups in mind; ultra hip little ones and their intellectual, yet fashionable parents. This collection combines earth-friendly materials and sweatshop-free factories with bold, bright organic colours and hip yet simple designs.  We think these baby inspired text messages represent eco-friendly style with an edge! Stop by EcoStylish and check them out!

As always, we appreciate your feedback.  Please let us know what you think by posting a comment or by talking to us on Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you.

Are Bamboo Products Environmentally Friendly?

Bamboo has attracted some controversy in the past year about whether bamboo products, and in particular bamboo fabrics, are truly environmentally friendly.

There is no question that Bamboo is one of the most interesting and sustainable resources we have available to us. It is the fastest growing plant on earth reaching 50 feet tall within 5 years versus a hardwood tree that can take 30 years to achieve the same height. It produces more biomass and 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of a comparable size. As a result, it very effectively sequesters carbon (up to 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare) which helps reduce global warming. It can be selectively harvested so that it renews without replanting.  You may be surprised to learn that it is actually a grass, not a tree.

The truly fascinating thing about Bamboo is how versatile the plant and fibre can be for manufacturing.  You can find bamboo used for decor (furniture, baskets, dishes, decorations, etc) and clothing, but you can also find it used for flooring and other building materials.  I have bamboo flooring in my office and I love it.  It's truly beautiful.

The controversey does not centre around the use of the wood, but rather in the use of the fibre for clothing and bedding.  Bamboo fabric is luxuriously soft and far less expensive than silk and cashmere.  That, combined with it's "eco-friendly" reputation, has led it to become very popular in the fashion industry.  The issue with bamboo clothing is that the manufacturing cycle to process the fibre requires the use of heavy chemicals, some of which are toxic. Very, very little of today's bamboo fabrics could qualify as organic. I still believe the future is bright for this product.  New technologies are being developed that will eventually remove the harsh chemicals from the manufacturing process. At the moment, they are very expensive and it will take time to get to an affordable solution.  In the meantime, the source of the fibre continues to be a very sustainable source.  We truly struggled with whether we should carry bamboo fabrics at  EcoStylish.  After doing research on the vendors available we found one that we can believe in and who meets our strict criteria. We love that we can validate that they use sustainable practices. They travel to China twice a year to inspect the factory and talk with employees to ensure their code of conduct with regards to fair treatment and environmental policies are being followed.  The factory operates with a 97% closed loop cycle (which is fantastic for this industry) to recover the chemicals and reuse them.  The fibre leaves the process with no chemical residue and all clothing and bedding from this manufacturer are Oeko-Tex certified which is an industry standard that screens to ensure there are no harmful chemicals or residues in the fabric.
They also use AZO free dyes and microorganisms are used in the water to help purify it after the dying process.  The water emerges ph balanced, pure, clean and ready to be reused.  This manufacturer also gives back through charity, recycles, uses electric trucks, and purchases carbon offsets.  We are confident that they are a socially responsible company and we feel very good that they've gone above and beyond to ensure that their clothing and bedding have the smallest possible impact on our planet.  

Please let us know what you think by leaving a post or by talking to us on twitter.

Photo (c)Tomo.Yun (www.yunphoto.net/en/)

Top 3 Eco Tips For The Holidays

With the holidays quickly approaching, I thought I would share a few quick ideas to help 'green' your holidays.

When you filter through all the information, there are some really interesting ideas available on the web that you can take advantage when planning your holiday season:

1. Holiday Greeting Cards: The most environmentally friendly option is, of course, to send your family and friends an e-card.  This saves the eco-cost of manufacturing and transporting an actual greeting card.  If you look online, you'll even find that most of your favorite charitable organizations (e.g. World Wildlife Fund) have a selection of e-cards that you can send that reflect your personal beliefs. I use e-cards for family and friends that live far away. I, personally, still like to give people a hand written card face to face.  My favorite find for Christmas Cards this year are seed paper cards that bloom when you plant them.  If you google, you can find many companies that make them.  I just love the idea that the card I give out can be planted and will grow wild flowers. I also have to admit that the 100% recycled paper and the soy & water based inks help to sell me on the cards from Bloomin.com.  If you research, you'll find a variety of companies that sell seed cards with designs that are truly adorable.

