Late last summer, my boyfriend and I moved to a new apartment here in Seattle. It's almost twice as big as our last space, and I've been slowly pulling it together ever since. (More on that later.) Luckily, around the same time, I heard from Ohh Happy Home, an affordable Australian fair trade rug brand that we'd posted about in our ethically made rugs guide (among others). They wanted us to see what their washable rugs were like IRL, especially because they now ship to the US! Given my prior ... Read More
Blog
Okay So There Are Microplastics in Our Food… What Should We Do?
When Barbie Girl by Aqua became a 1997 anthem, we didn’t really know what we were saying by joyously chanting “life in plastic… it’s fantastic!”. Here we are 25 years later, bearing the brunt of microplastic pollution as it filters its way into every aspect of our daily lives. Avoiding bottles that don’t say they’re BPA-free isn’t enough anymore; there are microplastics in food from our vegetables to our milk and even our tap water. Now, I’m not trying to be an alarmist—this isn’t about ... Read More
What is Lotus Silk? Spotlight on a Rare Natural Silk
Have you heard of lotus silk? I'll admit I hadn't until I chatted with Angelica of Terrai, a new sustainable lifestyle goods company who works with South-East Asian artisans to transform natural materials into coveted products like the silk scrunchies below. Turns out, it's a pretty incredible vegan silk made from the stems of lotus flowers, which are used throughout Cambodia where their product is made. They take the discarded stems of those flowers and turn them into beautiful goods in a ... Read More
18 Sustainable Stocking Stuffers To Gift This Season
I love finding small thoughtful gifts for friends and family year round, so choosing stocking stuffers is definitely one of my favorite holiday rituals! And choosing sustainable stocking stuffers makes the process even more special. Much of my sustainability journey has been finding alternatives for personal items (beauty products, clothing, etc), but it’s also been about shopping sustainably for loved ones. You’ve probably heard that when you shop small, a small business owner does a little ... Read More
Where to Shop on Small Business Saturday
You're undoubtedly inundated with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving, blahblahblah sales (should we all just call it "sale month" at this point?), so I know when you see a gift guide these days you really want it to be something special. I feel the same way, which is why I spend probably way too long hunting down the perfect products to add to articles like this! (But if it influences *anyone* to shop small rather than mass-produced, it's worth it, I think.) Small Business Saturday is a ... Read More
Carbon Footprint 101
I feel like sometimes—in all the hullabaloo about living sustainably, going green, and just being more eco-friendly—we forget that not everyone automatically knows everything about green living. More often than not, articles on being green offer suggestions and tips assuming that the reader has a baseline understanding about what it all means. But what about the novice eco-warrior? How are they supposed to start their journey to being more mindful? Looking up essential terms like ... Read More
