We love our local co-op. Every month they publish an amazing newsletter that is full of fresh articles and ideas that inspire us to “live green”. When I read their December cover list called “Celebrate the Eco Way”, I knew I had to share it with Mable’s readers. Enjoy and have a wonderful green holiday season!

“During the holiday season we tend, as a whole, to consume more. And, in doing so we create more… waste, that is. The following is a short list of ideas to help you reduce, reuse and recycle this season.

• Purchase living gifts such as house plants, garden seeds or potted trees that can be transplanted in the spring.
• Reduce waste by offering homemade food items or personal services as gifts. Baking cookies or preparing a meal a week for someone who would appreciate the help are two examples.
• Reuse holiday wrapping: use old maps or pages from newspaper comics for wrapping gifts.
• Reuse good quality, nearly new items as gifts or as donations to less fortunate individuals and families. Local charities can help distribute these items.
• If your celebration calls for a Christmas tree, compensate for the harvest of your tree; arrange to plant a new tree in your yard or neighborhood next spring.
• Give gifts that promote eco friendly life style changes. For example: cloth napkins and tablecloths, cloth or string shopping bags, a compost bin, gift certificates to resale shops, lunch boxes, reusable or biodegradable picnic plates, cups and utensils, recycling bins, or any gift made from recycled materials.

To preserve the spirit of giving, don’t try to give too much. Less “stuff” means less waste and a healthier environment for everyone.”

Article courtesy of San Diego’s organic and vegetarian Ocean Beach People’s Co-op.

Posted by Lauren in Green Living
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When I hear about an “Annual Sale” or “Outlet Sale”, I expect some big fat savings. So many stores enthusiastically name their sales like that when they would be better described as “some items are discounted a few bucks”. But hey, that’s marketing.

On the other hand, Gaiam’s 6th Annual Outlet Sale actually lives up to its name. This is the time of year that the eco-friendly retailer discounts the heck out of their slower selling items in order to make room for all the new goodies. The discounts are huge so the supplies are really limited.

There are big discounts in all categories (Eco Fashion, Home & Garden, Wellness, Fitness, etc.) but I’ve become partial to their simple eco-friendly clothing. This white boatneck hidden-zipper jacket made from organic cotton has got my name written all over it. The collar kills me it’s so cute. The Gaiam website has also gotten a bit of an overhaul and they recently added reviews and the ability to post a question about any product. For instance, one user asked what the length was of that rad boatneck jacket. Man, I love useful interactive website features like that. Anyway, the sale “ends” when the products start selling out so if you dig any of their outlet items, scoop them up now.

Posted by Lauren in Green Living, Sale
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SALE ENDS SUNDAY JULY 20th!

GreenLoop doesn’t fool around during their Summer Sale. It isn’t one of those sad “summer sales” where all the winter wear goes 10% off. They have discounted pretty much everything on their site at 20-70% off. If you’ve ever visited their store – or any green retailer for that matter – you’ve probably coveted lots of the sustainable, organic, recycled, Fair Trade eco fashion and accessories, but loathed the price tags. Honestly, they can be pretty ridiculous sometimes. But when they’re discounted up to 70% off, it’s a really smart time to pick up a few organic wardrobe cornerstones. Here are a few of my favorite picks;

• Stewart+Brown Organic Cotton Collar Scoop Shell
• Simple Green Organic/Recycled ‘Toe Stir’ Vegan Skimmers
• Anna Cohen Silky Soy Halter Dress

New items will be added all week long so check back every few days for fresh eco friendly fashion and accessories. And if you sign up for their newsletter, you will get a coupon for an additional 10% off. Shipping is always just $5 flat rate and it’s carbon neutral!

SALE ENDS SUNDAY JULY 20th!

Posted by Lauren in Clothing and Accessories, Green Living, Sale
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Did you know that, on average, kids throw away 67 pounds of trash every year from their school lunches? This costs schools much needed funds to collect and dispose of that trash, as well as being a huge ecological problem. (I wonder how much adults throw away during lunch.) But we can quickly make lunch time a lesson in zero waste. Participate in the Zero Waste Lunch program by bringing your lunch, and your childrens’ lunches, in stylish and reusable bags. Check out some tips to follow that will help reduce the amount of trash purchased, created, and needlessly thrown away.

For those that want to invest in a quality reusable bag we recommend checking out Nubius Organics’ zero waste lunch section. They feature a stylish line of insulated, reusable totes for transporting your lunch as well as some large bags that are made of recycled plastic bottles. Most, if not all, of their bags/totes are PVC free, teflon free, and lead free so you know your food is safe from toxins.

Nubius Organics also carries another Mable’s favorite: the Laptop Lunch System. Made famous by the Vegan Lunchbox Blog.

Posted by Sean in Green Living, Kids
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We’re barely a week into summer and now feels like a great time to try something new. In an effort to inspire ourselves and create an entirely eco-fashion friendly wardrobe, we’ve decided to take the Wardrobe Refashion Pledge:

We, Mables.com, pledge that we shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months. We pledge that we shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for ourselves with our own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. We pledge that we will share the love and post a photo of our refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings! Signed Lauren & Sean

So from July 1st – October 1st we’ll be sharing our adventures with creating, living in, and loving our “preloved” wardrobes. Honestly, being huge fans of vintage and reconstructed clothing, this won’t be a big stretch from what we’re already doing. We like the idea of making a commitment to it though, and sharing our journey with others. We look forward to trying out new refashioning techniques, scouring vintage clothing stores on eBay and better connecting with the sources of our clothes.

Are you interested in taking the Wardrobe Refashion pledge with us? You can sign up for 2, 4, or 6 month period and rest assured you will be in great company. This is the 3rd year and participation gets bigger each time. There are currently over 400 members in the Flickr pool! Whether or not you’ll be joining us in this DIY fashion adventure, what do you think of the idea? Could you avoid buying new clothes for a few months?

Posted by Lauren in Clothing and Accessories, Green Living, Indie
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We just watched a documentary called Garbage Warrior which is about renegade architect Michael Reynolds and his uphill quest for sustainable housing. “Earthship” is the phrase coined by Reynolds for his version of sustainable houses built from mostly trash (used tires, bottles, cans, etc.) and dirt that he’s been developing and improving on for 30+ years.

The advantages of the Earthship are it’s self sustainability (off the grid), ease of building, uses recycled materials, has no need for AC or heaters regardless of the climate, ability to grow all your own food indoors with recycled water, it’s natural disaster resistant, and the list goes on.

Before we watched we had so many questions like; why aren’t these more popular, what does it take to build one, how long as this guy been doing this, and when can I get one? Light was shed on all these questions after viewing the documentary and what we learned the most is how inhibiting our own government can be for advances of new ideas. There is so much red tape involved with building these homes that it literally took years for the smallest step to be taken.

In the end Reynolds was met with much less resistance in other countries, especially those hit by natural disasters. Fortunately it seems this is where people can benefit most from these Earthships. Reynolds and his team were able to teach tsunami survivors how to build an Earthship from debris, trash, tires, and rammed earth. This is the “proof in the pudding”, and shows some huge payoffs for the many years of experimental buildings, uphill battles, and overall determination Reynolds shows in this documentary. Read more about the movie from the official site.

From my point of view this is definitely worth buying a copy to watch and share with everyone you know. I rank it alongside the eye opening 20 minute documentary The Story of Stuff as must see documentaries.

DVD available from eBay, Amazon, or directly from GarbageWarrior.com

View Trailer:

Posted by Sean in Green Living, Unique
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Today most people will examine their personal “footprint” on Earth, looking for ways to become more sustainable. But why limit our efforts to just one day? This planet is ours to enjoy, but we’re responsible for protecting it as well. That’s why we love the green slogan Earth Day is Everyday: it reminds us to cultivate concern for “the environment” (you know, that things we’re all living in) every single day.

Mable’s has green gifts all year in our Eco-Friendly Gifts category. We are consistently looking for new green gifts to add to these categories as all of our products are hand picked.

• Eco Living
• Eco Home
• Recycled Gifts
• Organic Clothes
• Plants & Gardening

Mable’s looks for gifts that use sustainable materials, recycled materials, organically grown materials, were fairly traded, reusable, and hopefully come from a factory that uses sustainable energy.

We also just added some BioDiesel Kits to easily convert your diesel engine to run off a more sustainable and cleaner burning fuel, vegetable oil. I’d be all over this kit, but I haven’t found a diesel powered scooter… yet. I guess my 80 MPG gas scooter will do until then.

Posted by Sean in Green Living, Unique
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We’ve mentioned personal gardens before; AeroGarden, Miniature Garden, Organic Dwarf Lemon Tree, Garden Fort, etc., but none were soooo eco-friendly they came in a biodegradable pot! Ha!

These 100% biodegradable pots are made from renewable grain husks, are certified organic, and will hold their shape and size for about 5 years. That’s a long time to grow some delicious herbs. As an added Green bonus, by growing plants indoors they will convert the CO2 you expel into Oxygen for your lungs. Yay for synergy!

Order yours today and choose between Lemon Basil, Lavender, Oregano or Parsley. Remember you can always pick up your own seeds from somewhere else and use those in these organic biodegradable pots. These make great green gifts for teachers, and families with kids to help show us all what goes into growing food.

$15.95

Find more green growing gifts in our Plants and Gardening gifts section.

Posted by Sean in Green Living, Household, Kids
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Many of us think of everyday items like a car, clothes, electrical devices, etc. when we think of a green gift. Mable’s wants to expand your thinking to notice the things that are eco-friendly without the added manufacturing and marketing.

This blog post we are featuring Back to Basics Toys because, they carry a vast amount of wooden toys and games that aren’t just fun, but also educational and award winning. But, how is a wood toy more green?

Reasons why Wood is Good: Longevity of items (say no to planned obsolescence) , Perfect for your child’s development, Non toxic material, and many are American made, which avoids the need for shipping overseas.

Mable’s wants to remind you that everyday is Earth day and every decision we make has an effect, so let’s do the best we can everyday.

Posted by Sean in Fun, Green Living, Kids
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Travelocity has just made the option available to offset your carbon footprint while traveling buy making a contribution to The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero program. Just book your trip, add your contribution to offset your travel, then relax and enjoy your trip guilt free.

Your contribution will negate the carbon emissions created by your trip by planting a native tree on protected lands.

How much are we talking here?
$10 offsets an average trip including air travel, a one-night hotel stay, and rental car for one person.
$25 negates air travel, four-night hotel stay, and rental car for two people.

You can measure and offset a specific trip, as well as your personal daily carbon footprint, plus learn more about The Conservation Fund and Go ZeroSM at GoCarbonZero.org.

Posted by Sean in Green Living
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