A long hot shower at the end of the day is a great way to relax, but the idea of wasting buckets of water pretty much negates the stress-reducing factor, ya know? Check out these five shower designs that look gorgeous and save water at the same time. You still won’t want to stand under the water flow until it runs cold, but at least you can squeeze in a few extra guilt-free minutes before drying off.

European faucet designer Grohe makes a fabulous shower fixture that comes with a thermostat that heats your water to the desired temperature in seconds – no more shivering in a corner waiting for the hot water heater to kick in. The shower head reduces water flow up to 50 percent, while bathing you in a flow reminiscent of a spring rain.

If you’re the type that loves to be enveloped in a gentle, warm mist instead of pelted with streams of water, you need to check out Pensar Development‘s Indulgence Mist Shower. The hidden shower head churns out mist as you stand in an enclosed cubicle of etched glass. It uses 56 percent less water than a regular shower and looks beautiful to boot.

Arkema’s solar-powered shower would look terrific next to an outdoor pool or in the backyard of a rustic cabin. As Treehugger correctly points out, the solar panel is “barely big enough to charge a cell phone battery after a day of sitting in the sun,” so don’t expect to use it for a long drench. On the other hand, it’s a stylish way to get a quick rinse after a dip in the pool.

Even the best intentions go awry once you’re standing under the soothing flow of warm water. To keep from staying in the shower too long, goose yourself out with the Eco Drop Shower. Once you’ve used too much water, circles in the shower floor begin to rise, making it too uncomfortable to stand on in bare feet. A genius idea, particularly if, as Born Rich suggests, you have kids that like to park themselves in the shower for long stretches.

Australian shower design company Quench offers a line of recirculating showers that can save up to 82 percent more water than conventional showers. It comes with its own heating and water pressurization system, and even sports a sanitizing feature to keep the entire enclosure clean. The shower does a good job saving water and energy – maybe a little too good. It automatically shuts off while you soap up, so clean water doesn’t flow needlessly down the drain. Intrigued? Well, you’ll need to watch this video on Showering for Beginners to really get what Quench shower systems is all about.

Image: stevendepolo

If you haven’t heard, fancy-shmancy cupcakes are stealing the hearts of America as we downsize our celebrations with treats that fill us up, not out.

For a growing number of sweet teeth, four bites and one candle do the trick as we replace the wasteful sheet cake of old with an indulgent Red Velvet vegan confection made to order at your chic neighborhood cupcake boutique.

Call it theater in the round for the bakery hound!

The new stars are the vegan assortments  introduced by bakers such as Yummy Cupcakes in Los Angeles, which sells from its healthy alternative menu three days a week at its shops in Burbank and Santa Monica.

Yummy’s flavors include Almond, Blood Orange, Chocolate Chili,  Brown Sugar Cinnamon, and my favorite, the Arnold Palmer – black iced tea and lemonade.  They sell for around $3.25 a pop for the classic size and $1.50 to $1.65 for the mini size. Of course, you can buy them by the dozen, as well.

Tiffani Soforenko, one of the three partners at Yummy, says the vegan menu was  inspired by an offer to prepare cupcakes for talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and her crew. “We knew Ellen was a vegan and hadn’t done vegan recipes yet, and figured it was the perfect time to figure out how to do it,” she recalls. “We brought the red velvets for her and her staff and they were a huge hit.”

It took off from there. “We thought if we can make that, what else can we make? Our normal menu is 156 flavors and we do 43 as vegan,” says Soforenko.

What sets them apart? No animal-based products, eggs or butter or egg replacers. They are also topped with raw sugar instead of colored sprinkles. People with food and dairy allergies are gobbling them up!

Another gourmet vendor, Kara’s Cupcakes in San Francisco (with four Bay Area locations) proudly boasts it is “green” on its web page, from its sustainable local and organic ingredients to environmentally-friendly recyclable and compostable packaging to its bakeries built with green certification standards. It even uses green cleaning products and delivers its treats in ultra low emission vehicles. Plus, the cupcakes are to die for, from Kara’s Karrot on Halloween night to Raspberry Dazzle and Milk Chocolate Ganache.  They look good and are filled with good stuff. What else would you expect from the daughter of a dentist?

While pure ingredients are naturally in high demand in buff California, the notion of a greener cupcake is just now making its way to glitzy Miami, where the founders of Cupcake Nouveau – Cristina Valdes and Shayrin Badillo – are getting in the groove.

“We are in the process of developing new recipes that are sugar, gluten and dairy free,” shares Valdes, who says her South Beach clientele is all about glamor and chic. These skilled bakers are known for the artistic detail they add to their specialized cupcakes for weddings and fundraisers, such as pearls and roses adorning the Vanilla Bean Madagascar creations. You grow, girls!

Rather bake em yourself? Many of these gourmet cupcake companies offer cupcake party baking kits for around $42 that ensure hours of fun and a terrible mess for moms as the guests go crazy stirring, blending, frosting and decorating their visions. Either way, the naturally beautiful end result seems to be taking the cake.

Main Image: Cupcakes Nouveau

Image One: Yummy Cupcakes

Image Two: Cupcakes Nouveau

Image Three: Luanne Bradley

While we generally avoid traditional paper gift wrap these days, a Berkeley MBA and mom has developed a line of more responsible coverage for those gifts: reusable, recycled bags.

Josie Gaillard’s Living Ethos made its debut in San Francisco this summer in selected boutiques. Now, the versatile and vivacious eco-chic wrap is available on the web.

What makes this attractive paper one to chase?

The sustainable gift bags come in 30 varied prints that are as attractive as upholstery fabrics. But instead of being assembled with cheap cotton, they are a high quality fabric born of recycled plastic bottles (hurray) and come with coordinated grosgrain ribbons also made of the same PET materials (hurray, again!).

They can be reused countess times – for gift-giving or storage – which is the goal when it comes to paper products. Just yesterday, I presented a bottle of wine in one, and the recipient returned the bag to me to use again. That was special.

The bags come in four sizes – mini, small, medium and large to fit small items like books and trinkets to larger gifts such as wine, clothing and toys. $28 for set of four. They are sewn locally in the Bay Area and the shipping envelopes also are reusable.

It’s all part of Gaillard’s effort to make it easier for consumers to “live their ethos.” Gaillard, a solar energy marketing professional turned entrepreneur, has a passion for product design and promises more stylish, sustainable goods to come.