We’ve talked about VivaTerra’s Root of the Earth Bowls. They are beautiful and make a great gift idea, but it’s time to feature some larger items that can really help surround you with nature in the comfort of your own home.

Set the stage for your magical getaways (a.k.a. books) with this whimsical book shelf that utilizes dense elm wood as well as Indian root and trunk materials for outer decoration. Finally something to hold all your Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and other nerdy fantastical escapes!
There is also a matching Root Wine Rack for those who like to live dangerously and drink while reading.

Now where will you set your book down while you get up to get your wine from the favorite reading spot? On this
Branch & Glass Side Table of course! Yep, with branches working together to support the snazzy glass top it looks like nature is here to serve you. A matching Branch & Glass “Console” Table (whatever that means) is also available.

Last but not least on today’s list is … say it with me kids … a STOOL! Yay for stools! (pun intended).
OK now that’s out of the way what else can be said about these reclaimed wood stools? Well they are made of wood, beautiful Japanese teak in this case, and they are great for an impromptu sit down, or end table, or they can even be magical chairs out in your secret garden.

It’s pretty much perpetually sunny here in San Diego, CA, but if I was living in an area that had winter to make me stay indoors, I’d be sure I had some eco-friendly nature inspired furniture to help keep me company.

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.

It’s a new month and that means another awesome vintage store shall take the spot light. I hope you all added last month’s hot vintage seller, Filthy Gorgeous Vintage, to your favorite eBay sellers list so you can stay up-to-date with their latest auctions.

This month Blue Bird Apparel is Mable’s featured Hot Vintage Clothing Store and is always rockin’ the vintage styles from the 40’s to 80’s.

Blue Bird Apparel operates out of Rhode Island and currently has some killer vintage coats and sweaters definitely worth checking out. They add over 50 recycled vintage pieces to the store weekly so be sure to add them to your eBay favorite sellers list so you don’t miss out on anything.

Below is a sneak peak of some hot auctions going on right now from Blue Bird Apparel.

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Sometimes having too many options can be a little overwhelming, but when entering the Pink Quartz Minerals shop I feel like a kid in a candy store! Doree is a one woman DIY powerhouse who makes a variety of all natural makeup, but she always makes time to create any item to your exact specifications. What color do you want that lip balm? How opaque do you want the color? Want to add a flavor? An all natural sweetener? How about customizing the label with any text you want? Even cooler, these options are standard and there is never an extra charge for them. I have been loving my marshmallow flavored, stevia sweetened, deep rose lip balm for months and I’m actually excited to order a few more.

As someone who really doesn’t wear much makeup – usually some tinted lip balm or mineral foundation – my affinity for Pink Quartz Minerals might seem surprising. Keep in mind though that I’m a really particular shopper; I always know just what I want… and what I don’t want.

Unlike most products out there, all of Doree’s handmade goodies are safe for your eyes, lips, skin, and face, which says a lot about how “natural” they really are. The ingredients consist of only 6 minerals (except the lip balms of course), and there are never any preservatives, chemicals, or animal-based ingredients. Everything is vegan friendly, and truly hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic. I was visiting family recently and took a peek at the ingredients on my little sister’s sparkly lip balm set. Talk about night and day! There was a huge list of chemicals and it was petroleum based, too. Yuck! What bums me out is that makeup containing dangerous, junky ingredients is standard. Thank goodness for businesses like Pink Quartz Minerals who have integrity and create only safe and exquisite makeup items.

I also had the pleasure of trying the mineral foundation and the fabulous vegan kabuki brush. Both are amazing! I bought the sample kit to find the perfect shade for me, but you can also have a color custom blended. I’ve been asked so many times “Are you wearing makeup? Your skin looks so nice.” Could there be a better testimonial? During the visit to see my family, my mom tried the kabuki brush and could not stop raving. “It’s so much softer than the expensive one I bought and doesn’t shed all over the place either”. Since she doesn’t stop by this blog too often I’ll let you guys know that I’m going to order her a brush and sample kit, too

Unless you’re madly in love with your makeup and can identify all the ingredients on the label, I really encourage you to try some of the lovely handmade products from Pink Quartz Minerals. They’re safe, affordable, and bring out your natural beauty so you’ll look and feel like a million bucks.

Since we announced the addition of the Hot Vintage Clothing Stores monthly feature we’ve been finding new stores to feature from helpful visitors like you. We want to thank you all for your suggestions and to keep them coming in.

This month Mable’s is featuring Filthy Gorgeous Vintage because of their wide variety of 60s, 70s, and 80s clothes, their stock is from both coasts of the US, they ship worldwide, and more. View the Hot Vintage Clothing page for more info.

Below is a sneak peak of some hot auctions going on right now from Filthy Gorgeous Vintage.

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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.

You’ve all seen our page stuffed full of our favorite vintage stores from eBay right? Well, now feast your browsers on the Hottest Vintage Clothing Stores; where we pick one super rad store and feature them all month long. From there you can view the hot vintage store of the month and all their super hot auctions.

Every month a new seller will be featured as the Hot Vintage Clothing Store of the month hand-picked by Mable’s. Of course we are always open to suggestions, so send them in.

This month we are featuring Mama Stone Vintage because of her influence, style, and more. So check out the Hot Vintage Store for August, bookmark the page, and read more about why Mama Stone is at the top of the list.

Below is a sneak peak of some hot auctions going on right now from Mama Stone Vintage.

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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.

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?

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: