beSMARTbeGREEN

Bog Action Day 2009

2009-10-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Are you going to participate?

Green Garters! Environmentally friendly, mix-n-match wedding garters

2009-10-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

The first-ever, green garters are environmentally friendly (and chic) wedding garters made from recycled plastic bottles. the background and accent colors can be mixed and matched to find your perfect style. so, be you and be green!

Check out Juliann Smith's Green Garters HERE

GUERRA DE LA PAZ

2009-09-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Cuban born artists Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz are the creative forces behind the name GUERRA DE LA PAZ and through a common aesthetic create works with a universal message.

"Using recycled objects as our medium and the guidance of the unrelenting amounts of information that fuel today's mass consciousness and it's subversive parallels. Allowing us to explore ways to reinvent historic themes and classic icons while still commenting on contemporary culture.

. . .Gaining access to an overabundance of discarded clothing - relics that once helped define an individual's personality and communally speak of environmental issues, mass consumption, and disposability - opened the doors for us to working with garments as a material. We often see ourselves as vehicles guided by their essence and silent histories."

They also have a blog

Happy Birthday Plantable Card

2009-09-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

from RetroWhale

This plantable card is made from recycled paper and is embedded with wildflower seeds. Card comes with planting instructions, an envelope, and is packaged in a 100% biodegradable clear bag. Card is blank on the inside so you can write your own personalized message.

10% of proceeds from plantable cards go to a wonderful charity that is definitely worthy of your help.
Ace of Hearts-www.aceofheartsdogs.com/index.html

Miss Rio Ottoman

2009-08-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

Tthe Miss Rio Ottoman (2003) is an eco-friendly design crafted out of a soft rubber made from recycled flip flops. In addition to keeping industrial leftovers out of landfills, Miss Rio repurposes the soft rubber without any further manufacturing. The raw material is used as is.

A smart, ecological design, Miss Rio provides comfortable, firm seating and is suitable for outdoor use (although colors may fade if exposed to sunlight for extended periods).

Together with the Gueto Company, Karin Wittmann Wilsmann's design is manufactured by social organizations that provide work for otherwise unemployed craftspeople from the local community.Honored as a finalist for a 2004 Premio Planeta Casa, or Home Planet Award, granted by Casa Claudia, a leading Brazilian magazine for architecture and interior design. Miss Rio was also recognized as a finalist for IF Design Award 2004, as well as the 2003/2004 Ecodesign Award sponsored by Fiesp/Ciesp, which encourages the use of design as means to conceive environmentally friendly products. Because the strips of EVA can be pulled out, caution is recommended for use around small children. Made in Brazil.

I love this! ...and it's on sale ...from $350 to $175 Here @ Design Within Reach

TreeLife Australia - Summer 2010

2009-08-09T01:50:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that our first offline event, TreeLife by The Cool Hunter, will be unveiled in Australia before touring the globe.

This event will showcase innovative and creative sustainable architecture, and illustrate that green can co-exist with urban city life.

The world's first major public exhibition of 'green design' treehouses, TreeLife will bring the biggest names in international architecture, design and art into the one public place for the first time, showcasing cutting edge green and sustainable design.

TreeLife launches in Australia - Summer 2010 >

Eco-Friendly Cascade House | Paul Raff

2009-07-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

The multi-Award winning Eco-Friendly Cascade House by Canada-based architect firm Paul Raff Studio, is equipped with solar design systems.

"We always start from first principles of human scale and flow, and in search of opportunities to engage light and landscape, once we began to work with glass and slate, the house became characterized by a powerful material presence that is activated as these materials come alive in response to natural light.

Architect Paul Raff

VERTICAL VEGETABLES ~ A Shoe Pocket Garden!

2009-07-26T00:34:00.000-07:00

Amazingly Clever.

Vertical Veggies: Grow a Garden in your Shoe Organizer

''How to solve a problem like cats digging and toileting in the vegetable patch, and growing veg in a very small garden. I needed a solution and the answer occurred to me after watching The CheIsea Flower Show on TV and seeing walls of flowers and herbs. The only thing I had to hand was a hanging pocket shoe store and I decided to use it to grow my plants in. I have included the dates I took the photographs to give readers an idea how quickly the veg grew.

Happy Earth Day 2009!

2009-04-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ali G on the Environment - watch more funny videos

What easy steps have you taken since Earth Day 2008 to help erase your carbon footprint and make a better world for our children?

* Earth Day Tote Bag Giveaway *

2009-03-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

In honor of Earth Day 2009, which falls on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 this year, I am delighted to try to get more of you to use canvas totes instead of throw-away retailer bags ...on every shopping trip, not just the grocery store ...by giving away beSmart beGreen eco canvas totes bags.

There will be THREE WINNERS!!

FIRST WINNER RECEIVES 3 TOTE BAGS OF CHOICE

SECOND WINNER RECEIVES 2 TOTE BAGS OF CHOICE

THIRD WINNER RECEIVES 1 TOTE BAG OF CHOICE

Contest ends on Wednesday April 1st {lol} ...so I have enough time to get the bags to you so you can at least use them on Earth Day {but I'm hoping you'll use them year round!}

* RULES *

YOU CAN ENTER AS MANY TIMES AS YOU'D LIKE!
Entries I will include:

1. Followers {on ...love Maegan}
2. Comments
3. Comments on SmartGreenBlog.com
4. 5 extra entries for anyone who steals this image, blogs about it and links to either www.loveMaegan.com or SmartGreenBlog.com

There is no need to include your email addresses in the comments, if you win, you can email me your info then ...{if you prefer anonymity, you may comment anonymously but include something you can remember yourself by if you win.}

* Good Luck *

Extend The Life of Our Earth ~ Earth Hour 3/28/2009 ~ 8:30pm

2009-03-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

Take Action by CLICKING HERE ...and, Turn Off Your Lights!

Eco-Celebs: Reusable Eco Totes

2009-01-11T00:33:00.000-08:00

Jennifer Garner, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Keira Knightley all with their re-usable shopping totes in hand.

via: here

Eco-Celebs: Sheryl Crow

2009-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sheryl Crow and Whole Foods Market have teamed up to create a limited-edition reusable shopping bag, called "A Better Bag".

"I am a big believer in doing what you can, even if it's something as small as reducing the amount of plastic we each use daily that ends up in landfills, whether it is plastic bags, water bottles or product packaging," Crow said.

The bag design features a charcoal sketch of a tree with words written by Crow for the project.

The bag is made from 80% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.

Whole Foods said it hopes the bag launch will also raise awareness of the Natural Resources Defence Council's Simple Steps programme, which calls on people to make small changes to help the environment.

via: here and here

Eco-Celebs: Hayden Panettiere

2009-01-08T00:05:00.000-08:00

Hayden Panettiere spotted using eco friendly reusable totes at Whole Foods in Los Angeles, February 2008.

image via: here

Eco-Celebs: Reusable Tote Bag Love

2009-01-07T00:10:00.000-08:00

via: here

Eco-Celebs: Diane Lane

2009-01-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

"I'm getting there, I have made the transition and it's good," she said. "I keep my reusable bags everywhere. I'm known as the bag lady and I don't care." ~ Diane Lane

image via: here

Plastic Recycling

2009-01-05T00:10:00.000-08:00

image via Weird Asia News

Eco-Celebs: Gwyneth Paltrow

2009-01-04T00:41:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late on this one but apparently in August 2008, PETA slammed Gwyneth Paltrow for wearing fur in a Tods campaign ad. Here's my question, why all the uproar over the fur but not the GIGANTIC LEATHER BAG sitting in front of her?

Eco-Celebs: Jennie Garth

2009-01-03T00:57:00.000-08:00

Jennie Garth spotted leaving Target with her reusable bags. Love that.

. . . and then I found this.

images via: here

A Day Without A Bag ~ December 18th

2008-12-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Our holiday gift to the environment! Join thousands of shoppers in L.A. County in giving up disposable bags in favor of reusable totes for 24 hours.

A Day Without a Bag is an education and grassroots event coordinated by Heal the Bay that involves businesses and individuals throughout Los Angeles County. On this day we ask holiday shoppers and retailers to forgo single-use, plastic shopping bags in favor of reusable bags. Held the third Thursday in December, Heal the Bay’s second annual A Day Without a Bag will be December 18, 2008.

By raising consumer awareness about personal choices, A Day Without a Bag focuses on education, rather than advocacy. The event’s short-term goal is to educate Southland shoppers to adopt more sustainable practices during the holidays and coming year. The event’s long-term goal is to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags throughout California by empowering shoppers, and the community at large, to take simple and direct actions to eliminate unsightly debris and save taxpayer dollars.

More than 6 billion plastic bags are used in L.A. County each year. Disposable bags cost our fiscally strained cities up to 17 cents per bag for disposal (this does not even include the environmental costs). Plastic bags are made from fossil fuels. Americans use over 380 billion bags every year, throw-ing away this precious, non-renewable resource.

Get yours here besmartbegreen.com

or here Bags on sale until 2009!

Set in Stone ~ Living Jewelry

2008-11-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

'A tiny tuft of faux moss

. . . springs forth from a sterling bezel cup within the clay.'

h e r e

"A little clump of faux moss has been planted into this faux stone.

Easy to care for as this moss has no need for sunlight or water!"

Obama Saves the Dogs

2008-11-19T01:07:00.000-08:00

Much has been made lately of the Obama's pursuit of a puppy for their daughters. As we all wait to finally put an end to the national disgrace that is the George W. Bush presidency, a little distraction from the doom and gloom is more than welcomed by a giddy American populace anxious to move on.

The above photo shows Obama with "Baby," a three-legged dog that lost its fourth limb following years of mistreatment at a California puppy mill. The toy poodle spent much of its life locked in a small wire cage. The breeders cut out Baby's vocal chords so that they would not have to hear her cries. In cages next to her, other dogs literally went insane, spinning repetitively with blank stares. Still others were gravely ill, maimed and had filthy, matted coats. A number was tattooed on the inside of Baby's ear, marking her as just one of many dogs at the mill.

Barack Obama posed for this picture for Jana Kohl's book A Rare Breed of Love. Obama has co-sponsored Dick Durbin's Bill to crack down on abusive puppy mills, and has earned the first ever presidential endorsement from the Humane Society.

The Obama's desire to get a shelter dog has inspired great interest in animal advocacy sites such as Petfinder.com and the ASPCA.

found here

America Recycles Day

2008-11-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

Organized by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC), the largest national nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and improvement of recycling, waste prevention, composting, and reuse, November 15 {a nationally recognized day} is dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products.

Check out the NRC website to take the recycling pledge.

Urge EPA to Fight Global Warming

2008-11-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

One of the first, defining decisions facing President-elect Obama's Environmental Protection Agency is whether to heed the Supreme Court and regulate global warming pollution under the Clean Air Act.

We have an opportunity right now to shape that decision.

Click Here to send an email to the EPA today supporting strong action under existing law to protect human health by reducing global warming pollution.

More Background

EDF is pushing hard for comprehensive climate legislation as an essential step in slowing, stopping and reversing the catastrophic threats of run-away global warming.

Crafted properly, such legislation would cap and reduce America's global warming emissions and create economic incentives to spur green energy innovation that would grow the economy and create jobs.

Passing global warming legislation is critical, but there's another way to get action:

The EPA can use the tools it already has under the Clean Air Act to start reducing global warming pollution right now.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that carbon dioxide is a "pollutant" under the Clean Air Act. Way back in April 2007, the Court told the EPA to get to work on regulating carbon dioxide.

But under pressure from the White House, the EPA has taken a go-slow approach.

After months of foot-dragging, the EPA is now asking for public comments. That's where you come in.

Click Here to send an email today: Urge the EPA to use existing law to reduce America's global warming pollution.

The public comment deadline is November 28, 2008, so please act now.

Opponents of global warming action are flooding the EPA with comments opposing action. We can't let them get the upper hand.

The EPA needs to hear from you that it should take strong action under existing law to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

VertiGro - Is Algae our Answer to Oil Dependency?

2008-10-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

interesting.
click here if video doesn't load