Remember when everyone was clamoring to be the new Martha? Instead of just one uber-maven of the domestic and decorative arts, we’ve seen a whole plethora of talented designers, chefs, sustainable lifestyle guides, and experts come to the fore with aesthetic gifts and business smarts.

In the design realm, Kim Parker is one of the best. A classically trained musician turned textile designer, Parker aims to help you create an “interior garden” with her graphic, modern floral pillows, rugs, dinnerware, fabrics and prints.

Kim Parker Home offers a window into the design process – she improvises with water-based paints, and the freedom and joy of her method are evident in the results – and are completely contagious. Parker also makes brilliant and liberal use of flea-market finds, recovering, reclaiming and boldly mixing cultures and eras. This book is a must-have if you love intoxicating, pretty floral print and textile design, if you’re looking for inspiration for flea-market and thrift-shop decorating, or if you simply enjoy reading about how successful artists find their creative spark and thrive.

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Among them, Sandra Steingraber, now a professor at Ithaca College, is one of the most thoughtful and eloquent environmentalists we have. Living Downstream: A Scientist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and The Environment published in 1997, blends her poetic writing gifts with rigorous scientific discipline to sound an alarm as poignant as Rachel Carson’s was in the 1960s.

Steingraber’s next book, Having Faith, detailed her quest to have a healthy child after recovering from cancer – and after learning all that she’d learned about environmental toxins. Both books will enhance your understanding of ecological dangers, why they’re so ubiquitous and hard to regulate, and why it’s so critical to do whatever we can to mitigate them for our children. Yes, you’ll want to stop heating food in plastic containers and recommit to eating organic foods – and realize that everyone on the planet needs to have those options.

Short on time? Visit Organic Valley‘s Web site to read Sandra’s essay, The Organic Manifesto of a Biologist Mother.

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Feeling creative, ambitious and disciplined? Take the Wardrobe Refashion pledge for a minimum of two months. Wardrobe Refashion is a recurring virtual club of people dedicated to reusing and refashioning instead of buying new garments, founded and hosted by the effervescent Nikki, Head Refashionista, on her blog.

The next round begins in July, and you can sign up after June 15, where you can also read the pledge and rules. If the idea of not buying anything new fills you with anxiety, note that Wardrobe Refashion does allow you to buy handmade clothing and grants you one Get Out of Refashionista Jail Free Card for every two-month period.

Nikki also asks that you post on the Wardrobe Refashion blog once a week to update the group on your progress. The project is definitely in fun, but also serious about using what you have and what you can creatively source before buying new. In a world where we’ve given up so much self-sufficiency, this will test you and strengthen your sustainability muscles, and you’ll find a virtual group of like-minded friends to inspire and support you.

Image: Jaci Berkopec

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It seems the whole world is trading in industrial, factory-made conformity for artisan style. “Many of the pieces at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair . . .felt more artisanal than manufactured,” wrote the New York Times on May 22. So, how do you get the look without breaking the bank? Just as you can build a wardrobe based on great neutral basics and unique accessories, you can build a home with strong, well-made neutral furniture enhanced by artisan pieces you love.

Natural materials and multicultural influences are a starting point for the artisan home, and while sophisticated artisan style can be eclectic and loaded with character and color, you’ll want to avoid anything too crafty or homemade-ish. Here, easy ways to add the artisan look to your décor:

Rugs. Whether you opt for traditional Oriental-style rugs or contemporary designs, rugs add instant drama, color and pattern. Look for handmade natural fibers and make sure you’re buying from a company with the highest ethical labor standards (look for the Rugmark designation on design companies like Odegard or support a socially responsible, fair trade-focused nonprofit like Arzu Rugs).

Glass. Glass can add color and light to your home in many forms: contemporary stained glass, mosaics, or blown glass accents. Art glass is collectable; focus on a color or style. Look for local glass artists or shop online from well-known studios like Orient & Flume of Chico, Calif.

Textiles. Pillows, throws, table linens, quilts and wall art – these are some of the ways you can use artisan textiles to add texture, color and tactile beauty to your home. Look for handwoven fabrics, traditional or contemporary quilts, or currently fashionable hand-knit home accents in chunky yarns of organic or hand-dyed wool or cotton.

Ceramics. Functional ceramics –  dinnerware, vases – or ceramic art pieces add earthiness and substance to your room. Handmade artisan tile can be incorporated into a kitchen splash, or individual tiles can be used as trivets or accent pieces.

Stone. Stone can be part of the “bones” of your home, with a flagstone floor or a stone fireplace. If that isn’t an option, stone accents such as these towel hooks and spa mats from EcoSalon sponsor VivaTerra can bring the cool, clean, timeless quality of

Image: *susie*

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There’s something inviting and a little mysterious about curtains in entryways instead of doors. The Japanese, masters of marrying beauty and elegance to utility, use split curtains called noren to signify that a shop is open and welcome visitors. Noren are equally effective and beautiful in any doorway, letting in breezes and light while subtly creating needed boundaries.

