Eco Fashion Friday Feature Organic Cotton is All the Rage in Band Tees

A couple weeks ago a bloggy friend of mine sent me the link to a sale going on in the tee shirt shop** of one of GLR’s favorite eco-conscious musicians, Jason Mraz. Back on October 10th, all tees in the shop were to be listed at $10; it was called the 10-10-10 sale. I decided to give a look as it had been a while since I had purchased a tee, least of all from this guy’s cool shop and what I found had me really excited!

This tee is made from 100% organic cotton, as are many in the online shop, but best of all it showed off Jason’s strong commitment to a healthy environment through the wind turbine and mountain graphic; something I would wear proudly about town. I placed my order right away.

When it arrived I was excited to try it out but as with all clothing I buy, it was washed first. The tag indicates “This EarthPositive shirt was manufactured solely using renewable green energy from wind and solar power.” Sweet!!

Flipping the tag over for washing instructions however I was slightly confused as it suggests to “save the climate wash cool - line dry”. It did not indicate that it should not go in a dryer, just that it was a suggestion for a more Earth friendly alternative. Since line drying is not possible in my apartment building, I opted to set the dryer on the lowest setting.

When the shirt came out I was definitely disappointed. It appears that the fabric pieces were not cut on the correct line of the weave and the side seams had turned about an inch and a half toward the front / back of the shirt (a semi bias cut). The neck and shoulder placement maintained alright and the graphic remained intact (I also always turn graphic tees inside out) but I was wholly disappointed by the shrinkage. Luckily I had snapped the photo prior to washing and I was happy to have only spent $10 on this tee (although shipping was almost as expensive at just under $8).

I will continue to wear this shirt but sadly it would never have fit as comfortably as it should have due to the fabric twisting incorrectly because of the cut, it is just more noticeable now after going through a low dryer. In the future, I will likely reserve my band tee purchases for after the show and will always remember to check the fabric weave for any signs of ill construction prior to purchasing!

** Please note all tees are temporarily sold out.

Robbie Adrian is Helping to Raise an Eco Conscious Generation

As a gal who loves to curl up on the sofa with a warm cup of tea on a cold day, a soft and warm throw is a must in my house. When I received the sample from northern California based company Robbie Adrian that indicated just how warm and soft their products are, I was intrigued. After reading up on the item and finding out it was created from organic cotton and silk I was suddenly picturing lots of afternoon naps every weekend this winter!

Robbie Adrian sent me a sample size of their product in the form of a baby’s Lovey. Since I do not have children I plan to gift this to a good friend of mine with twin one year olds. Hopefully they do not fight over it too much because this roughly foot square of fabric is soft and plush.

The motto of the company is that they “marry elegance with earth friendly, beauty with sustainability” and it shows. With organic cotton that is not only certified back to the originating bale but further certified by the company to accompany each item that is created they take their business very seriously.

Products are available to purchase direct from the website as well as in retail stores. The blankets are available in twenty seven of the fifty United States in a slew of locations (including five right here in Massachusetts) as well as in Australia, Canada, Indonesia and New Zealand.

There are two concerns I have regarding this line of blankets, first is the price being out of reach for many. All children’s blankets (with and without trim) range from $38 (for the 25” x 19” fleece ‘Lil Robbie) to $270 and adult fleece throws range in price from $132 - $226. A new line of blankets consisting of less trim retail for $26 - $78; the Lovey I received is part of this new line which the company calls “recession friendly” as the customer receives the same luxury for a little less money due to a little less silk.

My second concern is the use of real silk. As silkworms must be killed to create this thread it is a bothersome concern for many environmentalists. The piping style utilizes less silk overall and would be the less impactful choice, but the company does not offer a silk free design as of this time.

Overall the organic cotton is warm and a good alternative to synthetic fibers found in so many youth and adult throws so I am granting the Robbie Adrian collection a Three and a Half Leaf Rating!

With a 100% organic cotton version of this blanket I think it’s safe to say your Leaf Rating could soar to Five pretty rapidly so keep up the innovative work Robbie Adrian! ♥love♥

National Novel Writers Month Is Taking Over the Green Leaf Offices!

Those of you who have been reading GLR for the past year may have picked up on the fact that I love to write. In fact so much so that I host another blog and publish articles online as well. What many of you may not know is that I have long dreamed of being a novelist but could never seem to fit it into my already jam packed life.

As you may have guessed, the real issue here was my fear of just going for it with reckless abandon. Generally speaking it was because most of us writers have that sneaky inner editor that eventually shows up to convince us that what we have written is crap; sadly I have listened to it all these years.

But no more!

NaNoWriMo is an event, which takes place in November every year, that allows writers to lock away their editor and throw out the key until December. The way to win NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel (minimum) in just 30 days. Woo hoo!

I have a few fantastic characters who have been trapped inside unfinished 8,000 word stories for far too long now and the lucky one who has come out to play is a pretty cool gal named Sarah. The novel is a chick-lit style where she and her friends (not to mention an overbearing mom) live their life on a day to day basis and we readers get to share in 50,000 words of it.

