Eco-friendly retailers are few and far between, so it can be tough to find the best in green fashion and design within walking distance. Ordering online is the most efficient way to meet your sustainable style needs, but that’s where the dilemma sets in: by having a product boxed up and shipped all the way to your home, are you negating the very green ideals that you’re trying to support?

Numerous studies point to No (more information here). By cutting out the “middle man” of brick-and-mortar stores, online shopping is far greener, even when you factor in shipping. And if the shipping goes green, as it has with eco-retailer, VivaTerra, the carbon footprint really lightens up. Working with partner EarthEra, VivaTerra offers shoppers the option of purchasing carbon offset credits for just $1 per order. Nifty.

All revenue from the program goes to the EarthEra Renewable Energy Trust, which distributes 100% of the funds to programs that focus on creating clean and sustainable energy alternatives. Thanks to VivaTerra and Earth Era’s other partners, the Trust has already collected more than $22 million for renewable energy projects. That should help build plenty of solar panels, windmills, and other eco-friendly energy innovations.

By simply contributing an extra dollar every time you place an order, you can feel secure in the knowledge that your purchase is helping to create a cleaner, greener future for all of us. Take a look at VivaTerra’s great eco-friendly products, and when it’s time to check out, make sure to select the carbon-friendly shipping option for guilt-free online shopping!

Note: VivaTerra is a sponsor of EcoSalon.

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It’s not your grandmother’s wine box!

This 3-liter tube contains a premium, rich and structured California Cab – the first release by winemaker Barry Gnekow, who went looking for a way to drink outside the box and to entertain without the waste.

“My goal was to produce the equivalent of a $25 bottle of wine that could be delivered to the consumer at under $10 per bottle,” he says.

At $40 a tube, The FOUR Cabernet scores many eco points. It eliminates expensive traditional glass-and-cork packaging, cutting wine bottle landfill waste by 85%. The vino package is 100% recyclable and the label is produced by windpower. The cardboard tubes weigh 20% less than glass and can be transported using less gas.

And it’s not just the package that defies the throw-away mentality. The wine, itself, also endures until all 24 glasses are poured.

“The great thing is that it holds about four bottles worth and stays fresh up to 4 weeks after opening,” explains James Robinson of WineStyles, a retail wine store and tasting club in San Francisco. “Often with red wine, people toss out what they don’t drink after a day or two, because it goes bad.”

Robinson poured me a taste out of the spout, and I found it to be delicious, medium-bodied, plummy and lightly oaked, even on its last legs, about two weeks opened.

The wine maker also promises to deliver white wine in a tube, including Chardonnays, at some point this year.

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