January 24, 2014
Five to Buy: Eco-Friendly Home Goods to Warm Up Your Winter
Jill Gleeson READ TIME: 6 MIN.
If you're living in an area that is experiencing the brutally cold winter, you're probably spending more time than usual staring at the four walls of your apartment or house.
All the more reason to add a new home accent or try out a new home product. EDGE has scoped out some of our favorite eco-friendly products that are pretty much guaranteed to make your habitat a happier place.
It’s a Small World After All
Looking for the perfect gift for your partner - or yourself? Hit up Twig for terrariums populated with wee people enacting whimsical scenes on a backdrop of lush plants. Twig is both green (recycled packing materials are used for shipping and many terrariums are made from recycled glass), and LGBT-friendly. Owners Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow, who have worked with GLAAD, created the sweet "Grow Old With You" terrarium, featuring a scene with same-sex figures.
The pair also craft custom terrariums, which run the gamut from mild to wild. "We've made Walt Whitman-esque scenes, like a couple of hot dudes hanging out on the rocks," says Inciarrano. "And then we've made things like one man giving another man head in the park while another man photographs it from the bushes."
"Grow Old With You," which is available only through Uncommon Goods, is $125. Custom designs begin around $135.
Home Grown
Add fresher, purer flavors to your recipes with herbs plucked from Chuckle Farm's snazzy new windowsill garden kits. Available in basil, mint and chives, the kits are eco-friendly, ensuring you're not just growing green, but also going green. Each pot is handsomely handcrafted from bamboo, a quick-growing grass species that can be harvested 10 to 15 years faster than hardwood trees. The lid, which also serves as the saucer, is hand-finished from natural ingredients.
Every herb garden kit is made in the USA and also comes with organic/heirloom seeds, Organic Materials Review Institute-listed soil; and growing instructions.
$19.00
Clean Sweep
Make sweeping up a pleasure with a Haydenville Broomworks broom. A work of art as well as a cleaning implement, each is traditionally handcrafted using the same method developed in Massachusetts in 1797. The brooms are made without glue or chemicals, from locally harvested sassafras. Whisks, pot scrubbers, drum brushes and brooms in a range of styles are available.
If you're thinking about tying the knot, keep an eye out for a new broom coming from Haydenville Broomworks. "Jumping the broom is an alternative wedding tradition," explains owner Janelle Higdon, who is gay. "If you couldn't get married in a church, you jumped the broom and it signified your union. Slaves did it and so a lot of African Americans still jump the broom - and queers do it, too. We'd like to make a beautiful broom especially for that purpose, wrapped with flowers and herbs."
Pricing starts at $30.
In the Bag
Absolutely ingenious, Moso Natural Air Purifying Bags not only keep your home smelling fresher, they also help detoxify it. Inside each bag is 100 percent Moso bamboo charcoal, an extremely effective air purifier. The charcoal naturally absorbs nasty odors like smoke and pet smells, as well as bacteria, harmful pollutants and allergens. The fragrance-free Moso Bag is even a dehumidifier, preventing mold and mildew.
Moso Bags come in four sizes, last two years and can be recycled right back into the earth, where they promote plant growth.
Pricing starts at $9.95
Table for Two (or More)
Want to really turn heads at your next dinner party? Dress your table in the new table linen collection from Coyuchi. Known for sumptuous bedding made of 100 percent certified organic cotton, the California company is debuting more than a dozen new table linen lines in March. Crafted with plenty of hand-stitched detailing entirely from natural fibers like felted wool, linen and organic cotton, they come in rich colors inspired by nature.
Coyuchi's new collection, which was produced without toxic chemicals or dyes, includes tablecloths, runners, napkins, place mats and kitchen towels.
Pricing starts at $15 for a set of two kitchen towels.
Jill Gleeson is a travel and adventure journalist based in the Appalachians of Central Pennsylvania. Find her on Facebook and Twitter at @gopinkboots.
