Green Living Stores

One hundred percent organic cotton clothing and underwear is the best way to dress your boy and girl. Cotton breathes providing coolness in summer and warmth in winter. The boys boxer shorts provides the room need to allow healthy blood circulation. The boy briefs provide healthy comfort, too. Your girl will feel like royalty in her panties and undershirt. This clothing is also Eco Friendly and Fair Trade manufactured. One Hundred Percent Organic Cotton offers an Eco Friendly solution and are Fair Trade manufactured.

Functional Bags and Wallets can be reclaimed from an Inner Tube instead of adding to the non-biodegrable trash heap. Organic Clothing includes all sorts of products such as Organic Bags, Purses and Wallets that will delight your need for style, be very usable and help you to go Green. Check out Mini Bags, The Wallet, and Utility Attachment for out and about. Need more space then the Beetle and Cruiser might be your cup of tea. Need some real space then check out The Bentley, Coupe, Model T Tote and of course The Roadster (picture at left). Each item was created to fill a particular need without enlarging the user’s footprint on the environment. Dress well, be Funky and go Green!

My dad is one of those guys who has worn the same clothes since the 1970’s. For Father’s Day this year, I’m getting him some new clothes. Rather than play into the corporate black hole of buying sweatshop-manufactured wares, I’m buying him some fair trade clothing.

Not only will he FINALLY get some new clothes, but they will be made with ethics.

A friend of mine asked me about the merits of vegan clothing and wondered what the problem with wearing wool was.  “They get shaved in the summer,” he said.  “If anything, you’re being humane.”  Except for the fact that when sheep begin molting, they seldom follow schedules of wool production; in fact, most sheep die due to exposure to extreme heat and cold.  This misconception that wool production is “humane” is just an old wives’ tale.

Solar Panels are the new wave of creating your own Green energy. I went to Google and typed in Solar Panels to research how I could eventually provide my own energy to free myself from the increasing financial burden of purchasing energy from the grid. I located www.aqua-luna.com and www.hardysolar.com (serves the San Diego, California area) as a starting point. From Hardy Solar I determined that for under $20,000 I could create a solar power system that tied into the grid and hopefully as the laws change the power company will purchase my excess energy to be purchased back later when I am unable to generate power for my needs. This sets me to thinking about how I can accomplish the task of creating my electricity through solar power to become one step closer to becoming totally green. My personal goal is to reformat my personal decisions, so that I can produce income and provide my family of all the wonderful benefits of Living Green.

Cradle to College – A diaper bag that morphs with as your child grows adding to its ability to be used for other purposes but is also a part of your child’s organic baby clothing collection.What do you do with that diaper bag that carries everything you need to take your precious bundle out and about once the need is outgrown? Yes, you store it somewhere or give it away to another precious bundle. Let us think outside the box and think about substituting a Backpack that can be converted to other uses as your child grows. You now have a diaper bag that becomes a bag for your personal use or a suitcase to carry your big boy or girl clothing and toys as they travel to visit grandma. Baby starts school and out comes their old friend to carry their school work that again can be unloaded to replace a suitcase as they travel. If the bag survives the daily wear and tear it can now go college with your graduate and when they marry and start your next generation this Backpack starts all over again carrying baby’s personal needs.

Green Living Stores is looking for businesses who want to advertise their Green Living Eco Friendly products and services. Email your advertisement with link addresses and pictures that you want placed in a blog entry. After checking to see if you meet our criteria we will write a special blog that highlights what you are offering. The first advertisers will receive this service free of cost.

Green Shoes – Why buy shoes that have been created from renewable plant and recycled material resources? Have you ever sat down and thought of the environmental cost of creating shoes from animal and man-made material resources? Let us look at the animal source of creating shoes. Even in times past the process to take the hide of a dead cow and convert it to leather was considered damaging to the environment, because of the processes that was used to breakdown the fibers into a usable fabric. Now let us look at the man-made materials; the energy alone that it takes to create the artificial fabrics is greater than simple Hemp materials. Take that one step further when it is time to move the shoe to the waste pile you have a fabricated item that takes the same time as plastic to break down, therefore becoming an environmental hazard. At least with using recycled materials you have moved the materials that are not biodegradable to another use before they become waste and can be recycled again when the shoe is no longer wearable. Last, but not least shoes (especially the low cost varieties) are created in sweat shop environments that go against the rules of Fair Trade. Altogether the modern shoe is not a Green Living resource, but organic clothing is healthy to wear including hemp and recycled materials for children, men and women. At last a shoe that is healthy for your feet and environment.

Cleaning Green - Give floors, windows a greener Clean.

Commercial products can help achieve proper cleaning, but you can replace the chemicals they contain by replacing with some simple green products you may have already in your home.

Living Room: Dusting: Use a damp cloth to pick up dust. A dry cloth only stirs up the allergens.

Furniture Polish: Mix Olive Oil and vinegar in a 1:1 ratio and polish with a soft cloth. (I think any oil and lemon juice would be good substitutes.)

Windows: Mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar per 1 quart of water in a spray bottle. For extra dirty windows use a mixture of ½ teaspoon of liquid soap, 3 tablespoons vinegar and 2 cups of water, and shake well. Use newspaper instead of paper towels to wipe window. This will create a streak-free glass.

Floors and Carpet: Linoleum: Use ¼ cup washing soda (also known as sodium carbonate) with 1 tablespoon of liquid soap, ¼ cup vinegar and 2 gallons hot water. Put the washing soda in the bucket first and add the liquid ingredients; that way the soda won’t splash out. Do not use the formula on waxed floors.

Disinfect Floors: Add 2 gallons of hot water to ½ cup of boras. Put the borax in bucket first, and then add water slowly to avoid splashing.

Wood Floors: Add 1 cup vinegar per pail of hot water.

Carpets and Rugs: Sprinkling baking soda (look in store isles with floor and salt to purchase) over the surface of the carpet can help eliminate odors. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes before vacuuming.

Copied from the Dallas Morning News, May 23, 2008: (McClatchy-Tribune News Service: Source Consumers Union.)

Rather than change the thermostat or use a bulky sweater to add warmth in your home and travels try layering with a comfortable soft hoody.  You can now dress in one-hundred percent organic cotton hoody that has the benefit of fibers that use your natural body heat to keep you warm without adding bulk to your dress choices.  This same light covering can easily be rolled up and packed away in a bag or back pack for easy storage and transportation therefore reducing space and weight requirements as you travel.   The combination of economy and comfort will certainly become a necessary part of being a green consumer as you make clothing choices that keep you healthy and stylish as you reduce your environmental footprint.  Green living in your choice of clothing is a positive choice for your personal lifestyle and good stewardship of your environment.