We all deserve a little luxury once in awhile, don’t we?  What if that luxury came in the form of a delicious blanket made from super soft cashmere?  Oh, and even better, what if this one-of-a-kind gem was also eco-friendly?  No need to despair, dear reader, for you are most definitely not dreaming. Kistner Supply, a Chicago-based company, creates beautiful handmade cashmere baby blankets made from lush 2-ply recycled cashmere. Made in the USA and handsewn with pure silk thread by the mother of Elizabeth Brantley, each blanket is a patchwork of a color-combinations made of repurposed cashmere goodies that have gone on to live a second life as an heirloom quality blanket that your child (or you!) will treasure for years to come. Oh, and should your Kistner Supply blanket be, literally, loved to pieces, they will happily repair it for you!

Find It Here: Kistner Supply

By Sarah, October 11, 2008  
Filed under: Baby, Home, Indulge, Made in USA, Recycle

So, let’s say you’re ready to start making some changes to your lifestyle to be a little more eco-conscious but you’re not quite sure where to start. Fear not, my friend, for Jumpstart to Green has you covered. Their Jumpstart Essential and Jumpstart Complete Kits have everything you need to start making the small but important changes to a greener lifestyle. The Essential Kit comes with four CFLs, a Kleen Kanteen water bottle, a toilet tank bank, shower timer, and three euro sponge cloths. The kit also comes with a 6-page guide to going green (we like that they’ve made it short and sweet), a junk mail reducer kit and more. Upgrade to the Complete Kit and you’ll also receive a Smart Strip power strip, refrigerator thermometer, hot water temperature card, and an extra reusable grocery bag. Now the best part…using their kit actually pays for itself within a month or two! Not only will you be doing something good for the Earth, you’ll be doing something great for your pocketbook. Jumpstart to Green estimates that their customers save over $90/month with their kit. Just think of all the organic fruits and veggies you can buy with that extra money!

Find It Here: Jumpstart to Green

Win It! We’re giving away a $59 Jumpstart Essential kit that includes more than TEN go-green items, including a Kleen Kanteen, shower timer and more! Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter “JS55” as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What is one item available in the Jumpstart Complete Kit that is not available in the Jumpstart Essential Kit? U.S. residents eligible. Enter by 10/7/08. Contest closed. Congrats, Karen K.

By Cristina, September 30, 2008  
Filed under: Home, Reduce/Reuse, Win

Is your Tivo acting funny? Is your toaster burning the bread instead of toasting it?  Don’t throw them away — fix them — at home! Check out the FixYa community for help with your fix-it questions and find over 9 million users sharing and connecting over household and tech support tips.  FixYa offers 24/7 network support without the pain of being on hold for ages. Of course, we think FixYa is super cool because repairing and rehabbing stuff instead of tossing it is WAY green. Oh, and for you handy types — sign up to become an expert and earn some green for your wallet, as well!

Find It Here: FixYa

By Sarah, September 26, 2008  
Filed under: Home, Resources

As a grass, bamboo grows very quickly and can regenerate in three to five years. This is one of the reasons that bamboo is often seen as a sustainable “green alternative” and makes us love it for cutting boards in lieu of wood or plastic. Yet, there are some concerns about the manufacturing of bamboo, as well as worries about clear-cutting and fertilizer use. Sheesh. Can’t anything ever be cut and dry? I guess it might be greener to salvage a cement slab and use that as a cutting board, though it wouldn’t be quite as attractive as the bamboo variety. So for now, we’re going to skip the cement (and also the plastic) in favor of these handsome cutting boards from Totally Bamboo. My favorite is the Hawaiian collection with the African collection coming in at a close second. They’re so pretty that when they’re not in use, you’ll be tempted to put them on display. I could never say that about my ugly old plastic cutting boards (that I now have to try and recycle!)

Find It Here: Totally Bamboo

By Cristina, September 5, 2008  
Filed under: Bamboo, Home, Sustainable

Summer may be coming to an end soon but flip flops will be around all year with  wetSand’s Recycled Flip Flop Door Mat. Durable, colorful and made from scrap materials left over from the manufacturing of flip flops, they come in four different sizes: small mat, large mat, area rug, and runner. We could go on about how great it is that the foam rubber scraps used to make these super cool mats don’t go into the landfill to rest for all eternity but we’d rather just say we love them and think every door should be sporting one!

Find It Here: Recycled Flip Flop Door Mat

By Sarah, September 4, 2008  
Filed under: Home

The first thing you should know about Graham & Brown is that they take great pride in producing beautiful lines of wallpaper. But one line, the Eco-Collection, is very special because it’s earth-friendly. Oh sure, it may look like regular wallpaper, but don’t be fooled by the term “earth-friendly” which could possibly connote something resembling a dull recycled paper bag. No, Graham & Brown’s line of eco-friendly wallpaper is not only gorgeous, unique and fashion-forward, it’s also printed on paper from managed timber sources using purely-water based inks, products are made from at least 50% renewable sources and each roll is even packaged in compostable materials made from corn. Self-proclaimed treehuggers, the Graham & Brown company takes sustainability with style to a whole new level, with nary a granola bar in sight!

