An eco-friendly alternative for your picnic needs.

Peeved at the thought of filling a landfill with plastic picnicware? Fear no more. Aspenware, Inc., a Lumby, British Columbia-based company, produces a line of all natural, ergonomically-designed, compostable wooden forks, soup spoons, knives and spoons designed to take the sting out of “disposable.”

The lightweight, yet strong utensils are manufactured from fast-growing but “short-lived” trees harvested near the end of their lifespan. The packaging, produced from 100 percent plant and wood fiber, is also compostable. After your next barbecue or birthday party, just throw the used utensils on the compost pile and smile. Cleanup is done.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

Image: Aspenware

Great acoustics (without the radiation).  

These ear buds rely on the natural acoustics of wood to deliver body, balance, and quality straight to your ears, while also removing any worry of radiation. How? The concern about cancer and cell phones has to do with how the soft tissues in the brain absorb RF energy and electromagnetic fields (EMF). The RF3 Live headset blocks RF energy and EMF by emitting sound through an air tube, kind of like a stethoscope.

Made from natural, biodegradable and recycled materials, they retail for about $70.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

If you’re going to scoop the poop, you might as well do it with style.

The nice thing about babies is that your poop collection duties eventually halt. With dogs, on the other hand, you’ve got a long walk ahead. Treat yourself, your dog and the planet with dignity by investing in these strong, eco friendly, 100% biodegradable poop bags from MetroPaws. Retail price, $9.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

100% biodegradable belts in a slim cut we can’t help but lust over.

Summer time is a season when we indulge in color, and what better way than with these Tie-Up Belts made in Italy?

The belts come in Basic, Slim Cut, Kids as well as a Biodegradable version called Bioplastic, and are customizable by using the vast range of available colors and patterns available on the site.

We love the fact that you can tie one on and bring a little pop to an otherwise bland outfit.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

The supple and biodegradable Wasara series is made from reed, bamboo and sugarcane waste.

If a Communion wafer mated with a tulip, their love child would probably look a lot like a Wasara. Such corporal relations are unlikely, but so is the Wasara, a biodegradable series of single-use dinnerware made from reed, bamboo and bagasse pulp (the waste produced from sugarcanes).

Like my Sunday risotto is to a Nigirizushi at Nobu, my words are far too clumsy to capture the subtleties and nuances of Shinichiro Ogata’s design. I’ll leave it to the company to explain:

“Wasara’s elegant flowing forms will accentuate the delicacy of the cuisine choreographing the graceful movements on those who hold them.”

Based on today’s exchange rates, an order of 8 plates costs up to $14. The company is donating a portion of their sales to Red Cross Japan to aid in the ongoing Tsunami recovery.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

Reusable plates made from bamboo to brighten up your summer table.

This is not your mother’s melamine. These plates are made from bamboo, which your mom may have thought was only for pandas when she bought her outdoor set years back. The selection of four from VivaTerra is dishwasher-safe, biodegradable and guaranteed to liven up any summer party.

$39 (For set of four)

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com.

Getting acquainted with bamboo’s true environmental impact.

When sustainable fashion first burst onto the scene, we were introduced to a number of “eco-friendly” fabrics, such as organic cotton, tencel, hemp and bamboo. Each carried sustainable properties, whether that meant being free of pesticides or fertilizers, produced in a closed-loop system, or made from durable and renewable materials.

At first, bamboo fabric made a lot of sense. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on earth, with one species recorded growing three feet in a single day. Bamboo does not use or rely on chemicals, fertilizers or insecticides to grow. Nor does it require as much water as alternatives such as cotton, where one t-shirt requires 400 gallons of water to produce from start to finish.

In comparison to cotton, bamboo is known to improve watersheds, purify air quality, and remove toxins from contaminated soil, all with less water consumption and no harmful environmental impact. Bamboo is often planted to prevent soil erosion, it can absorb up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare and it produces 30% more oxygen than any hardwood forest of similar size. It can also be selectively harvested annually, and it naturally regenerates without replanting.

Bamboo seemed like a miracle fiber – and in a sense, it is. It’s turning it into fabric that’s the more complicated issue.

Bamboo fabric can be made in one of two ways – chemically or mechanically. The chemical process has been met with much resistance from sustainable fashion experts because this process requires toxic chemicals. These chemicals, sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide, change the genetic structure of natural bamboo, turning it into rayon. But the disposal of these chemicals can lead to soil and water contamination.

The bigger issue is how bamboo is being marketed and sold – both to the fashion industry and the consumer. Both groups are drawn to its (questionable) claims of biodegradability, its softness, and let’s face it, its price point. Yet without knowing the facts about how that fabric was processed, or understanding its real positive attributes, how can one really be sure of the impact? Some marketers will rely on the fact that we immediately think it’s good because it comes from a plant that carries many good properties. They stick a panda bear or bamboo shoots on the label, and that seems to be enough to convince everyone of its sustainability.

You may be familiar with the Lyocell process, more commonly known as Tencel – a process that also requires various chemicals. However, Tencel is made in a closed-loop system that allows for the chemical effluent to be treated and recycled, thus making it a more sustainable option than rayon. Those of us in the sustainable fashion business have been waiting years for the bamboo industry to adopt this style of processing.

A Canadian brand, Miik, is challenging the status quo by using bamboo processed in a closed-loop system. In addition to tracking the bamboo used from the source, Miik has also earned a bevvy of certifications including USDA organic, Oeko-Tex Standard 100, and OCIA (Organic Crops Improvement Association). Even better is their processing method.

Miik

According to Bamboo Tex (the company that develops Miik’s bamboo yarn ), the bamboo is processed in a hermetic container where 100% of the chemicals used are trapped and contained rather than being released into their factory, environment or atmosphere. Miik also claims that each step of the process is supervised for adherence to company policy, brand commitment and China’s environmental ethical standards.

Within one week, I discovered yet another great example in Five Bamboo, which I recommend you check out for a more comprehensive explanation of the process (including diagrams).

Five Bamboo

Mechanically processed bamboo is also considered sustainable. Rather than extracting fiber, as in the case with regenerated cellulose, mechanical processing involves the separation and extraction of fibers directly from the bamboo shoots. However, it is a multi-step process that is more costly, and therefore is not commonly practiced.

The net situation is that bamboo fabric still poses some difficult issues for both the ethical fashion designer and the consumer. The use of bamboo plants in the textile industry is still relatively new, and too few companies are using the more sustainably processed fibers, although that is changing.

Regardless of how it is processed, some experts believe it is more important to be able to make an informed decision about environmental impact before ruling any fabric out. According to sustainability expert Lorraine Smith, we should all be taking an impact approach, rather than a prescriptive one. She believes it is more important for designers to be measuring, managing and demonstrating impact. Without data, aren’t we all just guessing?

Smith also feels that the real problem lies in making false claims or claims that don’t make any sense – whether it is about bamboo, cotton or any other fabric. “If they have certification to demonstrate that they are making a difference along the way,” says Smith, “Then it isn’t greenwash. It’s not about the fiber, it’s about the whole product life cycle.”

For more on Smith’s position on bamboo, read her article “To Be or Not To Be Biodegradable.”

Main image: odonoata98

Let me make this clear: I am not someone who is averse to complaining. In fact, a good part of my workday is devoted to griping about the minor annoyances of everyday life. It may not be something to be proud of, but I make an almost-decent living just by complaining.

So it is only fitting, I suppose, that I should now be complaining about how annoying I find it when other people complain – especially about things that I find perfectly acceptable and inoffensive. To wit: I was shocked and dismayed this week to learn that Frito Lay has abandoned its efforts to package a line of their salty snacks in compostable packaging because consumers felt that the bags were too loud. To which I can only ask: too loud for what? Were people bringing Sun Chips into opera houses, where the crackling of the bag distracted the audience from the second act of La boheme? Were cardiac surgeons being startled in the middle of heart transplants because someone down the hall was recklessly opening a bag of Cool Ranch Sun Chips? Were librarians around the country up in arms because Story Hour was being drowned out by raucous packets of savory corn snacks?

What does this say about us as people? Do we really feel that a bit of noise is too big a price to pay for reducing the amount of waste in landfills? Can we really not tolerate a little paper rustling if it will help to reduce ozone-destroying carbon emissions?

I also have to say that I find it hard to believe the biodegradable bags were so unbearably loud. I live in the path of an airport – there are planes booming over my house on a regular basis, causing me to pause in the middle of phone calls or – even worse – to miss several precious seconds of dialogue on Project Runway.

Were the Sun Chip bags louder than that?

And even if they were, I defy anyone to look at a photograph of polar bears clinging to the remains of melting icecaps and then say to my face that “global warming is bad, and all, but dang those bags were loud.”

I don’t care. And neither should you.