These pure linen noren are an earthy olive shade with a graphic lotus flower design. They’re made with a casing at the top and come with a simple bamboo dowel for hanging. As seller VivaTerra says, noren make for a mindful entrance; as you open the curtains and step through, let the brief pause be a reminder to stay present and meet whatever is on the other side with serenity. ($69. Note: VivaTerra is an EcoSalon sponsor.)

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Gardens are magical places, especially in spring. Plants shoot through the ground, flowers bloom, and birds add music and share in the abundance. Why not make your garden super-friendly to birds by giving them a lovely eco-home?

Artist Carol Garringer, of Eugene, Ore., is the creative force behind The Artisan’s Garden, specializing in original birdhouses made with reclaimed and vintage materials. Garringer grew up on a bird superhighway – a major migratory route in the Midwest – and now uses years of woodworking, mosaic and art skills to create homes for many species, using salvaged wood, vintage lighting fixtures and chandelier pieces, and even lids from old pots.

Garringer’s Web site offers tips on choosing the right style of birdhouse for your garden, with small or large lid, temple, rustic and privy-style choices; she also can design a custom birdhouse just for you. I love the weathered temple-style houses, at $55, designed for small birds like chickadees and wrens.

Garringer is also designing a line of bird feeders for sale later this year.

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My American friends living in Germany always comment on how noticeably green the country is; there’s recycling everywhere, organic food is a significant part of the food market, and everybody participates in environmental responsibility as a matter of course. Now hessnatur, one of Germany’s most highly regarded organic and sustainable clothing companies is launching a U.S. division with a dedicated Web site arriving this summer, followed by a mail-order catalog with styles for women, infants and children.

Hessnatur initiated the world’s first organic cotton farming project in Egypt in 1991, according to the company, and they’ve been making cool organic clothes ever since for lucky Europeans. They’re known for serious social as well as environmental responsibility, with a fair trade and ethical labor program in place. Fashion star Miguel Adrover is newly hired as creative director for the U.S. launch, so look for some great street-informed sustainable style. You can sign up today to receive the charter catalog at hess-natur.com.

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There are so many ways that beauty comes from waste, in a natural cycle that we’ve often lost touch with. Compost, for instance, becomes intoxicating flowers and delicious vegetables. The glassblowers at Fire & Light have recaptured the essence of upcycling with stunning gifts and dinnerware made from recycled glass. The Splash Bowl(right) is a lyrical example that comes in a rainbow of base colors with a contrast crackle.

Fire & Light was born in 1995 in a unique partnership between the community recycling center in Arcata, Calif., and a group of green-minded investors who wanted to see locally crafted products made from its discards. Crushed, recycled glass, with pigment added for luminous color, now becomes handcrafted plates, glasses and bowls sold nationwide. Fire & Light seeks other ways to use the community’s recycled products in its manufacturing facilities, for a truly local and sustainable business model.

– via CleanTechBlog

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Sometimes the solutions are so simple. No need to give your kids a throwaway brown paper bag when a reusable, washable organic cotton lunch bag will do the job. I like these with bright designs, sold in pairs. Late July, a maker of delicious organic crackers, offers this bag with a zipper top and the option of ordering with a product sampler. If you’re feeling creative, make your own; there are easy free patterns on the Web, or try this lunch bag pattern for sale at PurlSoho and elsewhere.

Packing the bags for kids off to school or summer day camp  can be easy, too. I asked Lisa Turner, a natural and organic chef, nutritional counselor, excellent mom and president of Inspired Eating in Boulder, Colo., for suggestions. Her favorites:

Start with a fun “main course” like cottage cheese and pineapple on raisin bread, mini whole-wheat pizzas, whole-grain pita bread stuffed with organic grated carrots, tomatoes, avocado and cheese, or a whole-grain pasta salad with organic cheese, shredded vegetables and extra-virgin olive oil.

Make cookie-cutter sandwiches – just slice the crusts off bread and use cookie cutters in fun shapes.

Add fun organic fruit, like pomegranate, sliced kiwi, mango cubes, whole strawberries and melon balls, instead of the standard apple or banana.

Freeze individual containers of organic juice to keep sandwiches cool until lunch time, when the juice will be thawed and ready to drink.

Don’t forget dessert – try fruit-juice-sweetened cookies or reduced-fat brownies.

Of course, adults can organic-bag it too. Share your favorite take-along lunch menu in the comments.

Image: Sashertootie

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Brazil is, among many things, a country of artists, many now using their talents to send a message of environmental awareness told with imagination and beauty. We love TOUCH, a division of the Los Angeles-based Zoe Melo design group and a cooperative marketing effort showcasing the work of contemporary Brazilian artisans with a green mission, making objects that will enhance your space with an international sensibility.

I love the oversized, modern jewelry of Mana Bernardes, like this necklace made from recycled PET bottles, and the Kraft paper vases (above) dyed with natural pigments made by Domingos Totora. In the United States, these beautiful objects, recently exhibited in Paris (I found them through Deux Frontieres blog) are sold at Finch in Austin, Grasshopper 510 in Chicago, and other select retailers, with more coming soon.

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