I don’t know what it looks like under your kitchen sink, but mine is jammed-packed with recycling bins, garbage bags, cleaning supplies and old plastic grocery bags, waiting to be reused. It’s one of those spots in the house that could never be big enough. That’s why the new double duty dish soaps from Martha Stewart Clean and Earth Friendly Products caught my eye. Each one does two kitchen jobs, which means I have to cram one less product in the cabinet.

Martha never ceases to impress with her brilliance, so it’s no surprise that the dish soap from her new eco-friendly cleaning products line is a must-have. While you wouldn’t want to use most dish soaps to wash your hands frequently because they’ll dry out your skin, this one is free of sodium lauryl sulfate and other harsh ingredients and it comes in an easy to use pump bottle. The formula is more than 99 percent plant and mineral-based. And the true Martha finishing touch? The label peels off easily so you can leave a simple clear bottle on your counter in place of both your hand soap and your goopy dish soap bottle – how does she always manage to think of everything?

Earth Friendly Products Ecos DuoDish

Have you ever used hand dish washing soap in your dishwasher? Bad idea. But this double duty dish soap innovation from Earth Friendly Products is made to work for both hand-washing and the automatic dishwasher without causing problems. The 100 percent natural and biodegradable formula is scented with essential oils. Earth Friendly Products promises streak-free, spot-free and grease-cutting results!

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Sure, you’re forced to take down the ghosts and fuzzy spiders (news flash: your neighbors are pissed if you haven’t done so), but some of the seasonal elements we put up to get in the mood  should endure until the end of the year, if not beyond.

Here is my list of favorite affordable decorative displays for the festive and frugal in all of us.

1. Lanterns

Rice paper lanterns bobbing outside (with solar lights) or in your rooms make a huge, happy statement. I love the cylinder shapes with Asian motifs like the ones found at My Green Party Goods, $3.50 each.  Keep out of wind and rain and purchase eco options.

2. Mini Pumpkins

Don’t toss these babies out with the bad Halloween candy. They transition to the Thanksgiving table (orange+pumpkin) and even co-mingle happily pomegranates and pepper berries for winter holiday merrymaking. You can buy organic by the case at Baldor, if you haven’t already succumbed to the adorable guys at the farmers’ market.

3. Bowls of shells

It’s likely you have amassed these already. Gather them in a pretty bowl for the coffee table, scatter on the table, line them on the mantle. Shells – often used to evoke romantic, seaside summer lazing – work just as well in fall and winter. I like combing the beach for sand dollars and tossing them into my mix.

4. Strung Cards

I string three rows of natural wire along my dining room wall to hang beautiful cards from the high holidays and my daughter’s October Bat Mitzvah to Halloween, Thanksgiving and winter holiday greetings. Just pick up some clamps and you’re in business. Guests love them and cards are so cool, why toss them out?

5. Photo Displays

I’ve mounted many photo walls for clients and friends, which is affordable art for the home and a way to display treasured memories from the year. Of course, assorting eco frames on various tables throughout the house works well, too (school photos, Halloween shots, other fun scenes).

6. Foliage

Harvest leaves, twigs and pine cones and branch out in your earthy styling of tables, entryways and other venues that smack of fall color. I like how Arenamontanus gathered a grouping for a desk.

7. Candles

Beeswax candles come in all shapes and sizes and really set the mood for seasonal statements. Mix ’em and match ’em, turn off the lights and turn on the tunes. For a great assortment visit 1000 Markets.

8. Recycled Cloth Coasters

Like these vintage treasures from Etsy, turn your excess fabric into coasters with easy sewing for delightful results. When do you put them away? Never.

9. Table coverage

Roll out the organic runners and roll out the fun, kids. This sumptuous moss design from Amenity can take you through the seasons and inspire unique styling. I use them to dress up many surfaces from the dining table to the buffet and entry way.

10. Vintage Dishes

This peach glass from Step Toes is a lovely example of the menagerie of collectibles you can break out to display and use for serving, from favorite heirloom porcelain to tea pots and even plates hung for display. This is where you canhave blast and save on that styling budget.

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If we can swap party dresses and soccer shoes, why not club chairs, throw pillows and framed art prints, too?

You can probably convince a designer friend to work for food, trading services for a veggie burger and a smile. Even IKEA organized a swap at its Amsterdam store in February, advertising the husselmarkt as a way to get customers to think like designers by exploring the rearranging of vignettes in their own homes. Up to 250 people were invited to bring in unwanted pieces to shuffle around and swap.

Swapping and trading is a good alternative to shopping Craigslist for purveyors of bargain furniture and accents. When you shop Luanne’s list or Sara’s list, you can get it for free.