We have become a nation of cranky, coddled malcontents – like The Princess and the Pea, we are unwilling or unable to handle the slightest discomfort, even if it will lead to the greater good. People need to suck it up and stop making a big deal about such minor problems. And they should leave the complaining to trained professionals. Like me.

Image: cogdogblog

In my local market I stand in the “not food” aisle and look at the dishwashing liquid. I remember an old TV commercial pitching presumably safe, “mild” Palmolive in which a manicurist, Madge, tells a woman whose nails she’s tending, “you’re soaking in it.” I always think about that ad when I buy this junk, figuring maybe I can find something that’s at least a little non-toxic. Increasingly, though, I’m perplexed as virtually every brand’s label screams: “Pick me! Pick me! I’m eco-all that! You can bathe in me! I swear!” Can this be true? Uh, no, it can’t.

Greenwashing, the tsunami of eco-friendly white noise we experience each day in brand-land, is everywhere, taking advantage of our better instincts and our lack of self-education regarding the products we buy. Every day, real live Mad Men are pulling the eco-cover over our eyes to sell us stuff based on vague and sometimes false claims that what they’re selling is good for us, the environment, and all creatures, great and small. Acknowledging this, and in an effort to protect us, the Federal Trade Commission released its “Green Guides” in 1992 (revised in 1996 and 1998) to “help marketers ensure that the claims they make are true and substantiated.” Hmm – 1998. A dozen years ago.

Last week, the FTC proposed updates to those Green Guides designed to make them easier for companies to understand and use. The changes include new guidance on marketers’ use of “product certifications and seals of approval, renewable energy claims, renewable materials claims, and carbon offset claims.” (They’re looking to hear from you, by the way, on proposed changes until December 10, after which they’ll decide which changes to make final.)

In a brief homage to ridiculously diplomatic language, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said: “In recent years, businesses have increasingly used “˜green’ marketing to capture consumers’ attention and move Americans toward a more environmentally friendly future. But what companies think green claims mean and what consumers really understand are sometimes two different things. The proposed updates to the Green Guides will help businesses better align their product claims with consumer expectations.”

Yeah, well, nice companies need nice reminders every so often, I guess.

Here are some highlights (and we quote):

Degradable: For solid waste products other than those destined for landfills, incinerators, or recycling facilities, the proposal clarifies that the “reasonably short period of time” for complete decomposition is no more than one year after customary disposal… Marketers should not make unqualified degradable claims for items destined for landfills, incinerators, or recycling facilities because decomposition will not occur within one year.

(Read: If it’s still going to be around a year after it’s been used, it’s not “degradable.”)

Free-of: Even if true, claims that an item is free-of a substance may be deceptive if the item has substances that pose the same or similar environmental risk as the substance not present.

(Read: You can’t play with poisons and say you’re poison free.)

General Environmental Benefit (e.g., “green,” “eco-friendly”): Marketers should not make unqualified general environmental benefit claims. They are difficult, if not impossible, to substantiate. Qualifications should be clear and prominent, and should limit the claim to a specific benefit.

(Read: Enough with the eco-babble. If it doesn’t mean anything, don’t say it.)

There’s more good stuff in this long overdue update. Take a quick perusal of the proposed changes and you’ll get a sense of what’s been going down (i.e. overlooked) in the world of greenwashing over the past twelve years. After all, for my money, this isn’t about fixing something that ain’t broke.

Image: Samuel Mann; See also: GOOD

Do you have stacks of the black plastic pots used for plants in your back shed collecting spider webs? Imagine if you could compost those pots?!

Unfortunately, those pots are not compostable. However, they would be if you’d bought them from EcoForms.

EcoForms is an environmentally friendly company, producing pots out of renewable grain fiber that are ultimately biodegradable. Luckily, they won’t biograde too quickly. The pots are meant to last at least five years, and apparently even promote better plant growth than plastic ones.

This Northern California company seems highly committed to sustainable gardening practices. Not only are their products earth friendly, but the family-run organization is also focused on sustainable business practices, such as the use of solar power to run their facility and bio-diesel delivery trucks. It doesn’t get much better than that!

In addition to selling several lines of pots, they have also developed other products, including organic fertilizer, herb garden kits, saucers and shuttle trays.

True, you may not have complete control as many nurseries sell their starter plants in the plastic-type pots. However, if you ever catch yourself about to reach for pots at the store, it seems you can best garden with a clear, eco-conscience with EcoForms.