Find It Here: Graham & Brown

By Sarah, August 27, 2008  
Filed under: Home, Style, Sustainable

With their loud engines and nasty gas fumes, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would find cutting the lawn with a gas-powered mower to be relaxing. On the other hand, using a push reel mower actually could be a relaxing experience because hello? No ear-splitting combustion engine, no fumes, no filling the old gas can, no carbon guilt! Push reel mowers are a real classic that have been around since your grandfather’s day but the modern incarnations are much lighter and easier to use.  And of course, there’s the whole environmentally-friendly aspect — reel mowers cut the grass blades like a scissor and leave fine mulch clippings behind to further feed the lawn. Get yourself a push reel mower and you’ll be the quietest lawn groomer on the block plus you’ll actually be able to hear your neighbor say hi while you’re cutting away, providing the perfect opportunity to tell them all about your groovy green mower!

Find It Here: Clean Air Gardening

By Sarah, August 25, 2008  
Filed under: Gardening, Home

Buttery, salty, crunchy popcorn…mmmmm. I love the stuff and I used to really love the convenience of microwave popcorn — until I learned that it had Teflon inside the bag. Unfortunately, microwave popcorn is now regarded by toxicologists as a major source of PFOC, the toxic chemical found in traditional “non-stick” cookware. After giving up the bags, I searched high and low for a non-plastic microwave popcorn popper and I thought I’d never find one until a friend sent me a Silicone Zone Microware glass popcorn popper as a gift. It contains no plastic or Teflon and makes some really awesome popcorn, complete with butter, and takes no longer than it does to nuke a bag of microwave poison popcorn.

Find It Here: Silicone Zone Microware Popcorn Popper

By Izzy, July 31, 2008  
Filed under: Eat, Home

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rebel. That’s the motto at Reform School, a Los Angeles store owned by two high school friends with a focus on sustainable art, design and crafts. Lucky for us non-Angelenos, these best friends realized that not everyone can’t make it to LA so they started a website (with a cool school theme, natch) featuring one-of-a-kind sustainable and handmade finds. And just to keep things interesting, each month at Reform School, different artist is featured as “student of the month.” Make sure you also take a look at their wide and creative selection of stationery, books, posters, house accessories and unique handmade wares for kids like the Mobilhome Recycled Cardboard Dollhouse or the nifty Optrixx Cameras made from recycled wood. This is one school where you definitely won’t mind staying after class!

Find it Here: Reform School

By Sarah, June 24, 2008  
Filed under: Baby, DIY, Home, Learn, Recycle, Reduce/Reuse, Sustainable

Teaching young kids how to power down the computer is a great way to help them understand the importance of saving energy. Now there is a fun and easy way to do that - the turnOFFtool. Created by a team of Stanford students for a school project, the turnOFFtool was inspired by discussions with parents who expressed how difficult it is for a young child to remember all the steps involved in shutting a computer down. The turnOFFtool, which is free and can be downloaded to your computer in a matter of minutes, bypasses all of the steps it usually takes for you to turn off your computer. Instead, all you have to do is click on a little moon icon which is always available on the screen (or minimized at the bottom of your screen). When you click on the moon, your computer will automatically shut down - or you can easily set it to sleep, if you prefer. Currently, the tool only runs on Windows, but future versions will work with Macs, too, and will allow users to add text or sound effects and select their own picture. For the record, though, we think the moon image with the zzzz’s couldn’t be cuter more appropriate for kids to get the “sleep” metaphor. Bravo, Stanford guys — we likey!

Find It Here: turnOFFtool

Eco Fact: According to the Harvard Green Campus Initiative, leaving a computer on all day for a year could result in more than 1500 pounds of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. To put that into context, it would take 100-500 trees to offset that amount of extra CO2!

By Cristina, May 29, 2008  
Filed under: Gadgets, Home, Kids, Made in USA, Office, Resources, Tech

Tea tree oil comes from the leaves of the plant Melaleuca Alternifolia and is native to Australia. With it’s antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal and antiseptic properties, tea tree oil makes a great all-natural household cleaner.

All-Purpose Cleaner: Use 15 drops of tea tree oil to 1 quart of water in a spray bottle. Use on counter tops or for general cleaning.

Mold Killer: Combine 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil in 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake to blend. Spray on mold and don’t rinse.

Laundry Disinfectant: Add one teaspoon of tea tree oil per load to disinfect laundry such as diapers or to prevent transmission of fungal infections.

Happy green cleaning!

Find It Here: Healthy and Green Living

Do you have a great green cleaning recipe that really works? Share it with us in our brand-spankin’ new GMF Forum!

By Amy, May 25, 2008  
Filed under: Clean, Home, Resources, Tips

Just when you thought you’d never be able to safely enjoy non-stick cooking again, Cuisinart comes out with their Green Gourmet line of non-stick cookware. I know what you’re thinking — “Are you kidding? Green non-stick cookware is a complete oxymoron!” And normally, I’d totally agree, but these pans sport a scratch-resistant surface that is ceramic-based and petroleum-free, which is fabulous. But even better? The non-stick surface is PFOA and PTFE-free which means no more of those egregious toxic fumes coming in contact with your food OR your family. See? Green :)

Find It Here: Cuisinart Green Gourmet Cookware

By Izzy, April 26, 2008  
Filed under: Eat, Home