Some basic outline and a few plot twists and turns have been put to paper already but for the most part this is going to be the first time ever that I have:
A. written something this long
B. mostly developed my cast on the fly
C. been encouraged to write 1667 words of fiction per day
D. done something this insane in my writing career
E. been so jazzed to see the end result

Because the month is going to be a blur of characters, I will potentially be posting a little less in the way of reviews. As of now I have done a big push to front load a whole bunch of posts that are scheduled to go up automatically through about the middle of the month, and I am allowing myself up to five days off from the book so I plan to jam in a whole bunch of reviews during that time too. You may see a post or two from Melissa during this month as well, who knows!

As a little teaser I will tell everyone that one of the characters in the story is very eco-centric and has made a fortune on a Green line of products.

I hope everyone has a great month and I do intend to report back on my overall progress either here or over at Random Lunacy sporadically during November.

If you would like to track my progress on the novel feel free to visit my author page!

Home Improvement Projects from Reused and Upcycled Materials

Over the past couple months, Matt and I have been completing a few minor home improvement updates, upgrades and modernizations to our rental apartment. One of the most important upgrades we have made has been the mattress topper that we replaced.

Since I am not only a Greenie but a novice seamstress as well, it only seemed right to do something functional with the old one. After all, just because it had outlived its useful life on top of the bed, did not mean it could not be turned into a wonderfully functional addition to a couple areas around our home.

All I had to do was cut it up!

This bench seat came from my grandparent’s home. It was originally designed as a phone table due to the attached shelf. We placed it in a small nook in our mudroom and hung my Van Gogh “Starry Night” print above it but it just didn’t feel homey; I knew there was unlimited potential for this space.

We decided on a beach theme since both of us are beach lovers so I wanted a fabric for the cushion that would help draw attention away from the somewhat yucky vinyl floor. With a perfect sized scrap left over from a prior project, I set out to create the seat cushion.

After taking a basic measurement of the seat opening, I cut the foam to match. I then cut each fabric piece at ½ inch larger than the foam on all sides and stitched all but a three inch opening on one of the seams. The seams were pressed open and turned right side out, foam was inserted and using an inside stitch the opening was closed.

The vase was acquired at a discounted irregulars shop and the grasses are faux so they will last for ages. The sand came from a garden supply center and the blown glass starfish was a birthday gift this past June. Matt and I had taken a ride to a favorite beach spot and collected a whole slew of rocks. I also snapped a few photos of the ocean while we were there and one was pretty enough to frame.

Voila!**

We plan to acquire more rocks to fill in the rest of the corner behind the vase, as well as the strip of missing flooring at the far back wall and I will likely stain the bench to match the frame color.

It is true that almost all of these items are newly purchased and only the components of the cushion were reclaimed, but every time we walk in the back door now it is like we are in our own little beach sanctuary. It is calming and relaxing and that is the main thing we were going for. We both love it and know it is a design that will last through the years in our home; and it was all inspired by creating a cushion out of reclaimed materials from the hand me down bench.

Luckily however, I will find about 100 other uses for the foam pad…

The first of these projects will be as cushioning for 5 chairs around the house -- my sewing chair (being recovered) and our 4 kitchen chairs (which will be covered for the first time and using a painted drop cloth for the fabric. I will report on that one soon!)

What outdated materials have you breathed new life into?

**Please note our house is completely out of level and plumb so unfortunately everything is a little crooked.

My Earth Too Is Doing Their Part in Creating a Trendy Green Planet

As I mentioned yesterday, The Chuckie Goodnight Foundation is a not for profit based in Brewster, New York that is committed to a better Earth and they complete this goal by educating our children. In a bold move to even further spread this vibe, founder Cherie Ingraham co-founded My Earth Too.

The company is committed to creating clothing made out of organic cotton. They sent me two shirts to check out -- a Men’s XL and a Women’s L. At first I was concerned that the shirt was going to be huge and I might have to borrow a ‘how to reconstruct a tee shirt’ book from a friend but when I put it on I found that it actually was fairly snug, and I am usually a small! I wondered -- perhaps they sent a youth L by mistake? Either way, it fit fine and was so comfortable; I gave the XL to Matt.

Made from 100% organic cotton, the fabric is very soft. The graphic logo takes up most of the front of the shirt but is primarily an Earth that has been reshaped to form a heart so it is attractive and pretty cool to show off.

They indicate the desire to make organic clothing an affordable option and they mean it. Only logo items are available online for clothing pieces (all other items with and without a logo can be purchased in a retail store) and they range from $12 - $18 depending on the item.

Overall the mission of Chuckie Goodnight, with My Earth Too as the clothing pioneer in supporting that effort, is a great one and I am granting a Three Leaf Rating to My Earth Too!

Thanks for setting the trend in the right direction My Earth Too, I will look forward to seeing your items in lots of stores in my area! ♥love♥