Here are 10 ways to freshen and color your space without spending a dime:

1. Hold an art swap in your backyard inviting friends to bring framed prints or unimportant paintings they no longer enjoy. Serve lots of wine so that everything looks extremely enticing and you leave the party feeling you plucked something great from the treasure chest.

2. See if you have a designer friend who will work for food. Offer to make him or her lunch or dinner for a design consultation. What do you say, Orlando? You do my dining room and I cook you an omelet. Deal? Things are so slow – designer buddies might take you up on it. If you need the designer to return for more free advice, offer a massage!

3. Form a design crew with your circle of friends and travel to each other’s homes to help with a quick-fix makeover. Often, simply rearranging the furniture can make a huge difference. Let’s face it; some of our friends just don’t have the talent but still desire a cool pad. It’s also a way to get a small room painted. Call it Extreme Makeover – the economic collapse home edition.

4. Pillow Talk: Changing out pillows is an easy way to make a big difference in reviving a sofa or bed. Flickrstream photos of pillows you no longer love and get friends to do the same thing. Hopefully, the bed pillows won’t tell tales.

5. Have a Father’s Day garden party for actually gardening, not just firing the BBQ and watching grandpa rock and sip bourbon. Turn on some lively tunes and get down to that urban gardening. Replant those pots and flower beds. Maybe someone has a bird house or feeder they don’t want that would attract feathered friends to your garden.

6. Roll out a fabric free-for-all with rolls of extra upholstery fabric from your past projects. I have several I’d be happy to part with that might be useful to someone. And I know my friend, Susanne, has some spare Ikat I wouldn’t mind using to cover a bench.

7. Pass on kids’ furniture that your little ones have outgrown. There is nothing like getting a used rocker or desk set that your child will view as special and new. It’s absurd to have to buy a lot of furnishings for children’s rooms when so many of our friends also have children and can share the wealth – especially pieces that aren’t marred with permanent marker graffiti or dented from raucous play.

8. Media rooms are simply spare spaces with televisions and lots of good DVD’s. But we all know they get pretty tired. Have a Hollywood night and let everyone bring movies they can’t watch again, no matter how sentimental the scene of George picking out a Cracker Jack ring for Audrey at Tiffany’s. I’ve even given away large-screen televisions to people who wanted them. Electronics are another good thing to swap. Anyone got an iPod for Sydney? I’ll give you a Hello Kitty CD player for it.

9. Register for serving items again (with your friends), after the divorce or when you have decided you never use that china in the spare closet or that giant salad bowl in the attic. Tell everyone what you need, and offer to swap with what you no longer want. I could use a can opener that actually opens the entire dog food can.

10. Call area hotels and department stores and find out if they have spare furniture they want to get rid of. You’d be surprised how much of their stuff is headed for the heap. I’d take anything from Hotel Vitale. You might be able to score a nice headboard or set of chairs. Say you will return the favor by telling all of your guests to stay there. Hospitality, indeed!

Image: Jeff Kubina

The post 10 Ideas for Swapping Decor with Your Friends appeared first on EcoSalon.

When you think of eco friendly plates and bowls, what comes to mind? Pale, pasty, meek little things, that melt at the slightest hint of heat, and never mind going anywhere near an oven. And have you tried to actually compost or biodegrade one?

Generally there’s a disconnect between the green dream and the reality, since they often require special conditions/facilities to properly do the job, and even then, they take a fair amount of time.

What to do?

Verterra seems to have gone down the list of how to make the best possible green plates, bowls and platters, and done it all. They make them from palm leaves. Fallen palm leaves. They pay their workers a living wage. They use only steam and chilling to make them, tempering them, which makes them super sturdy. The middle layer of leaves is sappy, replacing the usual binder (aka glue) used on other green plates to give them form.

Since they’re made only from leaves and steam, they compost and biodegrade fast, as you’d expect. And Verterra have had that officially verified. It’s official, they rule the school when it comes to speediness on this front. This one quote says it best, ” VerTerra dinnerware breaks down 150% above the standard in 2/3 the time. ”

In a road test of my own, I ate chili, spaghetti, and other messy meals in one of their bowls. Yes, they’re washable and reusable. Several times! They came through just fine, ready for more. And as you can see from the pictures, they’re quite easy on the eyes, looking almost like wood.

Their new Signature line really ups aesthetics, nicely curved, modern looking, with small touches like a line around the edge. Apparently they’re on to something as I’ve been told they’re already back-ordered into March! Get on the list now so you can get this lovely compostable dinnerware yourself.

This is a guest post by Paul Smith of GreenSmithConsulting. Follow him on Twitter.

Images: Theodore Samuels

The post Guest Post: Paul Smith of GreenSmithConsulting on Verterra: Leaves of Sustainable Style appeared first on EcoSalon.