2. Decorating:  If you celebrate Christmas, you may expect me to tell you that an artificial tree is the most envirnomentally friendly solution because it's reusable year after year. Would you be surprised to find out that it's not?  Artificial trees require a significant amount of energy and petroleum products in the manufacturing cycle--not to mention that most are made overseas and shipped to North America.  A real tree is actually an eco-friendly choice provided you take care with how it is handled after the holidays.  One of our favorite family traditions is to take our children to a local tree farm to pick out and cut down our own tree.  We can feel good about it because it is a farmed tree, so we are not impacting the viability of local forests, and we are only transporting it a relatively short distance to our home.   Our local municipality has a recycling program for Christmas trees, but they can also be put through a chipper and makes good mulch. Another alternative, if you don't mind a small tree, is to buy a potted tree that can planted outside when the weather warms up. That's the best recycling program of all! Another way to 'green' your decorations is to move away from traditional string lights and choose energy efficient  light strings instead.  Some LED light strings are as much as 90% more energy efficient than traditional and look just as good. Further, they have almost double the life of traditional light strings which means less frustration. When decorating your tree, you can choose ornaments that are handmade from natural materials.  Often they come with less packaging which reduces waste.  Search the internet and you'll find sources for Fair Trade ornaments which are a wonderful solution and are both unique and beautiful. My last inexpensive but lovely decorating tip comes from my Grandmother. She used to cut fresh pine boughs to decorate the house.  It's a tradition we still enjoy...the smell is wonderful.

3. Gifts: If you are looking for sustainable and eco-friendly gift ideas, there are plenty available if you know where to look. One of the most popular questions is about how to manage gift giving. In recent years it's become much easier to find great designs in 100% recycled wrapping paper. You can also choose the option of cloth gift bags. My personal favorite this year for gift giving will be seed paper gift bags...I just love these products. With regards to the gifts themselves, ideally you simply want to make the more sustainable and eco-friendly choice when shopping for gifts in order to 'green' your holiday.  Organic cotton sheets are a lovely alternative to the ordinary.  Bamboo is one of our most interesting sustainable resources and they make wonderfully soft environmentally friendly bedding as well. Organic and sustainable toys can be a great solution for those special children in your life. For the techie in your family who loves their gadgets, there are some great gift ideas that are good for the environment and fun to use.  One of the green gadgets on my list this year is the Novothink Solar Charger for iPod and iPhone. I sure hope that the big guy in the red suit leaves one under the tree for me this year!

I'd love to hear how you "green" the holidays.  Please feel free to leave a comment or chat with me on Twitter.


*Photo by D Sharon Pruitt.

Welcome to EcoStylish Living!

From Mom to Baby we've got you covered!


EcoStylish was launched for one reason and one reason only.  We want to offer you the very best we can find in stylish Organic, Fair trade, and Eco-Friendly products from socially conscious designers. We want people to feel good about the purchases they make!  Wouldn't it be nice if the dollars you spent on your family also helped the planet?
We've done the research and what we've found is that trendy, fun and luxurious products can also be eco-friendly. Not all our products meet all of the 'green' attributes available, but all of them are good for the planet in some way. We make every effort to provide you with all the information you need on each product to explain why we believe it to be a planet friendly choice, and then you decide based on what characteristics are important you. You can use your purchases to vote for what you believe in.
A few years before EcoStylish was launched, we decided that we wanted to vote with our purchases too.  We went online and were very surprised by what we found.  It was not very easy to find eco-friendly or socially concious products.  We found alot of 'eco' and 'green' blogs that showed products but not alot of places to actually buy the products.  The retail sites that we did find did not have the "wow" factor that made us want to pull out our credit card.  We wanted to be excited by the products and, well, we just weren't that excited by what we found.
That's when the seed was planted for EcoStylish. We decided then that we wanted to provide people with products that were fun, interesting and even luxurious that they could truly feel good about buying.  We wanted the products to be so good that we'd buy them too!  
Truth be told, we wanted not only to find products with that "wow" factor, but we wanted to work with people we could believe in.  We wanted to work with people who believed in paying a fair wage and giving back to their communities. That is what we are doing, and will continue to do in the future.
We welcome you to EcoStylish and we hope you'll love these products as much as we do!  We encourage you to ask questions and give us your feedback. We also encourage you to review our products on our Facebook page. You can now connect with us on Twitter to get the latest news on new products and eco trends.
It's important to us that we stay fresh and continue to bring you innovative, unique and trendy products that you'll not only enjoy but feel good about buying! Let's change the world one click at a time...



*Photo "Hello" taken by D Sharon Pruitt. Photo may not be dowloaded or reproduced.