20 images that have us falling in love (again) with Mother Ocean.

We love the ocean. We swim in it, we sail on it, explore and swing lazily in hammocks alongside it. We recently wrote about 10 ocean conservation groups that are going above and beyond preserving that which we love. So for this World Oceans Week, while those groups are out protecting, we thought we’d show you 20 ways you can fall in love with the ocean again.

We are completely smitten.

Pu’uiki Beach Park, Honolulu Hawaii

Ocean City, New Jersey

Florianópolis, Brazil

Port Campbell, Victoria, Australia

Shipwreck, Miami, Florida

Morro Bay, California

Ceide Fields, Ireland

Steamers Lane, Santa Cruz, California

Underwater Cave, Fiji

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean…

Oregon Coast

Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts

Coral Reef, Bermuda

“Jaws,” Maui Hawaii

Festival of Sails, Brisbane, Australia

Amalfi Coast, Italy

Ba-Ria Vung Tau, Vietnam

Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve, Oregon

San Agustinillo, Mexico

Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, Maine

Top Image: Sawyer Glacier, Alaska

The post 20 Inspiring Images of Our Beautiful Oceans appeared first on EcoSalon.

Sustainably lounging.

Eco-hammock retailer Yellow Leaf has a list of four simple hammocking rules and regulations. Simple, because complex would crimp your ride. As such, Yellow Leaf contends you should always:

1.)  Hammock with a refreshing beverage within reach: Iced tea, lemonade, seltzer or a more “adult” concoction will always suffice.

2.)  If you are sharing your hammock with a companion, it’s polite to let them decide whether they’d like to snuggle up or lay “top-to-toes.” Make sure your feet are presentable in case they choose “top-to-toes.”

3.)  If unaccompanied in the hammock, it is a good idea to have reading material close at hand. This can be used for entertainment or as a convenient eye-shade for naps.

4.)   Break all the rules and make new ones up as you go!! The true hammocker spirit doesn’t abide by rules!

Doable: on all counts.

Now, the tricky part: finding the perfect hammock.

Here are ten eco, sustainable, artisan and intuitively-designed hammocks from which to swing.

Peace, love and harmony can be yours in the totally handwoven Rainbow Hammock.

A hand-loomed hammock made in the Yucatán tradition.

The Wooden Hammock, made from one sheet of certified plantation-harvested plywood by artisan Adam Cornish.

First discovered back in ’09 as Ieva Laurina’s entry in Łódź Design Festival, the Nest Hammock still reminds us (a bit) of a sex hammock. Something about that fringe.

The Treehouse Hammock for, you know, just hanging out.

A chain-suspended beanbag/hammock. Make that LeBeanock.

Vertical gardening, camping, glamping…it’s all the same to us.

A self-made hammock by a self-made-man-artisan-crafty type. Sexy.

KnowHow Shop’s ginormous communal hammock. It’s much bigger than this in real life. Check out their Tumblr for pics of the finished product, on display now at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

Images: Yellow Leaf; Endless Tours; Extrove.; MoCo Loco; Royal Botania; SoloMax; Crooked Brains; Leonie Bergmaier; Loddengaard/DeviantArt; Core77

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It’s good to finally dig up green outdoor objects for the home that truly target our pressing desire for modern, hip and affordable.

These goodies are reasonable enough to toss into your shopping cart along with the diapers, Method and dog food and not feel guilty about indulging your inner landscape designer.

The delightful recycled green plastic composting container above and the other groovy goods are part of the MIO® for Target line, an innovative collection of environmentally responsible and budget-friendly outdoor living products.

The limited-edition collection is the vision of the Philadelphia-based founders of MIO, Jaime and Isaac Salm. The duo has earned a name in the green industry for focusing on infusing sustainability into practical and functional items like retro-shaped solar lawn lights, a minty fresh portable organic cotton hammock, recycled watering can, twine jute gardening tools and an herb garden made from post-consumer recycled paper. Seriously, won’t you be a better gardener if your tools are sharper?

Prices range from $8 (gardening tool) to $99 for the composter. The assortment is available at Target stores and a limited selection of items can be purchased  online at Target.com.

Solar Path Light is $29.99 for set of two. Hammock and bag is $59.99.

This green water can is $24.99.

Cheers to Target for keeping up the expansion of its green offerings to consumers.

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They say the classics never go out of style but we were hit so hard with the return of Ikat, I feared overkill. But the exotic woven patterns have made their way into spring /summer decor – offering that hand-dyed, woven appeal to pillows, tablecloths, bedding and furniture. Can’t you just see yourself lounging on the Bali blue hammock, $92 (above) from World of Good? The same Ebay fair trade company also has this stunning handwoven ikat tablecloth from India, $58.

Whether Uzbek, Japanese, Indian or South American, I say the cloth woven with so-called magical powers is here to stay! One of its strong selling points is vivid color. When you merge that with embroidery, it’s nirvana.

From the fabulous Ankasa shop of furniture and textiles in New York, the eco-friendly linen armless chair (above) with allover textured arri ikat embroidery; and a stunning embroidered linen pillow with arri bold shaded ikat. New York got Ikat before any of us understood you can mix tribal with modern and have the most boss apartment around.

Etsy is still the most accessible source of all silk and vintage ikat pillows and accessories, including the lovely green and blue silk print (above) and pastel orchid cushion, both $30. Some of the Etsy textiles are shipped from the artisans who hand-dye and craft them in Turkey. Is that figured into the price? Not when you’re just paying $30 for an authentic Ikat pillow!

Ikat print organic towels in earth tones and organic cotton shower curtains from West Elm. The store with an exotic bent and very reasonable prices has a large variety of additional Ikat bedding and furnishings but these are the only organic products available.

Added to the mix of Pottery Barn’s organic bedding collection is this modern take on the irregular geometric patterns of ikat fabrics on pure organic cotton with a bold bright print. A duvet also is available in red, blue or green.

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