Sustainable Design, Sustainable Living, Sustainable Everything
Now more than ever it’s easy to buy eco-friendly home decor to fill your interior spaces. From buying secondhand, to searching out sustainably sourced products, to shopping on websites entirely dedicated to earth friendly finds. There’s no reason not to buy green!
Ever since my eldest daughter could hold a crayon (without eating it), she’s been a crafter. Colouring, stickering, cutting, glueing – she does it all and loves it all. So, of course I’m always on the hunt for the most eco-friendly craft supplies I can find. You’d think it would be easy – after all, most kid’s craft supplies are non-toxic. But just because something is non-toxic to humans doesn’t mean it’s environmentally friendly. I’ve rounded up a few of the greenest craft supplies I could find. All of these products are made from natural materials or recycled content or both!
Let the crafting begin!
Amazon and health food supermarket Whole Foods recently announced a partnership that includes the lowering of prices in-store and increased availability of products through Amazon itself. Since there are no Whole Foods Market stores in the province where I live – I don’t have any personal experience with the grocery chain, but I do have experience with Amazon as far as ordering items such as books, movies and so on.
Of course, being someone who is into sustainable eating – meaning buying foods produced in environmentally conscious and ethical ways, including shopping locally – my initial reaction to purchasing food items from Amazon is mixed. On one hand, taking your business to the online giant means taking it away from those who live in your community and adding to carbon emissions because of the extra transportation. On the other hand, healthier foods made available at the touch of a button – and at a reduced price to boot – makes sustainable eating more accessible.
Lighting is one of my favourite aspects of home design and decor. Even before I had a home to decorate, I would always end up in the lighting aisle every time I went to a big box store. Like a bug to a flame – or to a wrought-iron chandelier, the lights just called to me.
I’ve also always been really sensitive to lighting levels and associate certain lights with certain tasks only. I’m constantly going around the house at night turning specific lights on and off depending on what I’m doing and how I’m feeling and have even found myself adjusting lights while in the homes of others because it’s too bright/not bright enough/a certain light is really getting under my skin. (As an aside, I recently found out that being ultra sensitive to light is a characteristic of a highly sensitive person – which is actually a thing and I very much am one.)
